[Question #11723] Oral Sex Receiving and Giving- STD Risks/Illness Risks

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12 months ago
Hello, i was feeling very lonely, made a terrible decision and went to an asian massage parlor for affection. I engaged in oral sex with a woman at an asian massage parlor. I was under the impression we would use a condom for everything, but it escalated quickly and we did not use any protection. She began to give me oral sex, i am a man. I then gave her oral sex as well, but only for about 3-4 minutes. She gave me oral sex for approximately 10 minutes. We stopped, i never had any PIV sex, no other forms of sex at all. My question is what risk am i for STDs and what types? Also, am i high at risk for mono/ebv or other illnesses? I asked her if she is clean and she said she is clean and tested but i don’t trust that completely. Her area appeared to be clean. Its been 5 days since and i have no symptoms except now, when i orgasm i get a thunderclap headache that may be totally unrelated (i am very overweight and do not take care of my health, extremely stressful occupation, i am trying to manage these things as best i can).
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
12 months ago
Welcome to our Forum. Thanks for your questions and implied confidence in our service.  I'll be glad to comment.  The exposure you describe was low, but not no risk.  Oral sex, giving and receiving, is the lowest variation of penetrative sex and few STIs are transmitted in this way.  The major STI acquired from oral sex is gonorrhea. If you acquired gonorrhea from orals sex there is a more than 90% chance that your would have developed symptoms (penile discharge) by now.  Oral gonorrhea however is typically asymptomatic and is only detected by testing with a throat swab.  Other STIs are very, very rare from the sorts of exposures you describe.  

FYI, most commercial sex workers do not have STIs. When your partner said she'd been tested she was telling the truth- most people do and STIs are bad for their business.  

Also for your information, even when partners have STIs, most single exposures' do not result in infection- this is particularly true for giving or receiving oral sex.  

Headache with ejaculation is not an STI symptom.  As you suggest, there are other possible reason as you point out.

Bottom line- the encounter you describe was very low risk for STI.  Having said this, I understand that you may choose to test. If you do, the most important test to have is a urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia (despite the low risk for chlamydia, the tests typically test for both as a matter of routine.  If you wish to test for other, far, far less like STIs such as syphilis or HIV, probably best to wait for these blood tests until about six weeks after the encounter.  As I said above however, the chances that you have them is vanishingly low.  

I hope these comments are helpful.  Please don't worry.  EWH
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12 months ago
Doctor, i really appreciate you even answering me. Ive been stressed and scheduled an appointment for the thunderclap headache because i think its totally unrelated to this, but whenever i ejaculate upon orgasm i get this extreme sharp headache that takes hours to go away. I thought the two were related but it makes me more comfortable that you said its not.
Also, i watch a small baby for my brother every sat/sun he is 8 months old. Should i be worried about transmission of any illnesses from this encounter to the baby?  I was thinking mono, something. Im worried and made a stupid decision. And in regards to syphillis/HSV2, i was worried about this one because i was curious if it can be transmitted by kissing. The risk for these STDs are usually low then? Again thank you so much for replying i really appreciate what you guys do here. 
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
12 months ago
Your brother’s child is certainly at no risk even in the unlikely circumstance that you acquired an STI from the virtually no risk encounter that you have described.  

Among adults acquisition of mono is unlikely and rare, particularly if there was no kissing which you did not mention.

HSV-2 is almost never transmitted through giving or receiving oral sex.  If you had acquired HSV you would be expected to develop lesions within 10 days of your exposure.  I would not be worried in the least about herpes.  EWH
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12 months ago
I think this is a bit of a stretch, but it applies to the thunderclap headache. Developing meningitis as a result of this is a stretch? I thought of it because the two are related. Im also paranoid because i dont usually do this stuff.

I have no fever/chills or anything. I appreciate all your help and am sorry for bothering you about this. But i feel alot better about the encounter and knowing that luckily, i didnt go all the way with her in terms of sex and i never want to engage in this behavior again.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
12 months ago
You’re right. It is more than a bit of a stretch. It is a major stretch.  Your headaches are unrelated to the sexual encounter that you describe. Meningitis is not consistent in anyway with the symptoms you described.

Yes, I think you know, we provide up to three responses to each clients question. This is my third response. Therefore the thread will be closed shortly without further response. I encourage you to move on and not worry further. EWH

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