[Question #11507] Saliva on penis

14 months ago

Hello

I receive a handjob from a CSW one week ago today. I have no symptoms. During the session she used oil but also spit on my penis. There was no other kind act such oral or vaginal penetration. The CSW did advise that she gets tested regularly but who can really be sure. I have read that there is no risk with hand to genital contact and little risk with saliva or spit. I do have concerns considering some stds can go undetected

My question:

1 what conditions would cause std transfer by using saliva during a handjob.

2 considering the friction from the handjob could the constant rubbing increase the risk by rubbing the saliva into the skin of the penis

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

14 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your question.

Responding first to just the title of your question: no risk. Saliva rarely if ever transmits STDs, which -- now that I read the rest of your question -- you already know.

1. I cannot think of any situations that would result in STD transmission by handjob with saliva as lubricant. In theory, herpes due to HSV1 might be possible, but in my 50 years in the STD business, I've never seen or heard of it happening.

2. Would the risk be higher from massaging infected body fluids into the skin? Probably yes -- but still too low for this to have ever been known to occur.

I don't advise testing for anything, and if you have a regular partner, you can continue your normal sexual practices without putting her (or him) at risk.

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

HHH, MD

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14 months ago

Thank you so much for the clarification.

Just one more question.

I’ve read that saliva can be toxic to some stds. Can you elaborate on this?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

14 months ago

There's not much research on this and I am aware of actual data only for HIV and gonorrhea -- with opposite results. Saliva inactivates HIV, which probably is part of the reason oral sex is such low risk for transmission. For gonorrhea, it was long stated that saliva is toxic to the organism, but more recent data suggests gonorrhea sometimes is transmitted by saliva. However, this only is known to occur by oral sex and maybe by prolonged, deep kissing apparently a risk only among men who have sex with men (and these data are controversial). In any case, saliva contact with skin through hand-genital contact doesn't transmit either gonorrhea or HIV. As implied above, one can imagine a risk for HSV transmission if the oral/saliva partner has oral herpes, but if this occurs, it appears to be extremely rare.---