Ryry:
I am a gay male who just became sexually active this year. In the past 9 months, I have given oral sex to 3 different guys, the last one being about 3 months ago. They were one time hook-ups, they said they were neg, but I can't be sure. I did swallow. I did not have any cuts or sores in my mouth that I know of, I have good dental hygiene. I just swallowed as quickly as I could, tried not to leave it in my mouth. I have never had intercourse, either anal or vaginal, so in that respect I am a virgin.
I have been reading this board this afternoon, and it seems oral sex is low-risk to no-risk, but I wasn't sure what the stance is on swallowing. I knew what I did was low-risk, but lately, I've been getting worried about it for some reason and thinking about it a lot. Should I go ahead and get tested or is there no reason for testing seeing as how I've never had intercourse?
Thank you for any help.
RapidRod:
You were never at risk.
Andy Velez:
Ry, your saliva has over a dozen elements and proteins which very effectively prevent the transmission of viable HIV. From time to time there are reports of HIV infection through giving oral. Under careful scientific scrutiny and for various reasons they never seem to hold up.
There are ongoing longterm studies of sero-discordant couples, both gay and straight who had only protected vaginal/anal intercourse and lots of mutual unprotected oral. To date not one sero-negative partner has become infected.
Common sense does dictate that if you have a freshly gaping wound in your mouth or extremely poor oral care, that is not the time to be giving head to some guy. But then you wouldn't likely be thinking of doing that under those circumstances.
So bottom line is that although giving oral is theoretically possible, it doesn't happen in the real world of HIV.
Cheers.
Ryry:
Thank you both so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I will still test maybe in the next few months because I should probably start getting tested regularly for STD's, but you have helped alleviate my immediate concerns about contracting HIV through oral sex. Thanks again.
Ann:
Ryry,
The most common STI transmitted orally is herpes. Next is gonorrhea. Regular STI testing is an excellent idea, and given that you like oral, PLEASE don't hesitate to mention it to your health care provider so they can also swab your throat.
You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.
Have a look through all three condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.
Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.
If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results. Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!