[Question #9725] Risk from massage

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29 months ago
Last week I visited a massage parlor.  I received manual stimulation and brief oral with protection (my memory is a bit fuzzy but I strongly believe that was the case at least).  Immediately felt cascading regret and anxiety that has lasted ever since.  Today I started to feel some itchiness around my groin and some slight pain in my urethra.  There are no visible symptoms / discharge.  I might also be suffering from psychosomatic symptoms.  

What do you think my risk is of any STI?  And when would you recommend being tested? 

thanks for any thoughts.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
29 months ago
Welcome to our forum. Thanks for your question.

Some questions can be answered nearly completely just from the title chosen by the user. Yours may be one of them. I haven't read beyond "Risk from massage" and then "Last week I visited a massage parlor." Neither HIV nor any other STDs ever are transmitted by massage, at least not without at least a "happy ending" that includes oral sex. Without unprotected penile penetration into a partner's vagina, rectum or mouth, there is no risk for any infection.

Now I hve read the rest. Guess what? Hand-genital contact is zero risk, and oral sex with a condom probably has never resulted in any STD, assuming the condom wasn't broken wide open. Groin itching and "slight pain" of the urethra are not STD symptoms, especially in absence of abnormal discharge from the penis. As perhaps you might already have considered, anxiety alone is a good bet for such things:  regret and anxiety over a sexual exposure are common explanations of minor genital area symptoms that otherwise would not be bothersome or perhaps not even noticed. I advise no testing of any kind. If you have a regular partner, you can safely continue your usual sexual practices without putting her (or him) at risk.

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

HHH, MD
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29 months ago
Thank you for this response.  If I wanted to get tested anyways to be sure, when would be the right time in your opinion?  And what tests should I get?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
29 months ago
Be clear:  if you were to test positive for anything, it would be from some other past exposure, not the one described here. But if you insist, have a urine test now for gonorrhea and chlamydia, and blood tests 6 weeks after the event for HIV and syphilis. I certainly would not test for anything else.---