Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I recently became involved with a woman (about a month ago). We spent a weekend together. She told me she had HPV and that it had been ten years since her last outbreak.

She did not tell me how it was contracted and I, foolishly, did not ask. I am terribly scared of STDs and, as such, we did not have have intercourse. I assumed STDs could only be passed via bodily fluids.

We did however, pet heavily. At one point I was actively kissing the inside of her thighs, but NOT her genitals. At one point, she started to provide oral stimulation on me, but I panicked (given my assumption on STD transmission via body fluids) and made her stop. Later, she joined me in the shower. I am not sure, but it is possible that at one point, while we were hugging and petting, our genitals may have come into contact.

I am very scared that I may have contracted HPV. I have no signs or symptoms, but from what I've read on the internet that is not uncommon. Am I over-reacting? We did not have sex, but there MAY have been skin to skin contact. The problem is - is that I don't remember! I thought I was safe because there was no exchange of fluids.

She did indicate that it had been ten years since her last outbreak. Does that reduce my risk? How contagious is HPV? Could the contact we may have had in the shower been enough to infect me? How do you know if exposure will lead to contraction? Are there any tests I can get - everything on the internet seems to indicate there are no tests for men.

Please share any advice or recommendations!

Thanks!

Scaredman wrote: Am I over-reacting?

Well, pal....maybe a little!

Here's the deal: No one can really assess just what your risk is, but we do know that most HPV infections clear away over time. Most experts we've worked with over the years here would be of the opinion that HPV from 10 years back probably doesn't pose much of a threat. This cannot be proven, but that would be the prevailing opinion. Considering also that any genital to genital contact seems to almost have been incidental...

This too: most all sexually active people do get an HPV infection at some point but most never have visible symptoms, are never diagnosed, do not require treatment, and will be likely to experience the virus as a transient infection that's cleared naturally by the immune system.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Fredo

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