Hello, Doctors.

I live in Brazil and had vaginal sex with a 22-year-old girl. She is not a sex worker.

I used a condom the entire time. When I did the water test, there was a small defect in the condom where water was leaking through a tiny hole. My urethra was protected by the condom the entire time. The defect was about 4cm from the tip of the condom.

There was no complete rupture. The small defect could have occurred a few seconds before the penis was withdrawn or at the time of the penis' withdrawal.

''If the condom is not completely broken, you can safely assume that it did its job''

''The idea of ​​small defects that would significantly increase the risk of infection is an urban myth''

''The idea of ​​testing condoms with water for leaks is absurd. There are no defects so small that a water test can detect them as a risk of HIV or anything else.''

''..one or two small punctures probably don't increase the risk of any infection. So a water test that finds a small leak is probably irrelevant. I would suggest you stop doing this. If there is no obvious breakage of the condom, the condom protection is the best possible.''

It is an urban myth that microscopic or small holes are common or increase the risk of infection, even if present. Only completely open leaks are significant.''

1- Despite this small defect, the urethra was protected and almost the entire head of the penis was also protected. Can I assume that despite this small defect, sexual intercourse was considered safe?

  Even without a condom, this encounter would be considered very low, close to no risk.  Remember most people do not have HIV and even without condoms IF she had untreated HIV (unlikely) the statistical risk of infection is less than 1 in 2000 (i.e. IF she was infected (again, unlikely) there is a more than 99.5% chance you WOULD NOT be infected.  While testing is always a personal choice, we do not feel strongly tht clients need to be tested after every encounter with a new partner.

Thank you for your answers, doctor.

Regarding these statements that I put in parentheses, these were answers that I found from you doctors on the forums.

Regarding the girl, I don't know about her sexual past, she asked to use a condom because she wasn't using any contraceptives. I told her about what happened a few days later and she said that she had already taken STD tests and that I could trust her.

1- From what I understood, the finding of a small leak that could have been present for a few seconds (since I constantly checked if the condom was intact and a longer exposure time would have caused it to break completely) or could have occurred at the time of withdrawal.

This small holeque would be irrelevant since the urethra was protected and it wasn't an obvious rupture and the head of the penis wasn't completely exposed. Am I correct?

2 - I know that the test is completely personal, but based on your experience and knowledge, would the test be necessary for this event alone?

3 - A rupture that would be more concerning is when the entire head of the penis is exposed?

4 - Could this encounter I described be something like a 1 in 500,000 chance?

1- From what I understood, the finding of a small leak that could have been present for a few seconds (since I constantly checked if the condom was intact and a longer exposure time would have caused it to break completely) or could have occurred at the time of withdrawal.

Please don't worry.  You have one follow-up reply remaining.  EWH

Thank you for your answers.

1 - So I can conclude that a defect (about 0.5 cm) that caused a small leak is not the same as having sex without a condom. And that despite the small defect I had complete protection and no risks?

2 - In this situation, can I not worry?

Thank you very much for your answers.

This completes this thread.  There should be no need for further questions.  EWH