Oral Sex with Genital Herpes

[krogers85]

Hi I have been with my boyfriend for 5 months now and he was very honest with me from the beginning that he has genital herpes. We are very cautious and use a condom every time and avoid any sexual activity during an outbreak or even the possibility of an outbreak. I have tried to give him oral sex with a condom but it really doesn't do anything for him as he can't really feel anything through the condom. We are only with each other and are in a committed relationship so I am willing to do what I can to please him. How can I give him oral sex without a condom so that he enjoys it without having a high risk of me getting herpes? I am willing to do it without the condom but he doesn't want to risk it for me. The only spots he has had are 2 small spots on the head of his penis and nowhere else. Can you put some liquid bandage or something over where the spots have occurred to lower the risk? Or can taking valtrex or one of the other meds help lower the risk enough that it isn't a risk for me? Or can I do it and just be very cautious around the area that he had outbreaks in the past? Thank you so much for helping us!!

[petal130]

How was your boyfriend diagnosed with genital herpes? HSV1 or HSV2? Have you been tested to know your own herpes status?

[bobrope45]

The virus is known to shed through the entire anogenital area, so covering only the two spots is not very productive.

Is he on suppressive therapy? If so, the chances of transmission are already pretty low. If you're willing to give him oral sex without a condom, why not talk to him about it? He's probably aware of the lower transmission risk associated with suppressive therapy. Besides, catching oral hsv2 is much less likely than catching genital hsv2.

Take a few minutes to read this handbook about herpes - it has all the info on transmission risk while on suppressive therapy: http://www.westoverheights.com/genital_herpes/handbook.html

Keep asking questions!