[Question #8356] Curious about a very old encounter

45 months ago

This may be a very long story and I just wanted to see if my symptoms at that time were due to an STD/STI. 8 years ago, I engaged in some penis to penis rubbing with another males(frottage/apposition). He also masturbated me as well. So we rubbed our penis' against one another and engaged in mutual masturbation for lets say 10 minutes. I remember afterwards maybe a few weeks to a couple months later I frequently had some burning pain during urination for a few months however, this burning pain would get better if I drank a lot of water. I remember going to the doctors for it and they didn't think much of it. I was unaware that you could get an STD from this frottage and masturbation. From reading the forums, it says you can't get any STD via frottage/apposition and mutual masturbation even if my partner's fluids were used as lubricant. But none of the post talk about bacteria/viruses which cause NGU. I barely get this pain now(lot less than before)
My questions are
1. Is it possible that an STD, in particular something that caused NGU was the cause of my burning urination or can you not get an STD through this activity. Maybe some of his semen/genital fluids went into my urethra when we rubbed our penis' together but I don't really know. Also I think he used his genital fluids as a lubricant.
2. I never actually treated this pain but it did eventually go away within a couple of months. Is it possible that I still have the bacteria in my urethra 8 years later. I'm worried that it could have caused some complications e.g. fertility issues. I still sometimes/very rarely get this burning pain when urinating but only when I'm very dehydrated. Am I just being unrealistic right now?
3. If I do still have bacteria, what kind of antibiotics should I take to try to clear it. Also should I do a urine test to see if I do have bacteria? If I should, what should i request to be screened for in my urine test?(I've got a test for chylmdia and gonorrhea already and they were negative)

45 months ago

Adding onto 2. I have taken 100mg doxycycline once a day for 6 consecutive weeks for an unrelated issue. Would this have killed any bacteria/virus that could have caused the NGU(assuming I had NGU).

45 months ago

Q4. So 1-2 years ago, I got prostatitis. The urologist didn't exactly test if it was bacterial or not but he highly doubts its bacterial. I was wondering if it is bacterial prostatitis, could of been because of that encounter 8 years ago. (I have not had any encounters since then). So could I have perhaps got NGU from the encounter and it lead to prostatitis 8 years ago or am I just being totally paranoid and ridiculous right now. Somehow my brain just creates scenarios and tries to link these events together but I just wanted to ensure that this wasn't the case.
Also I read that bacterial prostatitis is not contagious so won't pose a risk to my sexual partner. I know the internet is not the most reliable at times so I just wanted to ask you and confirm this is true.

Thanks

Edward W. Hook M.D.

45 months ago

Welcome to our firm and thanks for your question. Frottage/genital apposition and/or Mutual masturbation or not the cause of NGU or any other STI. The intermittent symptoms that you described likewise, are not suggestive of an STI but may be indicative of a urological process. Finally, the prolonged course of doxycycline that you have taken would have certainly cured virtually all NGU if that were the source of your symptoms. Your symptoms however do appear to fall within the large and variable category of general urinary problems and then called the chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPE). The syndrome is well described in Wikipedia and there is general agreement that it is officially never an STI and rarely due to infection of any sort. Yes, in response to your specific questions:

1. As mentioned above this is almost certainly not an STI acquired through the interaction that you describe. Interestingly, in such situations, despite proximity, genital secretions simply do not enter the urethra in advertently in such a way as to cause infections.

2. Nothing you describe suggest a chronic bacterial infection or anything that would necessarily lead to fertility problems.

3. Please see my comment regarding antibiotics above. This really sounds nothing like a chronic bacterial STI. Chronic prostatitis, which is most often non-infectious, can occasionally cause symptoms falling in this category but to evaluate that further I would urge you to have further discussions with a urologist. You are correct that if this is chronic prostatitis, it does not represent a threat to your sexual partner’s health.

I hope these comments are helpful. If there are additional questions or any part of my responses unclear, please don’t hesitate to use your up to two follow-ups for clarification. EWH

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45 months ago

Thanks a lot for your response Dr Hook
1. So I just want to confirm that even if I have bacterial prostatitis, this will not be transmissible to my partner? I already got tested for chlmydia and gonnorhea and both have been negative.
2. Can I safely assume that my CPPS/prostatitis is not due to an infection and that I definitely do not have any infection of any kind? I have done a full screening of STDS. (in addition to the ones mentioned above syphilis hiv and hepatitis has also been tested and all have come back negative.)
3. So can I continue to have sex with my partner without worrying about transmitting anything/infecting my partner with anything with the STD results obtained above.

Edward W. Hook M.D.

45 months ago

1. Correct, even if you had bacterial prostatitis your partner would not be at risk from for infection from unprotected intercourse.

2. Also correct. Nothing you reported suggest chronic bacterial infection nor a process that would necessarily related to infertility.

3. You are negative tests and the information you’ve provided indicate that there is no reason to abstain from unprotected sexual intercourse with your regular partner and that there is no risk for transmission of infection. EWH

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45 months ago

Thank you very much.
My final question is
1. Is it possible for an infection/disease to be transmitted to me if I used a cloth/towel/tissues which contained genital fluids from an infected person to wipe my penis after I orgasmed(assuming the genital fluids were from an infected person. Let's also assume the infected person used that cloth to wipe their genitals.)I'm also asking about the non conventional STDS e.g. HTLV, hepatitis, HPV etc. I'm worried that I might have caught something from this.

Thanks

Edward W. Hook M.D.

45 months ago

This is a complex question. Some STIs are spread in secretions, others with direct contact. Further, the are no scientific studies which address this question, in part because of the technical barriers to such studies. Finally, because of the implications of acquiring an STI explaining infections by “I got it from a shared towel”. Or even a toilet seat may appear to provide an innocent explanation for having an STI without having to acknowledge infidelity. While there are individual case reports of persons transmitting herpes, HPV, and trichomonas on shared towels, these accounts are rare and often questionable. If transmission in this way occurs, it is a very, very rare event.

I am confident that HTLV could not be transmitted through sharing a towel ( It is a blood-borne or secretion transmitted infection). HPV transmission is theoretically possible but if it occurs is vanishingly rare and does not provide the explanation for the symptoms that you described above. My sincere advice is to counsel you that the likelihood that you require any STI through sharing a towel in the encounter that you described above. Is most unlikely.

I hope the information I provided has been helpful to you. My advice is to do your best to move forward and not worry further about that long ago encounter. EWH

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