Hello,

I'm just worried sick.  I received a massage from what I thought was a legitimate massage parlor.  It wasn't until the end that she gave me a handjob that was only a couple of minutes long.  During the massage part she said she was wearing a bandaid from "a paper cut or something. No big de  She took off the bandaid halfway through because it kept on coming off with the oil.  I asked her where the sore was and she said it was on the backside of her finger, not her palmside.  After the massage and ending, the light came on and I asked if I could see the sore.  She showed me her index finger knuckle, the middle part of her knuckle finger had a sore that was definitely more than just a paper cut.  It looked as if it was a burn or something gouged her finger there.  Like a little chunk of it.  It wasn't a blister or blisters, just a healing sore that was open but not bleeding or leaking or anything.  Kind of how a canker sore would look, but it was on her finger.  So it wasn't the knuckle near her fingertip, nor the one at the beginning of the base of the hand.  It was the middle knuckle, if that makes sense.  I told her I was worried about that and she was like, "Oh no you have nothing to worry about it's just a sore.  We've gone through training that's similar to being a nurse and stuff so we learn all about diseases etc."  She said she only had a bandaid on it to try and prevent it from being irritated, for what that's worth.   Honestly if she never wore a bandaid, and never told me about it, I would have never known anything was potentially amiss and probably wouldn't have asked this question.  I'm married and just really worried sick.  I don't know what I'd do if I have to tell my wife that I contracted herpes from a massage therapist.   My god.  I will own up to it if need be, but I just have  a few questions:

Do you think she had herpetic whitlow?

What is my risk of contracting herpes from this encounter with her?

What is my risk of contracting any other STI?I

How long do I need to wait before being “in the clear,” so to speak?

This doesn't sound like herpetic whitlow to me.  If it was, and it was on the knuckle, that part of the hand was not in contact with your penis and thus you wouldn't be at risk. I think your risk here is really low.  And there is no risk of acquiring another STI in this situation.  How long ago was this?  If you happened to get new herpes, which I truly don't think you did, lesions would appear within 2-10 days.

Terri
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Thank you for the prompt response. Yeah you're right in the fact that, if it were whitlow, that area of her finger never really touched my genitals. This happened yesterday so I'm still in the potential period :(. This anxiety is horrible.   What makes me a little less concerned though, besides your post, is that I've also gouged that part of my knuckle before and it looked like hers did, albeit hers was larger (about the size of a pea). She had larger fingers than the average woman.  Looking back I'm not 100% whether it was her index finger or middle finger, but everything else is accurate.  

I think if you want to be most cautious, yes, wait.  Only out of excess caution, but you want that right?
I have absolutely no concerns about other parts of your body because the skin is too thick for virus to enter, in the highly unlikely situation that this was whitlow.

Terri
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