Dams are a thin sheet of latex or plastic which are used when people have oral sex. Although a lot of people would like to use them they are getting very difficult to find. So here is a quick blog about why people use them, and how you can make your own.
Why do people use dams
There are some risks of infections from oral sex and, although they are a lot lower than for unprotected vaginal or anal sex, they are there. The most common ones are thought to be Herpes and HPV (the one that causes genital warts). I’ve written an article ‘should you use a condom (or a dam) for oral‘ which gives you all the information you need to help you make your own mind up on whether you should use one or not.
By the way, I’ve also got your back if you’re wondering what oral sex is, what the proper terms for blowjob and licking out are and also rimjob. Condoms and dams can be used for all of these things to reduce risks of STIs. Often people like them to be used on them so that it’s a little bit less sensitive (teeth, stubble and piercings can sometimes make oral a bit too much for people). Also people worry about the taste of oral sex too and this might be something to consider with rimjob.
But dams are harder to get hold of
Because we haven’t been doing a good enough job of promoting dams, or maybe it’s because dams have always been quite hard to get hold of, or because they’ve always been expensive, or probably a combination of all of these things, means that dams aren’t used as much as they could be.
So here’s how to make your own dam
You can make your own dam out of a condom. Just tear it in half down the middle and pull it apart. Here let me show you in this video I made for bebo, myspace, Instagram.
You could also use scissors if you want it to be neater, but I think that a lot of people might be quite nervous if you were to produce a pair of scissors during sexy times tbh.
This is what it looks like afterwards. The succulent and the orange aren’t part of it, but you do you.
I also made a reel lately where I do use a pair of scissors to make one
And that’s it! Just place it over wherever you want to lick or suck and then commence with the licking and sucking.
If you want to get some free condoms then find out where your local sexual health service is.
© Justin Hancock, 2026 Find out more about me and BISH here.
BISH is run by me, Justin Hancock. I’ve been a trained sex and relationships educator since 1999. I’m a member of the World Association for Sexual Health. As well as BISH I also have resources, a podcast, and a coaching service for over 18s, as well as some of the best RSE teaching resources around. Find out out about my other work at justinhancock.co.uk. My work has featured (positively) in the media, like the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, Sky One, and Novara Media.
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