probably overreacting

[ncguy]

Two weeks ago I received an "erotic massage" in a hotel room.  The only skin to skin contact was with her hand, however, I'm converned that I may have caught something from the bedspread while I was laying down naked. About 3 days after I noticed a slight discoloration on the tip of my penis, and the same day had a STD panel test done (all results came back negative).  However, the spot is still there, and I have mild discomfort in my genitals that comes and goes.  I'm pretty sure it's stress, but the spot worries me.  I was planning to get another panel test in a couple weeks (after a month). If they all come back negative, am I in the clear?

Thank you so much.

[auntiejessi]

Usually in the hundreds or thousands - depends on the infection they are studying.  An HPV study usually has more in it than an HIV study, simply because more people are infected.

Aj

[ncguy]

By the way, I used to do research in aerospace where your studies and documented phenomena are in the tens because everything is so expensive.  What sizes of cohorts do these documented studies have?  Are they millions? thousands?

[ncguy]

I figured that's what it meant... My question was how often someone claimed it and wasn't believed.  It would surprise me if people didn't try to explain away a bad outcome using a more benign sounding mechanism just to save face.  I wonder if there's any information on when people claim this.  If the scientific hypotheses (1. stuff in fluids dies quickly outside of the body, which makes transmission via a conduit virtually impossible, 2. even when stuff is there it has to be in a large enough quantity and either injected into the bloodstream or pushed through an opening) are correct, then you wouldn't believe people no matter what they claimed, but it'd still be interesting.

And, yes, "humping" sounds romantic, but not quite as romantic as "getting busy." ;-)

Good night.

[auntiejessi]

Well, documented case means somehow its made it into studies, or some published article, etc.  The thing about sex is that most of the time, there are some blurred lines - many times, when one has sex, they are also touching, kissing, humping, etc (Doesn't humping sound so romantic lol?)

That makes it hard to determine sometimes exactly how something is spread.  In this case, it means no one has ever come in saying, "I am a virgin, and have only had handjobs and got herpes."  (Or if they did, no one believed it lol)

So yes, we have no documented cases, but we also know the science behind std transmission, and what we know determines that transmission via handjobs, inanimate objects, etc., is unlikely.

Would I say you had the same risk as masturbating in a hotel room?  Yes, that's a fair assumption.

Aj

[ncguy]

Oh yeah, one more question... this is sort of "fun."  When I read the two doctors, they both say something about slight theoretical possibility of hand-to-genital transmission, but no known documented cases.  What, exactly, does that mean?  It seems that someone with an STD would prefer to say that's how they caught it (as opposed to something more unseemly, like "I picked up a hooker and did who-knows-what with her in the back of a car").  Just curious how that can be avoided when documenting stuff.  :-)

[ncguy]

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. I just got home from a long drive.  I apologize if I'm being a pest, but I do have a couple other questions if you don't mind.

(1) I noticed another smallish, painless, discoloration near the opening of the urethra. (The first hasn't gone away.) I think more than a bruise, a better description is the way your lips look after you drink a cup of coffee but before you wipe the residue off with a napkin.  If it's not an STD, what might it be?  (I called and got an appointment with the doctor, but it's not until 12/11.)

(2) Is the encounter I described any more dangerous than it had been my own hand in a hotel, which wouldn't be unheard of on a business trip?

(3) I mentioned I came back negative on a panel test at 4 weeks.  Given the mild symptoms (the spots, the scrotal itching that is possibly due to the topical stuff) is there anything that another one at 4-6 months would discover that wouldn't have shown symptoms by now?  (I don't plan to get another one; I'm just curious.)

Thanks, and enjoy the leftovers!