[Question #8456] Condom didn’t completely cover
44 months ago
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Hello,
2 nights ago in a drunken stupor I visited a massage parlor and engaged in a protected oral and vaginal sexual encounter with Spanish female.
A lot of the details are very fuzzy. However, being that this isn’t the first time I’ve been to one of these places I know they usually do not partake in any sort of unprotected oral or vaginal intercourse. I’m 99% sure I received protected oral and 100% sure protected vaginal intercourse.
The sex lasted for about 10-15 min, perhaps longer, as stated some details are fuzzy. We did multiple positions with deep penetration.
At one point with her on her back and me standing, I remember looking down and noticing the condom had rolled slightly up the shaft of my penis toward the head exposing some skin at the base of my penis. The night prior I had buzzed my pubic hard and shaved part of my penis.
I know condoms are the safest way to have sex but I am very concerned being that condom rolled up slightly exposing some of the skin on my shaft.
1- what is the likely hood that the condom rolling up would expose me to STDs?
2 - how long would it take for lesion based STDs to start showing?
3 - should I even be concerned in the first place?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
44 months ago
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Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your confidence in our services.
You were at essentially no risk for the STDs transmitted through fluids (like gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV). Condoms are less effective in preventing those transmitted by skin-to-skin contact (e.g. syphilis, HSV, HPV), but still the risk is very low for any single exposure. That your condom partly rolled down doesn't concern me at all: condoms are generally considered to be maximally effective if the head of the penis and urethral opening are covered. Probably there is always skin-to-skin risk for vaginal or anal sex with condoms, but it's probably no higher with the sort of condom slippage you describe.
Those comments pretty well cover your specific questions, but to be explicit:
1. As discussed, ilttle if any increased risk.
2. Initial herpes outbreak, usually 3-7 days, but sometimes up to 2 or even 3 weeks. Chancre (the intitial syphilis lesion) 10-20 days. HPV (visible warts) 2 months up to a year.
3. I woudn't be concerned at all and do not recommend testing, especially if no symptoms show up. However, if you remain concerned and would be less worried with negative test results, you could have a urine gonorrhea/chlamydia test any time 5 days or more after the event; and HIV and syphilis blood tests at 6 weeks. Even these are optional, just for reasurance. Definitely no need for HSV testing, and there are no tests for asymptomatic HPV in men.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
HHH, MD
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44 months ago
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Hey Dr Handsfield. Thank you for the quick and in depth response, it’s appreciated. Just some follow up questions:
You mention there is very little risk for a single exposure, is that because the likelihood of encountering HSV is low or is that because being exposed to HSV one time and catching it is low? Meaning, if the person had HSV being exposed to it one time and catching it is low, or the chances of them having it is low?
Also, 3-7 days for HSV. As time progresses and I get further and further away from the exposure, and don’t see any symptoms does that mean it is less likely to happen or, does the chance of cynptoms remain the same throughout that entire window?
When it comes to your testing recommendations, why no need for HSV testing?
Along with that, if I were to have caught HSV, where would I expect to see a breakout?
Obviously HSV is more concerning being that it is something that cannot he treated, it’s viral and remains with you for life
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
44 months ago
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The 1 in 1,000 risk is for sex with a known infected partner. If you add the chance of encountering an infected partner, that would reduce the risk to something like 1 in 5,000, although that assumes 20% of sexually active persons have HSV2. That figure varies widely, but is usually no higher than 50%, even in sex workers. Almost all STDs are inefficiently transmitted, i.e. exposure to infection usually doesn't result in transmission. The actual transmission chance varies wide from one STD to the next. The 1 chance in 1,000 for asymptomatic HSV2 has to do with the frequency of asymptomatic shedding of the virus and the amount of virus required for transmission to occur. In addition, you used a condom for vaginal sex: even with slippage, that probably reduced your risk by 90%. So now we're talking about 1 chance in 10,000 to 50,000, depending on whether or not your partner has HSV2.
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And yes, the more time passes without symptoms, the lower the likelihood you were infected. Where: for an HSV infection to take, the virus must be massaged into exposed tissues. Therefore, almost all initial herpes outbreaks involve areas that receive friction during sex. For HSV2 in your case, that would mean likely occurrence on the upper part of the shaft of your penis, nowhere else.
Testing for STDs isn't an all or none issue, and testing is rarely recommended when the risk of infection is as low as yours, especially for an infection that is mostly an inconvenience, not a serious health risk. (Your characterization of herpes is accurate but simplistic: most HSV2 infections are minor problems for infected persons and their sex partners.) In absence of symptoms of a new infection, the chance of infection is very low; if the test is positive, it isn't necessarily related to the exposure of concern; and the tests are not 100% reliable, with both false-positive and false-negative results. Testing is a higher priority when the outcome is dangerous (e.g. HIV, syphilis), in which case testing is often recommended in very low risk situations; and/or when testing itself is more reliable (e.g. gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV and syphilis). As a result of these considerations, most STD experts recommend that routine testing in absence of symptoms be limited to these four infections.
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