[Question #6025] nude massage

71 months ago

hello doctors:

i have a question regarding a nude massage i got the other day.

what concerns me is she was naked and sat on my lower chest abdomen for a few minuets, her exposed vagina clearly on my skin. maybe five minutes or so. i do not believe there was any general to gentian contact at all.

i was able to look closely at her parts and from my angle could not see any sores.

is there ANY risk i could gee syphilis from this kind of encounter?

thank you.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

71 months ago

Welcome back.

Like most of your several other questions, this one is about an exposure that is obviously and widely understood to be risk free. Genital contact with skin, anywhere on the body except your own genital/anal area or mouth, is risk free for all STDs. So this was an entirely risk free event and you do not need testing for syphilis or any other STD.

This is your 11th question on the forum. We discourage repeat questions, as you were told at least once. Although the specific topics are generally different, most of your questions relate to obvious low risk exposures, or confirming information you were told by obviously competent, expert sites (like the San Francisco STD clinic, in one instance I saw). While we appreciate your confidence in us and ASHA appreciates the payments, have you learned enough to justify the $275 spent so far?

Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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71 months ago

thank you. quite clear.

i’m thrilled to be able contribute this amount of money to a great cause; so zero remorse there.

since i do have you, why is intact skin that is not genital area impervious to syphilis or STI infection? my abdomen skin feels the same as my penis skin. is it that much stronger? fascinating biology to me.

i can understand the mouth or anus being more delicate.

thank you again for the service.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

71 months ago

No STDs are transmitted efficiently -- that is, most exposures to infected partners don't result in transmission, even with real sex (e.g. unprotected vaginal intercourse for several minutes). And yes, intact skin is an exceedingly effective barrier. Even for genital exposure to syphilis, infected material must be massged into the surface, resulting in microtrauma. You could repeatedly paint syphilis infected genital fluids on intact skin -- including the genitals -- and not expect syphilis to take hold. The same with HSV and HPV.---

71 months ago

thank you. i’ll use my last question here.

as you mention, non-genital skin contact is risk free, no risk. so if she was grinding her vagina on my abdomen some, to simulate sex, that would not constitute massaging of possible syphilis into skin?

is my understanding correct that the massaging you menton has to be much much greater friction based and constant, like actual vaginal or even prolonged oral sex itself?

this is fascinating to me as my assumption was if any part of your skin contacts an open syphilis sore you’d get it there. abdomen, finger, forehead (not sure how that works?) etc.

if you don’t mind clarifying for me and the other readers who might have similar misunderstanding as me.

again for me: 0.0 risk even if she were grinding her vagina on my abdomen?

thank you

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

71 months ago

Yes, syphiltic chancres appear at sites of direct exposure. And in my 40+ years int he STD business, I've never seen someone with a chancre located otherwhere than the genitals, anal area, or mouth. Not one. And obviously the clinic must have had innumerable patients who had been massaged, had hand-genital contact, or other exposures that put other skin areas in contact with syphilitic lesiosn. I cannot say the risk from the sorts of events you described is zero, but it is low enough to be in the same range as being struck by lightning (or even a meteorite). In other words, forget it.

Let's make this your last forum question -- ever -- about any exposures other than bare penis (no condom) entering another person's vagina, rectum, or mouth. Any other sort of exposure you ask about will get exactly the same answers you have had now and in most of your other threads. Repeated anxiety driven questions are not permitted, and similar ones in the future risk being deleted without reply and without refund of the posting fee. Thank you for your understnanding.

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