Giving handjob with wound

[Worried20241]

have a question. Is giving a handjob with wounds on the hands a risk for hiv transmission if cum lands on the wounds? Recently I gave a guy a handjob and I had a wound on my thumb from scratching the skin around my nails about 1 or 2 hours before. The wound wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was very red and also a little bit wet. Is this considered an open wound and a possible route for hiv transmission?
You can read everywhere on the internet that hiv is transmitted through open wounds so I'm wondering what is considered an open wound, deep enough to provide a route for the transmission of hiv.

[Worried20241]

Thanks for answering!
How long does it take until hiv gets inactive when coming into contact with air?
And what is considered an open wound for transmission?

[GuitarRox]

answered your question fully. NO RISK. even with a wound on hand.

[Worried20241]

Because in my view the wound on my thumb was open. There was no scab, I rubbed off a big piece of skin, the new skin underneath was very red and sensetive and the wound was a bit wet.

[GuitarRox]

answered. no risk. period

[Kirstie_MHModerator]

Please see your email inbox for a message from MedHelp staff.

Our forum does not provide support for anxiety, and your HIV questions have been fully answered.


********** THREAD CLOSED ***********

[Worried20241]

I forgot to mention that when cum landed on the wound, it burned a bit.

[Worried20241]

The wound also didn't have a scab on it yet.

[GuitarRox]

already answered. READ the risks. Does it say, hand job with wounds on hand listed as risk? No. Therefore, unless you do one of the three things listed as actual risks, there is NO hiv risk. Use this information for every anxiety scenario you come up with going forward.

[Worried20241]

I've read the risks, but it totally confuses me that you can read everywhere on the internet that hiv is transmitted through wounds. So I asked myself what is considered an open wound, deep enough to allow hiv to enter the body. Also: Why are there cases where for example someone got infected through a blood splash in the eye? I mean...the blood was also exposed to air before. Shouldn't the virus be inactive then?
I'm sorry that I am asking so much questions.
I've been anxious for days now and don't really know what to do. I am trying to fully understand how hiv is transmitted and how it's not. I hope this will help me to see things clearer and to finally calm down.

[GuitarRox]

There is nothing confusing about the risks. Your anxiety is the problem. This isn't confusing, you just have an anxiety disorder that I do feel bad for but am not going to continue to reassure you. You'll just get anther wave of anxiety and need constant reassurance. It's  how anxiety works. You've been answered fully. Seek help with anxiety to move on.

[Worried20241]

I'm really trying to trust the science and to stop worrying about it. Do you have some advice for me how I can stop thinking that I am a special snowflake who got infected in a way no one else did before? When I read all the other questions here, it seems absurd to me, that people really think they got infected through all these silly situations, but somehow I think that all of this doesn't apply to myself.

[GuitarRox]

Understanding that your worry and thought spirals are anxiety based and not reality based. Let it pass. Don't seek reassurance or research or fret or ask questions or overthink it. Say -- I'm having anxious thoughts again. And really, I think speaking with a psychologist is a great idea. They can teach you about anxiety management. And DBT skills which are coping skills for the bad feelings you have. Get some exercise. Do some deep breathing (breath in for 4, hold 4, out for 4, hold 4, repeat). That slows down the amygdala which is overactive. Take a cold shower. These things reset you. Stay busy, engage with other things. Talk to your doctor about an SSRI that helps overall.

[Worried20241]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I will try the breathing exercise today!
Unfortunately it is not so easy to get an appointment with a psychologist where I live. You have to wait a few months. But I am working on it. :)

[AnxiousNoMore]

Your situation involves personal contact with an object in air  (maybe blood, maybe cuts, wound, hand, etc. ) . You will be happy to learn that you had no risk, because you can't get hiv from personal contact except unprotected penetrating vaginal or anal with a penis, neither of which you did and you didn't share hollow needles to inject with which is the only other way to acquire hiv - there are ONLY 3 ways to get hiv. Note that 2 of them require a penis and the third requires a hollow injecting shared needle - there are no OTHER ways to get hiv. Analysis of large numbers of infected people over the 40 years of hiv history has proven that people don't get hiv in the way you are worried is a risk.
Hiv is a fragile virus in air or saliva and is effectively instantly dead in either air or saliva so the WORST that could happen is dead virus rubbed you, and obviously anything which is dead cannot live again so you are good. Blood and cuts would not be relevant in your situation since the hiv has become effectively dead, so you don't have to worry about them to be sure that you are safe.
There is no reason for a person to test when they are safe. The advice took into consideration that the other person might be positive, so move on and enjoy life instead of thinking about this non-event. hiv prevention is straightforward since there are only 3 ways you can become infected, so next time you wonder if you had a risk, ask yourself this QUESTION. "Did I do any of the 3?" Then after you ANSWER "No, there wasn't a penis in an anus or vagina and I wasn't injected" you will know that it's time to move on back to your happy life.
No one got hiv from what you did during 40 years of hiv history and no one will get it in the next 40 years of your life either.  You can do what you did any time and be safe from hiv.
The other person's status is irrelevant when you have no exposure to live virus.
If you still have questions about your risk, after reading all of the above, then it is because you didn't answer the QUESTION above.
If hiv was as infectious as you think then we would all have it by now because everyone gets cut lots of times every year.

[AnxiousNoMore]

7 people in the US get bubonic plague every year; the latest one was from their cat. Are you afraid of a cat giving you plague - no. You don't test for plague every day even though there is an ACTUAL chance you can get it, so your priorities are mixed up when you worry about getting infected from a hand which is something that has never happened in 40 years of hiv history - and won't happen in the next 40 of your life either.

[Worried20241]

Thank you very much for answering me! As I said I give my best to trust science and to finally stop worrying. I know, that no one ever got infected through giving a handjob, but as I already said: When I am feeling so anxious it is so hard for me to see things clear. I always think: "Well, maybe I am super special and maybe I will become the first person who got infected this way."
Anyways, thank you so much for your support! I am struggling with ocd and anxiety at the moment. I posted in the anxiety section of this forum now and I am hoping for some support. Maybe I can talk to someone who also suffers from hiv anxiety. Hopefully it will help a little bit.
Thank you very much!

[Worried20241]

And I like your comparison with the plague, haha! At least they are 7 people who get it every year, but there are zero people who got hiv from giving a handjob. Although unlikely it is not completely impossible that I will get the plague one day. But with handjobs it's different obviously...
I will try to always keep that in mind.

[AnxiousNoMore]

The first step to peace is to stop googling for death cold turkey. I have nothing else to add. Take care of yourself, and stay off google - there's nothing useful there wrt hiv.

[Worried20241]

Hey, unfortunately I am panicking again. 10 days after this incident I had problems with my stomach, I vomited the whole night and had diarrhea for a few days. Now, 22 days after this incident I developed a mouth ulcer. I am so afraid. Could this be ARS? Does it change anything if the guy I gave a handjob to was recently infected with a current high viral load? If he has a very high viral load, could a little bit of semen touching the wound on my thumb be enough to get infected? I really don't know how to calm down. The only thing that would help me is a negative test result, but I have to wait for another 3 weeks until I could get tested. Please help me!

[AnxiousNoMore]

The second step to peace is to stop studying your body, COLD TURKEY again, for symptoms of a disease you can't have. If you can't stop, then see a mental health therapist because no one here (on an hiv prevention forum) can help with your problem. You said you have OCD before, so it is a waste of your time reporting today's OCD issues here.