[Question #1000] Unprotected oral sex exposure & risk

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102 months ago
Hi doctors,

Thanks for the great work and continued assistance you provide on this site, and its predecessors. I'll try to be concise.

Almost 6 weeks ago, I gave and received unprotected oral sex with a stranger (she was female; I am male). 

11 days following the exposure I was tested (urine PCR and throat swab) for gonorrhoea and chlymidia; all negative. 

About 10 days ago (so 4 weeks post event) I began to notice a mild tingling and numbness at the end of my penis; this also hung around whenever I urinated and felt like a mild burning sensation. If I had to quantify the intensity, I'd say typically 1-2 out of 10, and occasionally a 3. No signs of discharge and no real pain. I saw a doctor who prescribed me 100mg doxycycline for 7 days. This has helped (though I suspect a placebo effect) and in the last few days these symptoms have come and gone. Last dosage is tomorrow.

In the last 24 hours I've also noticed some red dots/blemishes on my penis; no pain or pus (eg like blisters or lesions).

I'm concerned both about NGU and, with the onset of these dots, genital herpes from the exposure. What do you think? I should also add I have a regular sexual partner who I will see again in one week and who I wish to resume unprotected sex with (I have not seen her since the event in question). However if I am likely to present a risk to her health then I want to know now, so I can avoid putting her in harms way.

Thanks for any insight or advice you can provide! 


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102 months ago
I should also add; the red dots/blemishes (though there's really only 1) are on the glans of the penis and no bigger than 2-3mm. I've had no burning whilst urinating for the last few days (and not sure I ever did - just numbness). 
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102 months ago
Some final information I neglected; when I was prescribed the doxycycline, the doctor also did a urine dipstick test and found no WBCs or blood in my urine (admittedly not first pass, but I don't believe I'd urinated for at least an hour beforehand. 

Prior to being prescribed the doxycycline, I do believe there was a mild burning sensation (contrary to my first addendum) but this was exactly that - extremely mild and perhaps difficult for me to differentiate from the numbness/tingling. 

About 2-3 days after the incident itself I also developed a sore throat though this has now cleared up. 

Sorry, I genuinely omitted this information in my first post and I'm not trying to up my word limit artificially. Thanks! 
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
102 months ago

Welcome to the Forum.  I'll be pleased to comment.  First let me congratulate you on getting the tests that you did- these were just what was appropriate in this situation.  Based on these test results and your report, I am confident that your current difficulties do not represent an STI. Your test results (as well as the absence of urine white blood cells) also effectively rule out the possibility that you acquired an STI from the exposure that you describe.  Further for any STI to have its onset 4-6 weeks after a sexual exposure would be quite unusual.  Finally, for STI symptoms (which can be mild) to come and go in the manner you currently describe would be most unusual. 

I do not have a good explanation for the rash ("dots") that you describe.  common causes of the sort of rash you describe might be a fungal skin infection, trauma (from masturbation most commonly), or some other unrelated process.

My advice is to try to not worry about this, to be confident that there is no evidence that you acquired an STI from the exposure you described, and to not hesitate to have unprotected sex with your regular sexual partner.  I hope these comments help.  EWH

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