Going to share some thoughts from the past decade of mongering. Playing safe more often than not, but sometimes succumbing to the dark side. Below are my thoughts - *I am NOT a doctor, and anything below is an average dude living and learning I don't encourage anyone to take risks and if my sharing below is deemed inappropriate, happy to delete and avoid this subject in the future.
I was recently asked by a younger guy new to the hobby about this, below is my response - "how do you handle risk of STI as I’m new to this and want to know if this is a serious concern?"
Yes, especially if you have an SO/wife that you could pass something to it will be very important to use protection. Couple points:
1) If you don't have herpes, you will almost certainly be exposed to it if you do this hobby for awhile - its just too common and can pass from skin to skin contact with an sore and on occasion through asymptomatic viral shedding (aka your partner may not even be aware). Interestingly, the Gold Standard Panel provided by Talent Testing Services for sex workers in the porn industry does not test for herpes (exposure is essentially assumed). It currently tests for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomonas, and syphilis. It does not test for the two most common STIs, namely Herpes and HPV (Human Papillomavirus), and by extension a pornstar can have both herpes and HPV and still be cleared for their next scene.
2) Your chance of getting an STI like chlamydia or gonorrhea is obv much lower if you always use protection. However, a lot of guys will insist on condom for the actual penetration but still get a bare back blow job (no condom). The risk of getting a bacterial infection from oral sex is lower, but not zero - see CDC guidelines. Gonorrhea for example can infect the back of the throat and be passed through uncovered oral sex.
I also noticed I had fewer issues when I was younger. Felt kind of invincible. Now that I'm older, my system is just more sensitive in general, sometimes a vigorous BBBJ is enough to make me sensitive/minor inflammation the next day.
When I started, I primarily used protection, but on occasion I went uncovered with one of my favorite providers. I dodged an STI for 18-24 months before catching Gonorrhea. It was easily cured with antibiotics, but was very unpleasant.
These days if I do go take the risk with a provider, I always have broad spectrum antibiotics on hand just incase. Azithromycin, Cipro, etc. You can look up the recommended treatment for many STIs online or CDC website etc. Now that I'm a little older, I find if I do take the risk, some kind of UTI or discomfort happens more often. I will usually take prophylactic dose of Cipro (500 or 1000 mg) right after the appointment to minimize the risk of incubating a bacterial infection. Research is coming around to the idea of a 'morning after pill' to limit the transmission rate of bacterial STDs. You can google Doxycycline as a morning after pill for STDs for articles about the research.
You can obtain many drugs online without a prescription (Viagra, Cialis, common antibiotics), but usually it means ordering from a foreign pharmacy and waiting for international shipping (2-3 weeks). It goes without saying that one of the risks with a foreign pharmacy is quality control. There are also now options to obtain prescriptions and STD treatment, including online consultation with a U.S. doctor, that may be more discreet than having these conversations with your regular doctor - if that is a concern or you. For me personally, I always felt uncomfortable making up a cover story with my regular physician to get tested or on rare occasion prescribed treatment. (random tinder hook up 4 times a month? sure!)
3) Just go in with your eyes wide open and make the decision in your head beforehand if you are going to ask for a condom. In the heat of the moment with a beautiful woman about to put you in it is supremely hard to resist unless you have made a resolute decision to play safe beforehand.
Last word of advice, there are many ways to discreetly get an STI test. For example I've used STDcheck.com to periodically schedule a full panel of tests for less than $$. Then you can simply schedule to go to a lab at a local Walgreens, Safeway, or other location that has a participating lab. It's important for my own piece of mind and at the end of the day if I do catch something I could pass on, I want to know so I don't get anyone sick. Usually have the full results back in 1-3 days. | |
