3 years ago I had a single encounter with an exotic dancer. Essentially she gave me a hand job with majority of the lubrication being saliva although she did touch herself a few times and place her fluids near my urethral opening for more lubrication. I got a complete panel a few days later and was negative for everything. However in hindsight I may have tested to early. About 3 weeks later I had a sharp pain in my penis and some

Mild irritation and I got a second sti test for bacterial stis and a precautionary round of medicine and a shot in the butt, but my bacterial sti panel was clean. Over the last three years I have had chronic abdominal pain, on and off mouth sores (however I do vape) and waxing and waning epidymitis. I’ve had two abdominal ct scans that have been clean and seen a urologist a few times about epidymitis and doesn’t seem concerned. However most recently I’ve had a bout of sever muscle cramping that put me in the er and the muscle weakness has lingered for 6-8 weeks. Doctors seem to think it was some viral infection that caused and aggressive immune response that is slowly working it’s way out. I also had a pretty bad bout of covid in end of may 2022 which they think also may be a contributing factor. I know that my risk was low and it is a single occurrence which makes chances even lower, but would appreciate your assessment/advice on your view of risks of my one time exposure. I am married man and the guilt has been following me for years. Thank you for your help. 

Some questions can be accurately answered based on very limited information, e.g. just from the title chosen by the user. If your only potential risk for any STI is hand-genital contact, almost certainly you are not at risk -- barring a surprise when I read the question itself with its details.

Now I have read your question. Guess what? You had a zero risk exposure. I see you also asked essentially the same question a few months ago, expressing concern about herpes. I agree with everything Terri said:  there is nothing to suggest herpes, and she also indicated there is little or no risk of STIs from hand-genital contact, regardless of saliva used as lubricant. Saliva rarely if ever transmits STIs; in fact, it inhibits or kills most STI bacteria and viruses. This is why kissing also is near zero risk for STIs, and oral sex is low risk for all STIs and zero for some. (STIs transmitted by oral sex generally result from exposure to bacteria and viruses in the throat, not saliva.) In addition, it's pretty much impossible to transfer sufficient amounts of genital fluids by a person contacting her own genitals and then yours to transmit any infection.

As for your symptoms, there is no reason to suspect any STI is the cause. There simply are no STIs that cause the complex of symptoms you describe, and I see no reason to ascribe any of them to the sexual exposure on your mind. Your comment that "guilt has been following me for years" indicates an obsession with an event to which most men, married or not, would not give a second thought. That obsession probably is what makes you worry about STIs as the cause of all you describe. However, in most cases, such diverse symptoms are not due to any infection at all, but to other metabolic or physiological conditions; or to anxiety and stress (which certainly fits with many if not all your symptoms). Even if there is an underlying infection of some sort, you undoubtedly have had innumerable nonsexual contacts with other people and the environment that could just as easily be the source.

So my advice is to not have any further STI testing, accept the truth that you were not at risk of any infection from your adventure with the exotic dancer, and keep working with your doctor(s) if your symptoms continue or you otherwise remain concerned. I would advise that if your doctor doesn't raise the possibility of psychological origins you ask about it yourself.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear. Good luck.

HHH, MD

Sort of vascular problem that is more magnified or noticeable on my penis. For instance my penis is much

More red during and erection. Any idea what this may be. I know again this is very low risk but has anything I told you concerning at all fromAn sti standpoint?  To be clear there have been no cases of hiv where hand to genital is the only interaction? Do we have any prob abilities in how unlikely that may be? Thank you again and apologies for the follow up 

For sure no STI ever does anything like this.

No need for apology! There's nothing inappropriate about your questions or comments. Better safe than sorry. Reviewing questions and replies at random, it's easy to get the impression that we come down hard on people with certain kinds of questions, especially when the risk of HIV or STIs is obviously low. But really, that's strictly for repeated questions and hyper-anxious users who are asking versions of the same questions for the third, fourth, or umpteenth time. With just one previous question on a different topic, you're not in that category!

That completes the two follow-up exchanges included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been useful. Best wishes and stay safe.