Many people believe, wrongly, that oral sex is safe. Unfortunately, this is a very dangerous misconception. Oral sex, just like vaginal or anal sex, puts you at risk of getting infected with STDs. That is why Doctors and other health professionals always counsel you to use a condom and/or a dental dam when performing oral sex. Let’s look at some of the STDs that you can catch from oral sex.
What can you catch when you use your mouth on your partner’s genitals?
Throat Gonorrhea
If your partner has a gonorrhea infection in his/her genitals, and you use your mouth on your partner, the gonorrhea bacteria can infect your throat.
Throat gonorrhea often presents as a sore throat that comes on about 3 days to 2 weeks after the exposure. Most people do not link it back to their sexual exposure and think that it is a run of the mill sore throat. Because honestly, that is exactly how it feels like. It’s only when the sore throat does not go away, even after several visits to the GP, that people suffering from throat gonorrhea start to realize that something is amiss. That is perhaps not just a run of the mill sore throat.
Throat gonorrhea is diagnosed with a throat swab. It is easily treated with antibiotics. The problem is if you use your mouth on your partner’s genitals while you are suffering from throat gonorrhea, you could very likely infect your partner’s genitals with gonorrhea.
Throat Chlamydia
Throat Chlamydia shares many of the features of throat gonorrhea. Just like throat gonorrhea, you can get throat chlamydia if you use your mouth on your partner’s genitals while your partner has a chlamydia infection in his/her genitals.
Just like throat gonorrhea, throat chlamydia presents with a sore throat. Although in throat chlamydia, the soreness is usually not as bad when compared to throat gonorrhea.
Throat chlamydia is also diagnosed with a throat swab and also treated with antibiotics.
Herpes
If your partner has Herpes of the genitals and you use your mouth on your partner’s genitals, you could very well get a herpes infection around your mouth. If your partner is having a herpes outbreak and has ulcers on the genitals, the chance of you getting infected is really high. However, even if your partner is NOT having an outbreak, you could still get infected with herpes. Albeit the risk is lower.
Herpes symptoms usually come on about 3 days to 2 weeks after the infection. The usual symptoms are painful blisters on the edge of the lips that burst to become a painful ulcer.
Herpes is diagnosed by taking a swab of the ulcer. Herpes symptoms can be treated with medicines. However, herpes will always recur. Although medicines can slow down the rate of recurrence, it can never cure the herpes infection completely.
For people who have very frequent recurrences, they can take herpes medicines regularly to prevent outbreaks from occurring.
HPV
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is a virus that causes cancers and warts. It is the most common STD in the world with more than 80% of adults having it.
If your partner has a HPV infection in his/her genitals and you use your mouth on your partner’s genitals, you could get a HPV infection in your throat.
HPV infection of the throat can lead to throat cancer. Perhaps one of the most sensationalized news on HPV related throat cancer is the famous actor Michael Douglas having it and blaming it on oral sex.
HPV infection of the throat does not cause any symptoms. For most people, the body is able to deal with the infection and clear it on its own. However, this does not prevent you from getting infected again.
There is not specific treatment for HPV. However, there is a very effective vaccine against HPV and is highly recommended.
What else can you catch if you use your mouth on your partner’s anus?
Using your mouth on your partner’s anus (sometime referred to as analingus or rimming) poses certain unique risks for diseases that may not be technically considered STDs.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a virus that is spread via “feco-oral” contact. It is usually a problem with food contaminated by food handlers who do not practice proper hand hygiene. There was in fact an outbreak of Hepatitis A in frozen strawberries.
A person who is infected with Hepatitis A secretes the virus via the feces. Even with proper cleaning, some virus still hangs around the anal region. So when you use your mouth on your partner’s anus, you could ingest the Hepatitis A virus and get infected.
Hepatitis A symptoms usually come on 2 to 4 weeks after infection. Symptoms can range from mild to severe. See this link for details.
There is no specific treatment for Hepatitis A. Patients are given supportive treatment and most people make a full recovery. There is a very effective vaccine against Hepatitis A and is highly recommended.
Amebiasis
Amebiasis is causes by a parasite called Entamoeba Histolytica. Just like Hepatitis A, it is spread via the “feco-oral” route and is commonly caused by food handlers who practice poor hygiene.
The parasite is passed out through the feces and can hang around the anal region even if your partner has cleaned the area well. If you use your mouth on your partner’s anus, you could ingest some of these parasites.
Symptoms of Amebiasis occur 1 to 4 weeks after infection. It can cause severe tummy cramps and even blood in the stools. What is even more serious is when the parasite enters the blood stream and goes to the liver. In the liver it can cause large abscesses that may require surgery to drain.
Amebiasis is diagnosed via a stool test and can be treated with antibiotics. Although advanced infections may require other therapies like surgery.
What STDs can you catch when your partner uses his/her mouth on your genitals?
Gonorrhea
If your partner has a gonorrhea infection of the throat and places his/her mouth on your genitals, you then could get a gonorrhea infected in your genitals.
Gonorrhea symptoms come on about 3 to 7 days after infection. It presents with pain passing urine and a thick yellow discharge from the penis or vagina.
Gonorrhea can be diagnosed via a urine test or swab. And it can be treated with antibiotics.
Chlamydia
Very much like gonorrhea, you can catch chlamydia in your genitals if your partner has chlamydia in the throat and performs oral sex on you.
The symptoms of chlamydia usually come on about 1 to 2 weeks from infection. It can also cause pain passing urine and a discharge. However the symptoms are much milder compared to gonorrhea. It is important to note that the majority of people who get infected with chlamydia actually do not show any symptoms. This is why it is so important to get screened for chlamydia regularly. This is even more crucial in women as a chronic chlamydia infection can lead to infertility.
HPV
If your partner has a HPV infection of the throat and performs oral sex on you, you could get a HPV infection in your genitals. HPV can lead to genitals warts, cervical cancer, penile cancer and anal cancer.
HPV can be tested for using a swab. However, Doctors can only test for the types of HPV that lead to cancer. There is no commercially available test for wart causing HPV. So if you have a test that is clear for HPV, do not be surprised if you develop genital warts anyway.
There is no specific treatment for HPV. Although there is a vaccine for HPV that is very effective.
Herpes
If your partner has herpes on the mouth and performs oral sex on you, you could very well get infected with herpes. This is true even if your partner does not have any obvious blisters or ulcers around the mouth.
Many people have a mistaken belief that “oral herpes” also known as Herpes Type 1 cannot infect the genitals. This is evidently false. Herpes Type 1 can easily infect the genitals. In fact one study found that up to 40% of genital herpes are actually caused by Herpes Type 1.
Herpes symptoms usually come on about 3 days to 2 weeks after the infection. The usual symptoms are painful blisters burst to become a painful ulcer. The ulcers usually occur in crops of 3 to 5. The commonest places for the ulcer to appear are in the base and shaft of the penis. Rarely the ulcers occur in the urine tube. This causes intense pain when passing urine.
Herpes is diagnosed by taking a swab of the ulcer. Herpes symptoms can be treated with medicines. However, herpes will always recur. Although medicines can slow down the rate of recurrence, it can never cure the herpes infection completely.
For people who have very frequent recurrences, they can take herpes medicines regularly to prevent outbreaks from occurring.
And what about HIV?
Now is time to address the elephant in the room. Can you get HIV from oral sex? There have been no proven cases of HIV transmission via oral sex. However, some statistical risk estimates still place a probability on it. Albeit a very low probability.
I have discussed this in great detail in another article that you can access by this link.
In summary
Oral sex is not safe. Safer sex practices like using condoms and dental dams have to apply to oral sex too. Unless you are in a mutually monogamous relationship. If you do develop symptoms after oral sex, please do see your Doctor. Even if you do not develop symptoms, it is always a good idea to get screened once in a while.
Have a question? Feel free to put it in the comments section below.
Or visit us at our Men’s Health Clinic.
Have a question but need more privacy? Contact us on our Telegram channel. You can also follow us to get the latest news on STDs/HIV and Men’s Health.
Men’s Health – https://t.me/joinchat/uj8HDPzLtpk3NTA1
STD/ HIV Channel – https://t.me/joinchat/83vmPfDJa205ZTc1