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HIV from wound to wound
Hi,
An incident happened about 5 days ago that is worrying me. I had shaved off some hair from the back of my neck. I did not cut myself but the skin had become red like it sometimes becomes after shaving and it was feeling a little irritated. If I rubbed my fingers over the area it would hurt a little.
I was trying to figure out what happened and so I asked my roommate to check and see if I had got any rashes on my skin. He felt the area with his fingers and said that there was not cut although the skin was reddissh.
I then noticed that my roommate was occasionally rubbing a wound on his arm with his fingers. It was a partially healed open wound that was not actively bleeding at that time. However, if you looked at it you could see that it was reddish and a little bit wet.
I am little bit concerned about this occurance. As my friend was rubbing his wound just before I asked him to examine the skin on my neck (say just 20 seconds before that). Could this be a possible risky situation for HIV transmission? I know about the main ways in which HIV can be transmitted but it can also be transmitted from one wound to another (via blood). Although I am unsure if there would be sufficient blood/fluid in this case.
About my friend I can say is that he is of unknown HIV status. He has been quite careless with some things and I have been urging him from quite some time to get tested but he refuses to do so and continues to remain careless.
Could you please provide your opinion and advise on this as this has started to stress me a lot.
question
Hi, thanks everyone for their support. I did not want to post again but after the last post I felt that I may not have clarified some things
"You didn't even HAVE a break in skin integrity...only a skin irritation....there is no way you could get HIV...even if your friend had bled directly on that area and was POS. The skin consists of several layers....for protection. You didn't even have the top layer completely interrupted. The skin serves as an excellent barrier, which is why these kinds of things are NOT a risk."
I would like to say here that I think there was a break in skin integrity. (I cannot look at the skin patch directly because it is at the back of my neck and so I have tired hard to look at it with a mirror.) I can say that it did was not bleeding actively, i.e. when I touched it with my fingers no blood came on my fingers. However, it was grazed and hurt a little and had a few minor scratches (and little cuts like little red lines that hurt a little). I do not know the exact extent of the skin damage but one day after that little red spots (small lines) appeared that indicate that there was a minor abrasion.
So, I would just say that the top layer was interrupted. However, it was not a deep cut and blood did not flow out of it when I was grazed with the razor. Also, my friend touched the area atleast 15-20 minutes later (after I returned from the Saloon).
I am posting again because I felt that maybe I did not explain correctly that there were few minor cuts/abrasions on my neck.
nursegirl6572, thank you for your compassion and support both here and via pm. I did not want to post here and had sent you a pm. But I want to really get this over with and stop worrying.
"You didn't even HAVE a break in skin integrity...only a skin irritation....there is no way you could get HIV...even if your friend had bled directly on that area and was POS. The skin consists of several layers....for protection. You didn't even have the top layer completely interrupted. The skin serves as an excellent barrier, which is why these kinds of things are NOT a risk."
I would like to say here that I think there was a break in skin integrity. (I cannot look at the skin patch directly because it is at the back of my neck and so I have tired hard to look at it with a mirror.) I can say that it did was not bleeding actively, i.e. when I touched it with my fingers no blood came on my fingers. However, it was grazed and hurt a little and had a few minor scratches (and little cuts like little red lines that hurt a little). I do not know the exact extent of the skin damage but one day after that little red spots (small lines) appeared that indicate that there was a minor abrasion.
So, I would just say that the top layer was interrupted. However, it was not a deep cut and blood did not flow out of it when I was grazed with the razor. Also, my friend touched the area atleast 15-20 minutes later (after I returned from the Saloon).
I am posting again because I felt that maybe I did not explain correctly that there were few minor cuts/abrasions on my neck.
nursegirl6572, thank you for your compassion and support both here and via pm. I did not want to post here and had sent you a pm. But I want to really get this over with and stop worrying.
I've already explained to you, both here on the forum, and privately what would truly constitue a "blood to blood" exposure. You didn't even HAVE a break in skin integrity...only a skin irritation....there is no way you could get HIV...even if your friend had bled directly on that area and was POS. The skin consists of several layers....for protection. You didn't even have the top layer completely interrupted. The skin serves as an excellent barrier, which is why these kinds of things are NOT a risk.
HIV needs basically a set of near perfect circumstances to allow for transmission. It is NOT like the common cold...it is in fact a very difficult virus to transmit in reality. So, unless you have put yourself at risk by having unprotected anal or vaginal sex, or shared a needle (which would entail injecting someone's infected blood DIRECTLY into your bloodstream...not just the skin)...you were never at risk.
The barber shop scenario...also NO risk at all whatsoever! You cannot get HIV from inanimate objects, which is what a razor is. Plus, most barber shops, by law...follow very strict procedures when it comes to the cleaning and proper use of something sharp like a razor.
HIV needs basically a set of near perfect circumstances to allow for transmission. It is NOT like the common cold...it is in fact a very difficult virus to transmit in reality. So, unless you have put yourself at risk by having unprotected anal or vaginal sex, or shared a needle (which would entail injecting someone's infected blood DIRECTLY into your bloodstream...not just the skin)...you were never at risk.
The barber shop scenario...also NO risk at all whatsoever! You cannot get HIV from inanimate objects, which is what a razor is. Plus, most barber shops, by law...follow very strict procedures when it comes to the cleaning and proper use of something sharp like a razor.
You had no RISK put it behind you HIV is an STD its a very fragile virus it takes lots of it to contract it.. Forget about it you never had a risk
Hi, I must apologize to every one. Sorry for being so paranoid and troubling all of you. Actually two incidents happened one after the other and I just couldn't think straight.
Today, I've read a lot on this forum and have come to know that HIV is almost impossible to be transmitted from minor barber shop incidents. This has relieved me a lot and am really thankful to the forum for this.
I am just a little bit worried about the previous incident though. Please don't get angry and just try to understand what I have to say.
My friend had a wound(not a scratch) that was open and was partially healed. Partially meaning that blood was not dripping out (it was clotted) but there was no skin covering the wound and it appeared to be watery and reddish. My friend was rubbing this wound with his fingers and almost immediately after that he touched my infected skin for some time.
My skin was grazed by a razor. It was not bleeding but was reddish and had a burning sensation and had a few scratches (minor cuts). Could this scenario have any possibility of HIV transmission.
I promise that I will not post again and will try to learn more about HIV. But please help me with this. This is a sincere and a genuine request.
quesion.
nursegirl6572, thanks very much for the reply. I also thing that I am getting worried unnecessarily. Since it did not bleed (although there might be some minor scratches) it could be considered a minor skin irritation. Is it right?
I have one more question. Actually I did not get my skin grazed while shaving myself. I had gone to a saloon and there the barber while shaving off some skin from the neck caused the skin irritation. Now, I forgot to ask the barber to change the blade of the razor. And I can tell that from the place where I am some barbers would not change the balde unless you ask them explicitly to (and I am not mentioning this out of paranoia).
If the person before me was HIV+ and was cut by the blade could there be a risk of transmission by the graze. I did not bleed but may have a few minor scratches.
thank you very much.
I have one more question. Actually I did not get my skin grazed while shaving myself. I had gone to a saloon and there the barber while shaving off some skin from the neck caused the skin irritation. Now, I forgot to ask the barber to change the blade of the razor. And I can tell that from the place where I am some barbers would not change the balde unless you ask them explicitly to (and I am not mentioning this out of paranoia).
If the person before me was HIV+ and was cut by the blade could there be a risk of transmission by the graze. I did not bleed but may have a few minor scratches.
thank you very much.
Absolutely NO risk!!!! Skin is a very effective barrier against most ANY type infection, but especially HIV. You had no means to get infected, even with a minor skin irriation.
The "blood to blood" risk is not what most people think it is. In order to truly be at risk from this type of scenario....you would have to be massively injured, along with another person. Picture a car accident situation...two people with gaping hemorrhaging wounds bleeding on one another. That may constitute a risk. Your scenario does not whatsoever!
The "blood to blood" risk is not what most people think it is. In order to truly be at risk from this type of scenario....you would have to be massively injured, along with another person. Picture a car accident situation...two people with gaping hemorrhaging wounds bleeding on one another. That may constitute a risk. Your scenario does not whatsoever!
Hi Teak, thank you very much. I am concerned because the skin on the back of my neck was damaged. During the shaving at one point the razor was applied with a little bit more pressure and it had grazed the skin which had subsequently become reddish and I would feel a buring sensation if I touched it with my fingers. However, I did not bleed.
One day after that there were minute reddish lines at it became sort of a rash. But that could also be because I was constantly touching it with my fingers inorder to figure out how much I had hurt myself.
Could fluid from my friend's semi healed open wound infect the skin on my neck (as he was rubbing his wound just before he touched my infected skin)?
I am worried and cannot think straight. Sorry for such a complex post.
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