Love, Sex, Etc.
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Digital Manipulation
All sexual partners must wash their hands before returning to work.
by Nikol Hasler | Friday 8/21/2009
Dear Nikol,
Last year I started being sexual with my girlfriend and she is the only person I have been sexual with. But I was wondering if it is possible to catch an STD when a person is fingering you?
Fretting About Fingers
Dear Fretting,
Your hands are festering germ spreaders. I don't mean yours in particular. I mean everyone's. This is why food service workers are forced to watch training videos on hand washing. This is why hand sanitizer companies are doing so well. This is why people are told from the time they are young to wash their hands before and after eating, after sneezing, or after touching anything that gets used by a lot of people. Not to say that your girlfriend got used by a lot of people, but hands need to be washed before and after sticking them inside of another person.
However, this is not because you might get and STD from fingering. While some sexually transmitted infections can be passed on from skin to skin contact, the skin in question would have to be already infected. This is why it is not recommended to get naked and rub your genitals together unless you and your bf/gf have been recently tested and given the green light. The Human Papaloma Virus (HPV) and Herpes can both be passed skin to skin, as can scabies and crabs. Unless the person who is about to do the fingering has just touched themselves and is infected, it is unlikely that they will infect you with their finger.
The thing to worry about if you are fingering a person and you haven't washed your hands is giving them a bacterial infection. Bacterial infections can produce the same discomfort as an STI, with stinky discharge, redness and itching. This is also why people shouldn't move from anal sex to sex without having a shower. I should also say that proper hand washing includes properly getting the soap off of your hands because scented soaps can throw all the happy vag settings out of whack and lead to yeast infections.
That seems like an awful lot to think about for something as basic as fingering, but if you just use the same hand washing techniques as you always should you can avoid itchy messes. And if someone is about to finger you, romantically whisper in his ear, in a not too motherly voice, “Have you washed your hands?”
- Nikol
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Questions? If you have a question for Nikol, you can reach her confidentially at lovesexetc@milwaukeemagazine.com.Your anonymity will be protected.
10 Comments
nicole says be first, so here I am being first.
Very informative. I had honestly never thought about diseases spread by the digits.
and by nicole i ment nikol
Two thumbs up.
Those better be well washed thumbs, John.
Hmmm. I'd never even thought about that, and I'm in my late 20's. I mean, I keep my nails clipped and short and my hands as clean as I can, but that's really quite good information to know.
Thanks Nikol!
I'm getting back into going on dates, and so it's been a while since I made love to another, I guess now is a better time then ever to get tested. I know I'm fine, well I'm 99.9% sure, but those days waiting for the results... not so much fun, well that and I hate the smell of medical buildings.
Why not recommend latex gloves? Besides preventing disease, they also prevent scratches. OUCH!!! Plus they're cheap and (to some) fun.
Just remember: Use lube. That's a good idea anyway, but it's pretty much necessary with latex because it's "stickier". Vinyl or nitrile are also good if either of you has a latex allergy.
They're in the "First Aid" aisle of your local drugstore. Enjoy!
Voice of experience
why does the last line say 'his ear' when the question was about a girl? usually everything on here is pretty cool about not being too hetero normative. I dunno, probably a mistake.
p.s. i know rubber gloves are safer, especially when there is a prevalent need for safety in the situation (ie random hook up, or some one has an STI and is trying to keep it contained, etc) but does anyone else find em kinda weird and creepy?
I also noticed the 'hetero' PC slip up..but some of us have it both ways.
As for the gloves, well, it ain't gonna happen. The risk is too small for such prevention. If you have open running sores then make an exception to that.