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Risk of HIV infection in therapeutic massage
Dear Doctor,
I am a RMT (registered massage therapist) student in Canada, and I have been volunteering to massage patients in critical illness including those with AIDs and Hepatitis C. Every time before my massage, I would check my hands to make sure there were no cuts, and I was careful not to touch the areas with suspicious lesions or bleeding.
Today, after massaging two HIV patients, I realized I had a fresh painful cut on my thumb, and there were stains of blood on the sheet from the back of the patient. The patient's blood, or his sweat or body fluid might have got into my wound. I am scared I would get infected.
I was very worried and when I told my husband, he got worried too. I love to help people, but I won't be able to if I get sick. It's 3am, and I still couldn't sleep. Kindly provide advice if I'm risking to get HIV, and whether I should go for a blood test. Thank you very much!
I am a RMT (registered massage therapist) student in Canada, and I have been volunteering to massage patients in critical illness including those with AIDs and Hepatitis C. Every time before my massage, I would check my hands to make sure there were no cuts, and I was careful not to touch the areas with suspicious lesions or bleeding.
Today, after massaging two HIV patients, I realized I had a fresh painful cut on my thumb, and there were stains of blood on the sheet from the back of the patient. The patient's blood, or his sweat or body fluid might have got into my wound. I am scared I would get infected.
I was very worried and when I told my husband, he got worried too. I love to help people, but I won't be able to if I get sick. It's 3am, and I still couldn't sleep. Kindly provide advice if I'm risking to get HIV, and whether I should go for a blood test. Thank you very much!
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