I'm scared I might have something you guy's

[Scary Cat]

I bought some earring's off of e-bay last month.Got my ear's pierced Saturday,took the piercing they gave me out and put in the e-bay earring after getting pierced.The lady who did the piercing told me it would be ok only if I did it right away,and cleaned the earring off.Because otherwise i'd have to wait 6-8 weeks.And I really liked the earrings I bought off of e-bay.And couldn't wait that long.Now i'm scared if the ebay earring was infected.What should I do?What should I do???

[jkinatl2]

There is NO WAY you can get HIV through earrings you get in the mail. PLEASE read the "welcome thread" at the bottom of this post to learn the transmission vectors for HIV.

[Scary Cat]

The only welcome thread I see is at the top of the forum.And why do you say I cannot get hiv through earrings recieved in the mail?anyway trust me I wan't you to be right,but I really am scared.I have a BIG appetite and I only ate one slice of pizza today,and I had to force myself to eat that one as well as drink a glass of soda.Followed by a breakdown in the shower.

[jkinatl2]

http://www.aidsmeds.com/lessons/Transmission1.htm


You get HIV from unprotected anal and/or vaginal sex. Thats it.

[Scary Cat]

You can also get it through sharing needles,Such as injecting drugs,Sharing Tattoo and piercing needles,as well as unprotected sex.I read this all over the internet.

[jkinatl2]

Yes, if you are an IV drug user. By "earrings through the mail" did you mean "shared works with another IV drug user?" Because unless you pass the needle, full of infected blood, directly from person A tro person B, there is not an HIV risk.

By the way, you aren't all over the internet now. You are on the premier site for quantifiable information about HIV transmission... Let me know when you have read those lessons.

[Scary Cat]

Yes I read the lessons.But if i'm not mistaken hiv travels through the blood as well as semen.So I had just recieved my piercing when I put the earrings in.Meaning I was still bleeding.Wouldn't that put me at risk if it was blood on the earrings from an hiv infected person?of course I didn't see it,but it still doesn't mean it was blood free.

[jkinatl2]

No. HIV does not survive outside of the body, except relatively briefly in a HOLLOW BORE needle. We're talking MINUTES there. Not shipping and handling time.

You had NO hollow bore needle exposure. You had NO risk. HIV is not the boogeyman. It is an extremely difficult virus to get even under ideal circumstances.

An earring is NOT a syringe. Even if someone with HIV had just taken it out, and you put it right in, both of you bleeding, there would be such a vanishingly small risk that it's not worth mentioning. The first person to get infected this way will, no doubt, get loads of medical attention. Because it is not a vector in infection.

And you got your earrings through the MAIL.

Seriously. I urge you to educate yourself about HIV. Learn what it is, what it does, how it works. The LESSONS section of this site is very thorough. I cann't imagine your reading it, understanding it, and then having further questions. It's THAT good.

[Scary Cat]

Thanks for your help man.I will still get tested in 6 months so I can be certain.I will also ontinue coming here for responces as well...

[Matty the Damned]

Thanks for your help man.I will still get tested in 6 months so I can be certain.I will also ontinue coming here for responces as well...

You don't need to test, Scary. You can be certain that you do not have HIV as a result of purchasing earrings over the internet because of what you've been told in this thread. Unnecessary testing is a waste of resources and clogs up laboratories. Incidentally, the window period for HIV seroconversion is 3 months not 6 months, but since you don't need to test it doesn't apply to you.

MtD

[Scary Cat]

Yeah I googled up if hiv can survive outside the body.And you guy's are correct it doesn't survive long.And I was thinking that earlier,but wanted to make sure.I did throw some of the ear healing stuff on the pair of earrings as well,since that does kill germs.But it would've been alot better if I bleached the earrings and let them soak.But I was in a rush,and people at work was knocking on the bathroom door.So I really had to put up a struggle with those bad boy's and get to work or get fired.So I didn't think about getting a disease until the day after when I was cleaning my ears.