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Author Topic: Oral sex and fingering  (Read 4734 times)

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Offline Zermithor

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Oral sex and fingering
« on: March 17, 2013, 01:27:38 am »
Hi everyone

If this is the wrong forum to post this in or has already been covered then please feel free to move this post.

I recently had sex with a woman who's status I didn't know. We did have protected vaginal sex. I also performed cunnilingus on her as well as fingering her. After I fingered her I put my fingers in my mouth.

What I was wondering is if anyone could please help with the following:

1. Is it possible to get infected by putting my fingers in my mouth after fingering her? I've read here that the probability is very low. At the time, however, my mouth was very dry. I did not have any bleeding sores in my mouth but I do suffer from geographic tongue. These factors have me very worried.

2. Similarly could I get infected from cunnilingus for similar reasons?

I would appreciate any advice on these.

Kind regards,
Zermithor

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2013, 02:57:44 am »
Rather than use my own words, I wil steal them from global moderator Jeff G -

Quote
HIV transmission doesn't stand a chance of happening via female genitals to mouth - there are just too many obstacles on the oral route.

The first obstacle is the mouth itself. The mouth is a veritable fortress, standing against all sorts of pathogens we come into contact with every minute of our lives. It's a very hostile environment and saliva has been shown to contain over a dozen different proteins and enzymes that damage HIV.

HIV is a very fragile virus - literally. Its outer surface doesn't take kindly to changes in its preferred environment; slight changes in temperature, moisture content and pH levels all damage the outer surface. Importantly, it needs this outer surface to be intact before it can latch onto a few, very specific cell types and infect. 

Which leads to the second obstacle. HIV can only latch onto certain types of cells, cells which are not found in abundance in the mouth.

The third obstacle to transmission this way is having HIV present in the first place. The female secretion where HIV has been shown to be present is the cervicovaginal fluid. This fluid is actually a thick mucus that covers and protects the cervix.

The fluid a woman produces when sexually excited comes from the Bartholin's glands, located on either side of the vaginal opening. I have yet to discover one shred of evidence (and believe me, I've looked) that shows this lubricating fluid to have any more HIV present than other bodily secretions such as saliva, sweat or tears. Saliva, sweat and tears are NOT infectious fluids.

So there you have it. Once the results of the serodiscordant studies started rolling in, what we know about HIV transmission on the cellular level was validated. The only people who were getting infected were those who had unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. Period. One of the three studies went on for ten years and involved hundreds of couples. That's a lot of nookie.

The symptoms with your health that you are experiencing are in no way indicative of a HIV infection and the only way to know is for you to test again at 3 months post exposure .
You can fully expect a negative result because you never had a risk .

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline Zermithor

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2013, 03:09:59 am »
Thank you for your quick response. Was just a bit worried.

I'll probably get a check in a couple of months to make sure.

Offline Ann

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2013, 05:52:55 am »
Rather than use my own words, I will steal them from global moderator Jeff G -

Who stole them from me (with my permission). :) :D ;D :P ;)



Zermithor,

1. No. Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body, as in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse where the virus never leaves the confines of the two bodies.

Once outside the body, small changes in temperature, and pH and moisture levels all quickly damage the virus and render it unable to infect. For this reason, any hiv-laden bodily fluids that you get on your hands and transfer to any other part of your body, is no longer viable and able to infect. You also cannot get hiv from objects in the environment, such as sheets, towels, doorknobs, cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons.... or anything else.

2. No. Giving a woman oral sex is NOT a risk, for the reasons you were given above. Getting a blowjob is also not a risk.

The only proven sexual risks for hiv infection are unprotected anal and/or vaginal intercourse. That's it. Wearing a condom during either of these activities will prevent hiv infection.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

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 the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO TEST FOR HIV SPECIFICALLY OVER FINGERING, PUTTING YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR MOUTH, OR ORAL SEX, 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. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann

Condoms are a girl's best friend

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"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Zermithor

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2013, 06:09:55 am »
Thank you for following up Ann. I appreciate the information provided.

Offline Zermithor

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2013, 02:36:13 pm »
Hi everyone

Thank you for all the responses. I'm much less worried than I was, however, a lot of sites I looked at like the CDC or TAC do say that transmission orally is possible.

How should I treat what these sites say regarding oral infection?

Thanks
Zermithor

P.S. Is it possible to get infected by masturbating after sex if a condom was used? Say 6 hours later?

Offline Ann

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2013, 02:45:30 pm »
Zerm,

If you want to know why certain websites leave old, outdated and in some cases, just plain wrong information concerning hiv on their websites, you'll have to ask them. I haven't a clue.

Of course it isn't possible to get infected from masturbation, regardless of the circumstances. Re-read the lengthy reply I took the time to write out for you. It contains the information on why hiv isn't transmitted through masturbation. (I'll give you a hint - masturbation happens OUTSIDE the body.)

You haven't had a risk. Give it a rest and go think about something other than hiv.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Zermithor

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Re: Oral sex and fingering
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2013, 03:05:23 pm »
Thank you for your help.

 


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