Can I get HIV if massage therapist fingered me

[Randy92]

Hi, 4 weeks ago I went for a deep tissue massage as I am having a buttocks pain for 2 years. This was the second visit and the therapist (same) was 40-50 year old woman who claimed to have worked with an ayurvedic doctor for 12 years. She checked the area between my anus and balls and said some nerves have been tilted towards right and said the is what's causing the pain. Then without asking she put her finger in my anus and asked me to kneel. She moved her finger inside my anus and pushed other fingers against my balls for couple of minutes. I was shocked by this and at that time I didn't say no. But now I'm a bit concerned about that bizzar claim. What if all that was B.S about nerves around that area. What if she was an HIV positive woman and she made a small cut in her finger and deliberately put it inside my anus to infect me. First week after this incident I was having night sweats. And last 3 days I am having some blackish swollen lymph node just below my left ear. But no fever, vomiting or diarrhea. I am freaking out. Should I get tested for HIV.

[GuitarRox]

That's irrational to think a woman is purposely set up as a massage therapist and purposely fingering their anus with a cut on their finger to give them HIV because she's herself positive.  That's the kind of anxious thinking that if you do that very often, I'd talk to a therapist about it.  

Answer to your question is NO.  You can not get HIV from what you describe.  HIV is transmitted in very specific ways.  These include unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse or sharing IV drug needles. That is it. Air inactivates the virus.  Any cut on her finger would have been exposed to air.  No one has ever gotten HIV from fingering an anus or having their anus fingered.  This is not realistic  and doesn't happen.  You had zero risk and do not need to test.  

[Randy92]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I admit that I'm a bit anxious and probably overthinking. And I am not saying all the HIV positive people are trying to infect others. But what I am unable to understand is why she put her finger inside my anus because I had lots of massages in the past two years due to my buttocks pain and this is the first time someone put a finger inside my ass. I am a 28 year old guy.

[GuitarRox]

Well, that's irrational thought and you need to keep that in mind.  And it couldn't infect you with HIV.  Period.  So, you don't need to worry about that.  

[mike_no]

I am not sure what kind of Ayurvedic treatment this really is, you are better off not letting any one shoving their finger up your bottom. If you really have pain in your anal area, you should see a doctor for a diagnosis.

This is not an HIV concern unless this other person had a severed finger put up inside your anus. Small cuts and tears are not a risk. Practically, no one is going to deliberately try to infect you, that thought is irrational, if you always bothered with such irrational thinking, please see a therapist.

No risk. Testing is not recommended.

[mike_no]

*Severed finger that was bleeding profusely.

[Randy92]

Thanks for the reply bro. I have been experiencing a buttocks (right side) pain while sitting for almost 2 years which started after a gym injury. I met many doctors (most of them told me to ignore it), physios (didn't help much) and massage therapists. MRI show I have an L5-S1 herniation.

This woman was the only one who gave somewhat a different opinion (although I had doubts she was lying). At the first appointment she said my right buttock is a bit more forward and that's what causing the pain. The second day she said my tailbone is not straight and that day she said some nerves near my anus are also misaligned. That's why she put a finger up my anus. Now I am feeling ashamed I didn't man up and stop her and as a result risked my health.

You guys might think I'm overthinking but the thing is this lowback/buttocks pain has made me scared. Not everyone knows what it is to have a chronic illness. I get buttock pain when I sit at work, at bus, going on trips etc. That is why I'm scared of having to deal with another chronic illness; HIV.

[AnxiousNoMore]

"You guys might think I'm overthinking". No one here is going to change their mind - you had zero risk. It is time for YOU to listen to the advice above which will help you THINK this through. You keep repeating the same thing that happened instead of listening.
The good news is hiv science is 40 years old so researchers have studied every situation imaginable and yours is not a risk. You need to move on because you have wasted so much of your life fixating on this fear, and the best way to think this through is to see a therapist for a one on one discussion about the 40 years of science shows you are safe.

[Paxiled]

I'll leave the HIV stuff to the others, that's been answered.  There are many different forms of medicine.  Obviously, the reason for this is that nobody has yet figured medicine out.  If anyone had all the answers everyone would be cured of everything quickly.  Older forms of medicine look at our bodies differently than the newest form of medicine most of us are most used to nowadays, which is allopathic medicine.  That's what your doctor performs -- he or she listens to what your symptoms are and then tries to force your body to give up those symptoms, either through drugs or surgeries.  Older forms didn't have drugs or anything other than very simple surgeries, so they had other ways of diagnosing and treating problems.  It's very unlikely your therapist actually "fingered" your anus at all.  I'm guessing she didn't go very deep.  Where she went was still part of your spinal column, it continues all the way down to the tailbone, which is at your buttocks.  She was probably getting at that part of your skeletal system and decided that was pinching on nerves.  A kind of chiropractic called network chiropractic spends a lot of time down there as well, though on the outside of the anus, not the inside.  I used to know one and we called him Dr. Buttman because he spent so much time down there.  An adjustment with him might very well consist of him putting a finger on that area, and I'm telling you, I can't say it cured anything, but you'd get so relaxed he'd have three tables going and three patients sleeping.  So there is something to this.  It's akin to acupuncture points, which are all over your body.  It's not something we have double blinded studies to prove it works, but people have been doing this kind of medicine a lot longer than they have our new form and I guess they wouldn't have kept doing it if some people weren't helped by it.  Hard to say, we all like to believe our doctors are helping us even when they aren't.  Which is to say, she might help you and she might not.  I'm personally thinking it's more likely you strained a small muscle in the buttocks called the periformis.  When this is really bad you get sciatica down the side of your leg.  It's very hard to diagnose, as it doesn't show up on MRIs.  I had periformis syndrome, and because of it I can't ride a bicycle of any kind anymore or it comes back.  That might be your problem, though obviously I can't diagnose you.  But I'm with the others, to think you can HIV this way suggests you probably could benefit to defuse your anxiety ab0ut it by reading up on how it's actually spread, which isn't by what was done to you.  And also to suggest, don't be so quick to dismiss different forms of treatment -- nobody else has fixed it, who knows, maybe she's got something  there.  Peace.

[Randy92]

Hi @Paxiled, thanks for the profound reply. Like you explained at first I didn't believe that sciatic nerve went pass the anus area. That was the first thing I googled when I came home to check if she was telling truth or bullshitting me. But it turns out there are some nerves going through the anus as well. But what scared me was some of the weird symptoms I got; for the first time I experienced night sweats (although this could be due to the anxiety or the hot and humid climate in our country at the moment) for like a week. Then since last 4 days I am having a blackish swollen lymph node just below my left ear along with a mild sore throat. All of that added up into a scary "what if" scenario which increased my worries. Trust me I have been telling myself this is a highly unlikely scenario where the therapist has to be HIV+ and she has to deliberately try to infect me and and execute it perfectly (Coz I was wearing an underwear and did not see any blood stain). But somehow my mind has not been co-operating; I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and dont get much sleep like before. But I will try to listen to the advises of others and calm my.

And you were right about "nobody else has fixed it, who knows". I have tried so many things in the past 2 years and nothing has worked and I am so exhausted.  That is another reason that makes me worry even more; coz I know the pain of having a chronic illness and how it can change a person's life completely. Not many people understand about chronic illnesses; **** that doesnt go away after weeks or even months; not even my parents.

I have met with neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, got MRI (which shows and L5-S1 herniation but I dont have sciatica down the legs fortunately), got EMG test (which says not normal but nothing much) and SI-joint injections and L5-S1 facet injections. Tried physio therapy but didn't help. Only thing that helped a bit was deep tissue massages. So that's my story and maybe others were right I have been over=protective and created unnecessary anxieties. I just hope I can go back to having normal sleep cycles and live a normal and productive life again. Thanks again!

[AnxiousNoMore]

Randy, I suggest you post in the anxiety forum. fwiw.
This forum is purely for hiv prevention, and your encounter does not fit that criteria, so the longer you post here the greater the chance your thread will be closed. Peace.

[AnxiousNoMore]

My last post was in response to your inbox, however perhaps therapy is not easy to get with Covid distancing issues in which case you should just take a test to try to end your anxiety misery.
A duo test is conclusive after 4 weeks so you can take that test now then move on from hiv after you collect your negative result. You don't need to test conclusively negative more than once but if you are still unable to calm down after your test, then see a therapist.

[Randy92]

It has been 7 weeks since the incident but I'm still feeling anxious even though everyone has said this is a zero risk event and there is no need for testing. I searched the site for similar questions regarding anal fingering and found like 50 posts and for every single one of them, the answer was always it is a no risk event and no need of testing. There were instances where doctors have gone to the extents of saying even if there were cuts in both partners it is still o risk.
https://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/Anal-Fingering-Risk-with-anal-fissure-haemorrhoid-anal-blood/show/1906628?li_source=LI&li_medium=default-widget-bot
https://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/Anal-fingering/show/2073294?li_source=LI&li_medium=default-widget-bot

I accepted this answer of medical experts and tried to move on. However, there are some weird symptoms that keep pulling me into this nightmare. For more than 2 weeks I am having s slight itchy feeling in my upper body. My arms and chest are very dry, flaky and there are very small pimple like spots all over which normally come due to heat/sweat since I am living in a tropical country (Sri Lanka). I showed it to my mom and she said there is no rash. But today morning I see a dark spot in my lower back near the spine which freaked me out and hence I am posting this. I checked my temperature everyday which was always normal. I don't have any other symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting etc. But this black spot got me back in the anxiety roller coaster.

We are under curfew for at least a couple more weeks, so I cannot go to a hospital to get a blood test. My question is am I still worrying for no reason or do these symptoms mean anything. Just to remind all, my original fear came from the assumption that this massage lady may be HIV+ and she deliberately tried to pick her finger and infect me (which may sound irrational to someone). I am a software engineer so I have to WFH, but I can hardly keep focus while struggling with this nightmare. What should I do? Please help.

[GuitarRox]

The answer hasn't changed.  I would get some help for the anxiety at this point.  

[Randy92]

Along with these pimple like spots in my chest and arms, I get a weird feeling in my armpits. Its like there's a cut inside the armpit and when I move my hand I get this weird scratching feeling. I haven't felt like that as far as I can remember, at least not this long. It has been like this for 3-4 weeks. I swear I never saw this as a symptom, I don't know if it a symptom at all. I keep hearing my exposure has zero risk but why hasn't these weird symptoms disappeared yet.

[CurfewX]

Those aren't symptoms of HIV at ALL.  Besides, you never had a risk for HIV, so any "symptoms" you might have should be checked out by a doctor to determine the non-HIV cause of them.

[Randy92]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I have been told that I never had risk. But how do you confidently say that these are not symptoms at all.
1. Night sweats which started after 6-7 days from the event and lasted for a week (First time in my life experiencing this).
2. Pimple like rash in the upper body with dry skin.
3. Blackish swollen lymph node just below my left ear (This one I think is minor).

From the forums I have read, these seem to be typical symptoms although there is a vast spectrum of symptoms so I guess many of them would fall within that range. But as I have heard, rash is one of the most common symptoms even though I don't know exactly how it looks like.

And if some admin is thinking about it, please don't close this thread. I'm not dreading on symptoms but just trying to get thoughts of others.

[CurfewX]

Those aren't HIV symptoms, but most of all you had ZERO risk for HIV.  ZERO.  Kindly move on from this event.

[mike_no]

You have been posting in the anxiety and HIV forum for quite sometime now. It was suggested for you to see a therapist, did you see one already?

Perhaps, you are unable to deal with your anxiety and in such situation, an internet forum will be unable to provide the support you are looking for. It is time you make an appointment with a therapist.

We wish you good luck.

[Randy92]

Hi Mike, Yes I made an appointment for a virtual therapy session today. Thanks for supporting me in the past 9 weeks which wrecked me up completely and still has.

[GuitarRox]

There is a forum here at medhelp to discuss Anxiety (NOT hiv but actual anxiety) and have noted that it is supportive.  https://www.medhelp.org/forums/Anxiety/show/71  They can talk about anxiety as a disorder with you.  

[Randy92]

Well as you all know, I was told by everyone that my incident had zero risk and no testing is necessary. Then I consulted a therapist who re-iterated the same thing and added that I am a hypochondriac. Since the curfew was lifted, I thought of ending this anxiety and to prove everyone was right and I was being irrational, I went and had an HIV antibody rapid test around 10.30 in the morning. The laboratory lady said its an ELISA test and the result would come to my phone after 6.00 p.m. However it is 9.00 p.m already and I still haven't received any message yet.

What does this mean? Are they trying to verify something. Two years ago I got a rapid HIV test from the same place in which the result came very quickly. But today I might be going to sleep without knowing the result. I am freaking out so much now. Am I gonna be that one unlucky chap in 40 years to contract this disease in the most unrealistic way, to be the first ever documented case?

I am sorry if you guys think that I am not listening to your advises. But I am so worried and not sure whether I could get some sleep tonight.

[CurfewX]

Getting HIV has absolutely nothing at all to do with luck - good or bad.  It has to do with whether or not you are exposed via one of the WELL-KNOWN methods.  You're not going to suddenly discover, via yourself, a brand new method of infection after a 40+ year long history of this disease.

Resume therapy.  Stop testing.  You're only feeding your anxiety by testing for a disease that you cannot possibly have and then imagining that you had any chance of getting a positive result.

This forum only provides information about risk and testing. We do not provide anxiety support.