[Question #11186] Fleshlight Question

16 months ago

Hello Dr's.

I'm back for hopefully my final question.

I have a question about how long STD's can live on a sex toy.

Timeline:

October 2022- I mutually masturbated with a buddy I had know for a few years. This was the last time I saw him and I brought my fleshlight ( silicone vagina) with me. We briefly inserted our penises into the sleeve at the same time, with commercial hand moisturizer.

-I brought it home and very likely washed it out.

-It was stored in my bedside drawer and very likely never used again.

-I tested negative for syphilis (7 months after) and HIV ( 11 months after).

I recently was cleaning out the drawer and found the toy.

Question:

Is it possible to contract syphillis or hiv or other stds from the toy after it had been sitting for months and very likely cleaned? I HAVE NO MEMEORY OF USING THE TOY AGAIN ( I say very likely cleaned because it was over 17 months ago that I used it while cheating).

-Are my test results still valid? (my fear is that I have been exposing myself again and again, if the fleshlight wasn't properly washed). As in, bacteria and viruses lingering on the surface.

-If It was used, what is the risk after weeks and months?

I store chapstick, and bottles of lube I use with my husband, and another fleshlight that I've shared with my husband(differnt from the one I'm concerned about)etc in the drawer.

My concern is there could be something lingering on the surface that spreads by touch.

Thank you for your help.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

16 months ago

Welcome back to the forum and thanks for your continued confidence in our services.

Once secretions dry, probably no infection of any kind could be transmitted -- that is, maybe an hour or two. The only way a fleshlight or other sex toy could transmit any STD would be if shared by two or more people during any particular sexual event; or maybe up to an hour later. Certainly a device that has been in storage for weeks or months would not do so. But if in doubt, just wash or apply a disinfectant before using.

For those reasons, I would have recommended against you being tested for anything, assuming this was your only potential exposure. (And based on your previous threads, your exposures with other persons also are pretty much risk free, assuming you still limit yourself to hand-genital or similar exposures.) You can rely 100% on your negative test results.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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16 months ago

Thank you Dr!

My risk/exposure events haven't changed, and it's been 13 months since I was last cheated. I've started therapy and am working on changing my behavior and dealing with my health anxiety.

The fleslight in question has been thrown away.

I have one follow up to clairy. I know my anxious mind, and I know you've given me the answer, but my anxiety like repition. Something I am working on in therapy.

-The fleshlight being in the drawer and touching other items (chapstick, lube bottle, another toy) did not present a continued and ongoing risk after my testing? This would have been 7-11 months post exposure/use with my friend.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

16 months ago

HIV and other STI bacteria and viruses cannot be transmitted between dry objects touching each other. Among the main reasons some bacteria and viruses are almost exclusively transmitted by sex or similarly intimate exposures (e.g. from mother to baby in utero or during delivery) is that they are too fragile to survive and cause infection by wafting through the air or by casual contact. Transmission from person to person generally requires large numbers of them to come into contact with specialized cells that are deep inside the body or selectively reside in genital tissues. In other words, the lack of risk from casual or environmental contact is inherent in the biology of these viruses and bacteria.---
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