Dry humping risk factor

[dogsaregreat]

Hi Terri,

I’ve been lurking on your site for a couple years now. Herpes unfortunately interacts poorly with some underlying anxiety. You helped me get a WB two years ago (false positive) and I really appreciate that.

Now though, my normal blood tests are soft false positives (I know because I asked my partner to take one and he was firmly negative). In the 1.9-2.1 range. I’m guessing my body just has a strong antibody response, especially because prior to my western blot, my HSV1 antibody number was almost surely positive (turns out it wasn’t, per WB). So I’m guessing having soft false positives will likely be something I simply have to deal with.

A couple of questions, if that’s all right:

1) The only way I think I’ll know my status is if I get the WB. But I don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a WB with every person I date. I am a single, twenty something year old woman in the city! I take precautions and am mindful about having conversations with partners, but since most people don’t get tested for herpes per the CDC, I am trying to find the balance between enjoying and living life and doing so in a way that doesn’t trigger my body anxiety (that, I think, is the true basis for my HSV2 anxiety. It’s weird.) I take precautions to minimize risk during sex, but no sex is truly risk free. Any takes on how I should try to mentally think about/proceed with this?

2) I was dry humping with shorts on with a man I’ve been seeing. While we were dry humping (he didn’t have clothes on but I did), my shorts slid bunched up in my groin area and I felt his shaft against the inside of my buttock for a brief second before I pulled back in surprise. No part of him touched my vagina, labia, or actual anus, just a very short contact with the skin an inch or so away from the outside/start of my anus. He hasn’t been tested yet.

What is the risk for acquiring HSV2 from the situation above? What is the risk of dry humping? At what point does it become risky? Thanks!

[dogsaregreat]

Oh, and I do want to add. He had no symptoms, I had no cuts, and his member did not touch any mucus membrane opening. It was just nearby skin. Just to clarify factors

[Terri Warren]

1) The only way I think I’ll know my status is if I get the WB. But I don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a WB with every person I date. I am a single, twenty something year old woman in the city! I take precautions and am mindful about having conversations with partners, but since most people don’t get tested for herpes per the CDC, I am trying to find the balance between enjoying and living life and doing so in a way that doesn’t trigger my body anxiety (that, I think, is the true basis for my HSV2 anxiety. It’s weird.) I take precautions to minimize risk during sex, but no sex is truly risk free. Any takes on how I should try to mentally think about/proceed with this?
Ask your partners to always use condoms – they reduce transmission by 96% from male to female.

2) I was dry humping with shorts on with a man I’ve been seeing. While we were dry humping (he didn’t have clothes on but I did), my shorts slid bunched up in my groin area and I felt his shaft against the inside of my buttock for a brief second before I pulled back in surprise. No part of him touched my vagina, labia, or actual anus, just a very short contact with the skin an inch or so away from the outside/start of my anus. He hasn’t been tested yet.
This presents zero risk of herpes transmission.

What is the risk for acquiring HSV2 from the situation above? What is the risk of dry humping? At what point does it become risky? Thanks!
None

You will likely always have low positives – in your case, you would be looking for lesions and/or high positives to be concerned about HSV 2 infection.

Terri

[dogsaregreat]

Hi Terri! A couple of follow ups:

1) Currently my last false positive was a 2.4. What should I read as a high false positive? >3.5? >5?

2) I was dry humping recently with the same partner, and there was a bit of penetration here and there through the pants. Which, I figured is fine. However, upon closer inspection, I realized his shorts were those almost mesh like basketball shorts. With small, circular breathing holes — nothing massive but also not microscopic… like small enough that he was wearing them without underwear, and you couldn’t see his skin underneath, but if you pressed your hand into the fabric, you can see bits of skin on the other side. The pant fabric was sturdy, but definitely breathable… I’m a bit worried. What’s the risk of transmission in this case?

[Terri Warren]

1) Currently my last false positive was a 2.4. What should I read as a high false positive? >3.5? >5?
I would say greater than 5 should be a concern. This is not a magic number – it is an educated guess.

2) I was dry humping recently with the same partner, and there was a bit of penetration here and there through the pants. Which, I figured is fine. However, upon closer inspection, I realized his shorts were those almost mesh like basketball shorts. With small, circular breathing holes — nothing massive but also not microscopic… like small enough that he was wearing them without underwear, and you couldn’t see his skin underneath, but if you pressed your hand into the fabric, you can see bits of skin on the other side. The pant fabric was sturdy, but definitely breathable… I’m a bit worried. What’s the risk of transmission in this case?

Regardless of the nature of the fabric, I don’t believe this presents a risk for transmission of HSV

Terri

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 6 days ago by Terri Warren.

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