hiv from ear bud

[lalitva]

dear doctor,

i shared an ear bud with a friend of mine to clean my ear and there was blood on it as my friends ear was bleeding.
somehow by mistake i put that ear bud (cotton ear bud) in my ear.
also i have heard that my friend is hiv positive.
now the ear bud goes a little deep in ear and i have learnt that ear is a mucous membrane so i am wooried.
please let me know do i need to get tested for this exposure.

[lalitva]

thanks a lot doctor you are just amazing...

my best wishes and regards
lalit

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Sometimes an accurate reply can be given based only on the title chosen for a question.  Without reading anything except "hiv from ear bud", I can confidently tell you that you aren't at risk from such an exposure.

Now I have read the question itself.  The ear canal is not a mucus membrane; it is lined by skin.  This is not at all risky, even if there were HIV contaminated blood on the buds.

This and your previous thread on this forum suggest you are overly concerned about catching HIV via exposure to HIV contaminated objects in the environment.  This should not be a concern at all.  In order to assure you never get HIV, all you need to do is avoid unprotected sex with partners at risk, and avoid sharing drug injection equipment with other people.  Disregard any and all thoughts about ear buds, lancets, towels, shared bathrooms, etc.

Finally, please note that MedHelp permits a maximum of 2 questions every 6 months in each of the professionally moderated forums (see Terms and Conditions).  Since this is your second question in this forum in a few weeks, it will have to be the last before next May.  A friendly warning so you don't risk a non-refundable posting fee on a question that would be deleted without reply.

Regards--  HHH, MD