[Question #3675] Herpes Transmission

87 months ago

Less than 24 hours ago, my vagina was rubbed ( sometimes vigorously) from a man who claims to be completely STD free. He used his fingers to rub my vaginal lips and clitoris but he did not use his fingers to penetrate me. I do not know if he put the same hand that he used to touch me to his mouth or genitals during our encounter. I had a towel over my lap that was somewhat damp (that I think he may have used to dry off with after a shower sometime before our encounter). The towel did not touch my vagina, just my lap area. He masturbated and I touched his testicles briefly as he did this. He ejaculated into the towel on my lap and wrapped the towel around his penis when he was done. The area of the towel that he ejaculated into was closer to my upper right abdomen than my genitals. He rubbed my upper abdomen just briefly with his hand before he went to wash up. I have some vaginal burning and redness which I started experiencing within an hour after our encounter (on my drive home). He used a lotion during our encounter when he was rubbing me vigorously. What is the risk of herpes and any other STD transmission from this encounter? Thank you in advance.

87 months ago

I do not know if he had any cuts or sores on his fingers but I don't think he did. Thank you.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

87 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your confidence in our services.

Among the most common questions on this forum concern hand-genital contact: mutual masturbation, fingering, etc. Our responses always are the same: there is no risk for HIV or any other STDs. Although it is easy to imagine why there could be a risk, for example if a partner's genital fluids were used for lubrication, or if there were cuts, nicks, rashes, or other skin problems that were exposed, even the busiest STD and HIV/AIDS clinic simply never have patients whose only possible exposure was fingering or other hand-genital exposure. Also, there is even lower risk (if it's possible to be lower than zero!) from such indirect contact as using towels previously used by infected persons. Why not? Because the STD bacteria and viruses evolved to require hyper-intimate contact for transmission, i.e. intercourse. Other forms of personal contact simply do not carry enough viruses or bacteria, or give them access to susceptible cells that must be exposed for infection to take hold (cells that typically are deep inside the body). By the same token, kissing doesn't transmit STDs and neither does sharing clothing, toilets, etc with infected persons.

As for your vaginal burning sensation, no infection (including herpes or any other STD) can start to cause symptoms in an hour; 24-36 hours is the minimum and usually it takes at least 2-3 days for symptoms to start. Anything starting an hour after exposure has to be some sort of physical, chemical, or allergic irritation -- for example, if the fingering were especially vigorous, or if the lotion was irritating or you're allergic to it.

Finally, while I cannot say for sure your partner had no STD, people typically don't lie about it when asked directly. His confidence he has no STD is pretty good evidence that he doesn't, at least for most of the common STDs you're most concerned about, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, and HIV.

If your genital irritation clears up in a day or two, which it probably will, you don't need examination or testing on account of this event. Of course you are free to do that if the negative results will help you get beyond your anxieties about it. However, if I were in your situation -- or if I were counseling someone close to me personally, such as my daughter -- I would not get tested and wouldn't be at all worried about this event.

I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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87 months ago

Thank you very much! I truly appreciate your thorough and detailed response. I also appreciate how you wrote about how you would counsel your daughter in this situation. I was fairly certain the burning was a reaction to the lotion but I wanted to double check. The stigma attached to Herpes is so devastating that I appreciate the reassurance from your response. Thank you again.

87 months ago

Hello,

I just read your response again. What if my genital irritation doesn't clear up in a couple of days. Does that mean I need to get tested or could it still be irritation from the lotion? Thank you.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

87 months ago

Thanks for the thanks. I'm glad to have helped so far. In the event your irritation continues, it would make sense to see a doctor to learn the cause and perhaps get treatment. But that doesn't mean it's an STD. I remain confident it is not. For example, perhaps you have a yeast infection that was on the verge of starting to cause symptoms, and irritation from the lotion or vigorous fingering just gave the symptoms a head start. Same with an allergic reaction of some sort.---

87 months ago

Thank you again! I will follow up with my gyn if needed.