[Question #6595] Terrified I’ve given someone HSV-1 through oral

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66 months ago

  • Please don’t judge me. I have an oral herpes breakout on my nose. It had already began to scab over. I got drunk two days ago and brought home a man. We made out a lot and I gave him brief oral sex (not touching his penis with my nose). I am now terrified that I have given him herpes on either his face or penis. Do I just have to wait the 10 days to see if he gets an outbreak? I can’t eat or sleep I am so worried about this. I feel awful and terribly concerned that I did this. Adding some clarification. Oral sex was probably 30 seconds. Breakout is on the side of my nose. Considering the incubation period for HSV – if I haven’t gotten some kind of text from him in the next 10 days, should I stop worrying so much?

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66 months ago
Editing to add I am 30 and he is in his late 20s.
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66 months ago
Apologies for the multiple responses. I also submitted the same question on the Westover Heights Q&A. This is distressing me so much.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
66 months ago
If this person does not already have HSV 1 infection, it is possible that you could have infected him through giving him oral sex while you had an active cold sore in your nares.  All you can do right now is to wait and see what this person says to you.  When the virus is active on one branch of the trigeminal nerve, it can be active all any or all branches of that nerve.  I wish I could allay your fears, but I cannot.  You are welcome to keep me posted on this topic.

Terri
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66 months ago
Thank you for responding. Am I safe to assume if I check in with him around 10 day mark and he has no symptoms, that he’s likely to have been infected? I feel so terrible. Would even a brief 30 second oral be enough to have a very high chance of infection?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
66 months ago
Yes, if he has no symptoms within 10 days, it is unlikely that you infected him.  30 second of oral sex, all by itself, is unlikely to transmit the virus.

Terri
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