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Received unprotected oral
I'm a 36 year old man. I received unprotected oral sex from a woman I didn't know very well, for about 20 seconds. This happened a week ago. A few days later I began experiencing tender, aching lymph nodes behind my knees, and in my groin. I also started to develop a consistent ache in my testicles, which seems to be getting worse. Additionally, around my anus has started to sweat excessively, especially when I'm erect or about to ejaculate.
I developed these same symptoms a few years ago after a similar unprotected episode, and they subsided with time. I got tested for all sti's at that time a few years ago, and everything was negative.
Does this sound like something sti related? Maybe prostate related?
I have noticed no urethral discharge, pain during urination, or any other symptom of an sti.
Thank you.
I developed these same symptoms a few years ago after a similar unprotected episode, and they subsided with time. I got tested for all sti's at that time a few years ago, and everything was negative.
Does this sound like something sti related? Maybe prostate related?
I have noticed no urethral discharge, pain during urination, or any other symptom of an sti.
Thank you.
I would be very interested in Doctor Handsfield writing a blog article on his experiences with Genitalia focused Anxiety and their physical manifestations. Seems like there's allot of that going around, and people are experiencing very "real" if not psychologically created symptoms.
I would be an interesting read.
I would be an interesting read.
Thanks Doctor, take care
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the follow-up. However, this information doesn't change my opinion or advice. I'm confident you had no STD and, assuming all your specific STD test results are negative, would not have treated you as he did. That's not a criticism of the decision, really -- this is a legitimate area of clinical judgment. My guess is he treated you more at your insistance and to assuage your worry than out of any belief there was a serious chance you were infected. Probably I would have just been less susceptible to your charms than he was!
It is true that trichomoniasis does not infect the mouth and therefore cannot be acquired by oral sex.
At this point, there is no reason you should not resume unprotected sex with your wife, without waiting for any further test results. For sure you should not be tested for HSV -- the chance of a misleading test result (just scan this forum for all sorts of stories about it) is far higher than the chance you caught HSV. If you want to have HIV and syphilis testing, it's fine with me -- these of course are normal in evaluating anyone for STD -- but if I were in your situation, I would for sure resume sex with my wife without awaiting those results, which will be negative.
That will wind up this thread. Best wishes.
It is true that trichomoniasis does not infect the mouth and therefore cannot be acquired by oral sex.
At this point, there is no reason you should not resume unprotected sex with your wife, without waiting for any further test results. For sure you should not be tested for HSV -- the chance of a misleading test result (just scan this forum for all sorts of stories about it) is far higher than the chance you caught HSV. If you want to have HIV and syphilis testing, it's fine with me -- these of course are normal in evaluating anyone for STD -- but if I were in your situation, I would for sure resume sex with my wife without awaiting those results, which will be negative.
That will wind up this thread. Best wishes.
Thanks very much Doctor. I saw a physician yesterday as per your advice, and got tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia. I began to notice a small amount of urethral discharge in the morning, although my doctor suggested it could be "precum" or naturally occurring fluid. To be safe, he treated me with a shot of ceftriaxone, 1g of azithromycin, and 4 pills of tinidazole (although I thought it wasn't possible to get trichomonas from a brief receipt of only oral sex like I described.)
In the absence of any sores or bumps, do you recommend abstaining from unprotected sex with my regular partner until 6 weeks have elapsed, for a blood test for syphilis, herpes, and HIV to be conclusive? From reading the forum, it's my understanding that syphilis would be covered under the treatment I received anyway, and that my physician is being overly cautious in suggesting that herpes and HIV are risks. Again, it was only about 20 seconds of unprotected oral I received from a non-sex worker. Thanks again!
In the absence of any sores or bumps, do you recommend abstaining from unprotected sex with my regular partner until 6 weeks have elapsed, for a blood test for syphilis, herpes, and HIV to be conclusive? From reading the forum, it's my understanding that syphilis would be covered under the treatment I received anyway, and that my physician is being overly cautious in suggesting that herpes and HIV are risks. Again, it was only about 20 seconds of unprotected oral I received from a non-sex worker. Thanks again!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question. It's a common one, and I'm taking this opportunity for a fairly detailed, blog-like resply that I can save for responses to future questions on the topic.
Oral sex, even unprotected, is low risk for all STDs and virtually zero risk for some of them. Further, the STDs that can plausibly be acquired by oral to penile/urethral transmission have a limited spectrum of possible symptoms. These include urethral discharge, urethral pain or tingling which generally manifests as painful urination (rarely by itself, only with discharge), and various kinds of skin lesions at the site of exposure -- principally blisters or sores of herpes or the generally painless ulcer of primary syphilis. A syphilis lesion typically begins after 2-4 weeks; all the other symptoms would generally appear from 3 to 14 days after exposure.
Your symptoms therefore are not consistent with any known STD. The groin pain and testicular aching, however, are typical for genitally focused anxiety, which is common after a regretted sexual exposure. The pain behind your knees (whether or not you actually have lymph node inflammation) and the anal sweating are a little less certain, but my guess is these also are physical manifestations of anxiety. The mechanism of the testicular and groin pain, and sometimes abdominal or low back pain, is believed to be heightened tension in internal pelvic muscles -- not unlike the mechanism of tension headaches. That you had an similar syndrome after a similar sexual exposure also fits well with this possibility.
Could the prostate be involved? Probably not. However, the symptoms of prostatitis are similar. All this is also similar to the chronic pelvic pain syndrome, which overlaps with non-infectious prostatitis; do a google search and start your reading with the very good wikipedia article and/or the excellent information from the Stanford University Dept of Urology. Although the "chronic" part (generally meaning duration at least 3 months) doesn't fit with early onset of symptoms due to genitally focused anxiety, a similar mechanism may is involved, i.e. pelvic muscle tension. (The relationship between acute anxiety-related pain and later CPPS has not been studied, but it is plausible -- and my personal belief -- that they are closely related.)
If your symptoms continue another week or more, or of course if you begin to have urethral discharge or uncomfortable urination, see a physician. If you do, I imagine s/he would recommend STD testing -- but I'm confident any and all STD tests would be negative and that you'll need to look to other causes, whether anxiety/CPPS or something else.
In the meantime, try not to worry. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that problems like this ever are serious, either in the short term or the long run -- i.e. no important health problems, aside from the discomfort itself, for either affected men or their current or future sex partners.
I hope these comments have been helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
Best regards-- HHH, MD
Oral sex, even unprotected, is low risk for all STDs and virtually zero risk for some of them. Further, the STDs that can plausibly be acquired by oral to penile/urethral transmission have a limited spectrum of possible symptoms. These include urethral discharge, urethral pain or tingling which generally manifests as painful urination (rarely by itself, only with discharge), and various kinds of skin lesions at the site of exposure -- principally blisters or sores of herpes or the generally painless ulcer of primary syphilis. A syphilis lesion typically begins after 2-4 weeks; all the other symptoms would generally appear from 3 to 14 days after exposure.
Your symptoms therefore are not consistent with any known STD. The groin pain and testicular aching, however, are typical for genitally focused anxiety, which is common after a regretted sexual exposure. The pain behind your knees (whether or not you actually have lymph node inflammation) and the anal sweating are a little less certain, but my guess is these also are physical manifestations of anxiety. The mechanism of the testicular and groin pain, and sometimes abdominal or low back pain, is believed to be heightened tension in internal pelvic muscles -- not unlike the mechanism of tension headaches. That you had an similar syndrome after a similar sexual exposure also fits well with this possibility.
Could the prostate be involved? Probably not. However, the symptoms of prostatitis are similar. All this is also similar to the chronic pelvic pain syndrome, which overlaps with non-infectious prostatitis; do a google search and start your reading with the very good wikipedia article and/or the excellent information from the Stanford University Dept of Urology. Although the "chronic" part (generally meaning duration at least 3 months) doesn't fit with early onset of symptoms due to genitally focused anxiety, a similar mechanism may is involved, i.e. pelvic muscle tension. (The relationship between acute anxiety-related pain and later CPPS has not been studied, but it is plausible -- and my personal belief -- that they are closely related.)
If your symptoms continue another week or more, or of course if you begin to have urethral discharge or uncomfortable urination, see a physician. If you do, I imagine s/he would recommend STD testing -- but I'm confident any and all STD tests would be negative and that you'll need to look to other causes, whether anxiety/CPPS or something else.
In the meantime, try not to worry. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that problems like this ever are serious, either in the short term or the long run -- i.e. no important health problems, aside from the discomfort itself, for either affected men or their current or future sex partners.
I hope these comments have been helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
Best regards-- HHH, MD
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
