[Question #12738] Fear of contracting HSV

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5 months ago
Good afternoon, about 7 days ago I had protected oral sex (receptive) mouth to penis, I have no lesions or blistering. I am not sure if I am in my own head or not, but it feels like my pubic area is “hot”. The encounter lasted no more than one minute with a lady from a lingerie tease. She finished me with her hand while still wearing the condom. Should I be worried? 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
5 months ago
I do not think you should be worried, no!  Condoms are very effective at reducing HSV transmission risk, great job using the condom for receiving oral sex!

Terri
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5 months ago
Do you by chance have an explanation for the hot feeling by chance? I appreciate the feedback! 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
5 months ago
I'm sorry, I don't know what that hot feeling might be about.  Assuming that the condom stayed on and covered the entire area involved in intercourse and receiving oral sex, you should be well protected.  While condoms are not 100% effective in reducing transmission from women to men, they are very effective indeed.  If I were you, I would not be worried.  But if you think there might have been an area that was not covered fully, I would simply observe it (not obsessively) for the next week for abnormal skin changes and if you see none after 14 days from the encounter, then do you best to put this worry behind you.

Terri
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5 months ago
No noticeable changes as of right now, but I did however make an appointment for an STD test Monday. Would you think that’s too early? Or should I just cancel and not worry at the moment then?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
5 months ago
If the condom stayed intact and covered the area that was involved with the person's mouth, then I don't feel an STI screen is necessary.  The timing is OK for things like gonorrhea and chlamydia, but too early for things like HIV and syphilis and certainly herpes.  I don't think a screening is medically necessary based on your description of the encounter, but if it would make you feel more secure moving forward, I see no downside.  Except for HSV.  There are false positives on the HSV IgG test, so unless you develop lesions (which should be swab tested), I do not recommend testing for HSV.  

Terri
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