Aa
How unlikely?
I understand that the question I'm about to ask borders on the paranoid, but here it is:
My girlfriend and I are both in perfect health. My girlfriend gets cold sores. I do not. She gets them infrequently: perhaps once every 18 months. I have tested negative for both HSV1 and HSV2 after seeing her for a few years now. We're extremely careful when she has an outbreak.
She and I have not "gone all the way" in some time. We are waiting to resolve some issues in our relationship.
About a month ago, she and I kissed deeply and afterwards I performed cunnilungus on her. I also used my hand. She then performed fellatio on me.
A couple weeks ago, she started complaining about a single, painful growth at the top of her inner thigh near her vagina. The growth ultimately burst and crusted over. Her doctor diagnosed it as folliculitis and told my girlfriend, who has had some experience in the medical profession, that she had done everything right by keeping it clean and wearing loose clothing since it appeared.
At the time of the encounter, she did not have a cold sore and has not developed one since. So I did not worry about it.
But I did start to wonder if there was a connection between this lump's appearance and the encounter I described. From what I've read, this kind of sore can be caused by abrasions and often involve the staph bacterium. I wasn't rough with her when I used my hand -- to my knowledge, she did not bleed -- but the position was awkward. And I may not have had the chance to wash my hands before the encounter.
When I started wondering if there was a connection, I started wondering about worse scenarios: What if it had been a misdiagnosed herpetic infection -- herpes? The sexual encounter I described happened in the evening and that morning, she showed me a tiny cut in her mouth where she had bit her lip. What if she had been "asymptomatically shedding" the HSV1 virus and passed it into my mouth while kissing? And what if I then spread it to her vaginal area during the cunnilingus that directly followed?
I understand this is a lot of what-ifs and as theories go, this one is pretty thin.
The sore is nearly healed and I don't want to make her worry any more than she already has. I have suffered no symptoms whatsoever.
I understand that as these things go, many unlikely things are technically possible. It would help, however, if a doctor could tell me, for example, whether or not they have ever encountered such a scenario as a successful means of infection. What would be the odds in terms of percentages? Someone asymptomatically infecting their own genitalia by means of their partner? Laughably implausible I know, but remember the area possibly being infected has possibly been abraded enough to develop folliculitis and her lip had been abraded as early as 8 hours prior.
I understand it's paper thin -- I'm having trouble just featuring it. But how thin? Paranoia aside, I'm still curious.
My girlfriend and I are both in perfect health. My girlfriend gets cold sores. I do not. She gets them infrequently: perhaps once every 18 months. I have tested negative for both HSV1 and HSV2 after seeing her for a few years now. We're extremely careful when she has an outbreak.
She and I have not "gone all the way" in some time. We are waiting to resolve some issues in our relationship.
About a month ago, she and I kissed deeply and afterwards I performed cunnilungus on her. I also used my hand. She then performed fellatio on me.
A couple weeks ago, she started complaining about a single, painful growth at the top of her inner thigh near her vagina. The growth ultimately burst and crusted over. Her doctor diagnosed it as folliculitis and told my girlfriend, who has had some experience in the medical profession, that she had done everything right by keeping it clean and wearing loose clothing since it appeared.
At the time of the encounter, she did not have a cold sore and has not developed one since. So I did not worry about it.
But I did start to wonder if there was a connection between this lump's appearance and the encounter I described. From what I've read, this kind of sore can be caused by abrasions and often involve the staph bacterium. I wasn't rough with her when I used my hand -- to my knowledge, she did not bleed -- but the position was awkward. And I may not have had the chance to wash my hands before the encounter.
When I started wondering if there was a connection, I started wondering about worse scenarios: What if it had been a misdiagnosed herpetic infection -- herpes? The sexual encounter I described happened in the evening and that morning, she showed me a tiny cut in her mouth where she had bit her lip. What if she had been "asymptomatically shedding" the HSV1 virus and passed it into my mouth while kissing? And what if I then spread it to her vaginal area during the cunnilingus that directly followed?
I understand this is a lot of what-ifs and as theories go, this one is pretty thin.
The sore is nearly healed and I don't want to make her worry any more than she already has. I have suffered no symptoms whatsoever.
I understand that as these things go, many unlikely things are technically possible. It would help, however, if a doctor could tell me, for example, whether or not they have ever encountered such a scenario as a successful means of infection. What would be the odds in terms of percentages? Someone asymptomatically infecting their own genitalia by means of their partner? Laughably implausible I know, but remember the area possibly being infected has possibly been abraded enough to develop folliculitis and her lip had been abraded as early as 8 hours prior.
I understand it's paper thin -- I'm having trouble just featuring it. But how thin? Paranoia aside, I'm still curious.
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You are reading content posted in the STDs / STIs Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
