finger injury

[dncnh77]

Hi Med Help,

Today, I inserted my finger in a sex worker's vagina for 30-40 sec.  I did not see any sore on her.

I am worried because I had a small 1mm x 3mm skin peeling near my fingernail due to dryness.  It is red, but there was no bleeding.

My finger touched her vaginal fluid.  I washed my hand after 10 minutes.

What is my risk for any STD?

Thank you.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The STDs that can once in a while be transmitted by fellatio from the oral to penile partner are gonorrhea, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU), syphilis, and herpes due to HSV-1.  The risks are extremely low or nonexistant for HSV-2, HPV, HIV, and viral hepatitis.

Absence of symptoms is strong evidence against any STD from an oral sex exposure.  So if you don't notice anything wrong with your penis in the next 2-3 weeks after the event, you needn't worry about it.

[dncnh77]

Hi Dr Handsfield,

Thanks for the reply.  The oral sex was performed by her.  I did not perform any.  Sorry for not being clear.  What are the infections you were referring to?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I'm puzzled why you would mention fingering in your initial question, but not the oral sex event.  Did your partner perform oral sex on you, or you on her? Oral sex carries a much lower risk than unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse, and is zero risk for some STDs.  But there could be small risks for some infections -- a lot higher than fingering.

No STD causes an itchy non genital area rash, so I'm sure that symptom has nothing to do with this sexual exposure.

[dncnh77]

Hi Dr. Handsfield,

Thank you for the reply.  I am less worried now.  But, today, I have an itchy rash on the right side of my neck.  I never had rash before (from my memory).  Do you think this is STD related?

In addition to the finger injury (which I am not worried about now),  there was also:

Unprotected oral sex
Protected vaginal intercourse
No mouth to mouth kissing

But, I didn't see any sore on the sex worker.

I don't have any pain with urination too.

Thank you.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.

Essentially the identical question is asked and answered very frequently on the HIV prevention and safe sex forum, probably an average of once a day.  It's a little less frequent on this forum, but still quite common.  You can scan the forums for other replies, some with more detail.

The bottom line is that fingering, mutual masturbation, or any other hand-genital contact rarely if ever transmit HIV or any other STD.  The STD bacteria and viruses are adapted to the genital and rectal environment and do not easily infect other tissues or body parts.  Although in theory the risk might be a bit higher in the presence of nicks or cuts, for practical purposes this makes no difference.  In my 3+ decades in the STD business, I have never seen a patient with any STD acquired by fingering or other hand-genital contact.

So there is no need for worry or for testing, and if yuu have a regular partner you can safely continue unprotected sex without any risk.

Best regards--  HHH, MD