Bought fleshlight may have been used by someone else

[waltbenji]

Hi Teak/fellow experts,

I am from singapore. What happen is I am realy frightened by a potential exposure i have. I had bought a sex toy called a fleshlight (artifical vagina) from an adult store(afraid the store looks dubious). I washed the exterior and interior with slightly hot water and dettol/hand soap for around 10 minutes and inserted my penis in it to masturbate. What i am afraid now is if someone else( eg the store owner) had used it previously and  there was hiv semen in it  and even after washing hiv could survive in airtight porous skin of fleshlight. Please advice whether hiv virus can survive in the fleshlight and whether i had a risk and should be tested and require PEP?

[Randall40]

Final answer , you never had a risk so why would you test for no risk? You are extremely over run by paranoia I suggest you see a counselor right away .

Randall

[waltbenji]

My incident occured on 1 jan 2017. Do i have to get tested?

[waltbenji]

Sorry My paranoia is in overdrive. Because i read according to aids@vancouver helpline there was a potential risk when sharing sex toys even when toys were exposed to air outside human tissue? How come the helpline states there is a risk?

I am just afraid that the virus woukd still have survive. Sorry for the trouble but could you advice.

[AnxiousNoMore]

You will have to deal with your source if you don't accept the advice you get here. This is not a research chatline so we don't compare notes with unknown sources for validity, since the science is 40 years old and can't change.

[waltbenji]

So what you are saying it means my fleshlight incident was definitely no risk as the virus cant survive even in semen once in contact with a silicone surface? The only exception is if it were in trapped in blood in airtight place like needle or syringe or lab controlled environment?

[CurfewX]

You cannot get HIV this way.  HIV becomes unable to infect once it is outside of a living host (a body).

Avoid having unprotected anal or vaginal sex, and sharing IV needles, and you will NEVER have to worry about HIV.

[Randall40]

The fact that its porous silicone changes nothing. It is not human tissue . Let's pretend the fleshlight is air tight as you said.. Still the problem is again it's not human tissue nor are the temperatures conducive to survival of the virus. Even in lab tests in controlled environments studies have shown in blood it could only survive for a matter of seconds to a minute. Good luck !

Randall

[waltbenji]

Hi all,

Need your help on this, can someone give me an answer? Am feeling really anxious about this incident

[waltbenji]

Hi randall forgot to add the fleshlight is made from cyberskin, silicone like material.

[waltbenji]

Hi Randall, thank you so much for your quick response. I dont mean to freak out but what if there was hiv in the porous skin of the fleshlight and the dettol/water could not get to the virus( it is cyber skin so its porous).

I read this link porous surface can provide airtight places where the hiv can survive.

Can i ask does this change your assessment that there is no risk even if someone else had used it before and there is hiv in the air tight porous surface of the fleshlight?

And how long does hiv lose its infectiousness outside human body if there is no contact with air? Please pardon my ignorance as i am really worried.

[Randall40]

Firstly, it seems unlikely to me that someone would use this , then neatly put it back in its packaging so that you could catch a disease from it. Next the answer is if all of this were possible ... You still would not have HIV . HIV cannot survive in open air or on rubber inanimate objects .. You have have no risk at all.

[waltbenji]

Please give advice someone!! I cant seem to stop thinking about this! Thanks