The benefits of using condoms during are far-reaching, helping prevent pregnancies and the spread of many STIs.
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However more millennials are refusing to use the latex prophylactics, with a 2015 CDC study showing condom use among sexually active young people dropped from 63 percent in 2003 to 57 percent in 2015.
According to the New York Post, a study that same year by Skyn condoms found that 48 percent of millennials use condoms "never" or "rarely".
Now researchers from Boston University have found a way to fight the 'discomfort' stigma condoms have carried for a while. They've recently developed and tested a self-lubricating latex coating for condoms, which reportedly becomes slippery in the presence of bodily fluids.
The latex coating didn't even wear away when tested to mimic up to 10 times the thrust rate of typical sex, the Science Medical Centre reports, withstanding up to "1000 thrusts". The study says typical intercourse lasts for between 100 and 500 thrusts.
"We responded to a call from the [Bill and Melinda] Gates Foundation", said Dr Mark Grinstaff, co-author of the study.
"They had identified that a prime reason for not using condoms was a lack of lubrication, but that people didn't like using their own.
"So the idea was that if you could find a way to improve lubrication, you could improve condom use."
A group of volunteers were also asked to touch and rate the self-lubricating condoms alongside regular condoms, in terms of slip and slide.
When tested for comparison, regular condoms coated with a shop-bought, water-based liquid lubricant were reportedly more slippery initially, but became less so after around 600 thrusts.
Of the 33 people they surveyed, most agreed that it would increase their condom usage.
The researchers say the coating shows potential to cut friction pain, and boost both satisfaction and condom use among partners.
Nweshub.
