Health: Do I Really Need to Wear a Condom For Oral Sex?
This is a question I hear every day while administering rapid HIV tests to clients. Most gay/bi men understand the need for condoms during anal sex (whether they want to wear them or not is a whole other blog post), but many question the necessity of wearing a condom during oral sex. So is it necessary? Let’s take a quick look at some facts and you can decide for yourself.
The CDC’s website has the following to say about a person’s risk of contracting HIV from oral sex: “There is little to no risk of getting or transmitting HIV from oral sex”. Further down the page it states: “The chance an HIV-negative person will get HIV from oral sex with an HIV-positive partner is extremely low”. Okay. So HIV is fairly hard to contract from oral sex, but what about other STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections)?
People love numbers and percentages. The number of times people ask me things like “I was sucking a guy off on a Tuesday, for about 5 minutes, and he pulled out, but then he put his dick back in my mouth after he came, and he was a brunette. What are the odds I contracted anything”?
I have no clue. That’s the 100% honest answer. Trying to find exact numbers and percentages on the odds of transmitting any particular STI through oral sex is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. Looking at the ease of transmission in broad strokes here’s what we know. Herpes and Gonorrhea are the most likely STIs to be transmitted through oral sex, followed by Chlamydia and Syphilis. Depending on the city and the population being served clinics have reported numbers from as low as 4% to as high as 14% for the percentage of particular STI cases attributed to oral sex. So how do you avoid a throat full of Gonorrhea?
You really just have one choice to make. Do you want to wear (or have your partner wear) a condom during oral sex? If yes, that’s awesome! If no, don’t feel too horrible you’re just like 99% of the people I test every week. For gay/bi men the idea of sucking on latex while performing oral sex is less that appealing. We’re adults and we all get to choose the risks we expose ourselves to, so let’s assume for a moment that you have no intention of wearing (or have your partner wear) a condom during oral sex. Continue to be tested for HIV/STIs every 3-6 months depending on your level of activity (Read that as number of partners). But instead of just peeing in a cup, make sure to also request a throat culture so that your healthcare provider can also screen you for anything you may have contracted orally. It’s painless and an easy way to find out if you have anything in your throat that you need to take care of. Nobody wants to pass STIs on to others unknowingly.
Hopefully this article helped answer the question posed in its title. Thanks for reading and may you have many great blow jobs in your future.
Cheers,
Ben, Health Coordinator at Equitas Health
Great information, I recently had sti and hiv tests done, I asked the health care worker the same question, her answer was pretty much the same as posted here. Great job in reporting the truth.
Condom for oral – FORGET IT!!! I would rather just jerk off! I have given and received blowjobs with a condom and it’s just not worth the trouble. If you are giving – the latex taste is repulsive. If you are receiving – you don’t feel a thing. So what is the point?
If you are that paranoid about a STD then you need to just go live in a plastic bubble!
Just want to point out that herpes is basically a non-issue. Up to 90% of adults have been exposed and the % that ever have complications are in the low single digits. So the main risk in oral sex are the three bacteria infections, which if you get tested regularly can be easily treated.
“If yes, that’s awesome!” So wearing a condom during oral sex causes feelings of great awe. Um…ok.
Well John that’s not true. The taste of latex is a subjective thing, so some people will detest it, and some people, such as myself, can tolerate it. However, your comment that you don’t “feel a thing” is plainly wrong. I’ve sucked off guys with a condom and they have indeed cum just as if they hadn’t worn one. Again, it’s how sensitive the wearer is that determines things, not a presumptive opinion that you feel nothing.
Thank you for posting a health related blog that is informative and helpful and not junk science. Considering most cases show no symptoms men should assume their partners are infected…with at least 1 thing nobody wants.
Don’t need rubbers for any type of sex. Bare is best. All natural. The way nature intend it to be. Give head, swallow. Bottom, take the seed. Top, plant the seed in deep. Raw, raw, raw.
Honestly, John’s attitude is disturbing and it is part of the reason why some gay males have a bad reputation. It is fine to avoid condoms for oral if you don’t mind risking herpes (which is incurable), chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis (which can be fatal), and yes, HIV (which is usually fatal). Although the risk for contracting HIV through oral is smaller, it is NOT absent. I think that getting any of the above is much more ‘repulsive’ than the taste of latex. Flavored rubbers are even available.
Perhaps some straight males say “FORGET IT!!!” regarding condoms for sex with a female. That’s why out of wedlock pregnancies continue to be a serious problem.
I have been sucking dick since age 14. That is longer then HIV has been around. I have always swallowed and I have never had any STD’s That said I won’t suck latex. The same goes for fucking. Fear brings it. So if you fear HIV you will probably get it.
And the dumbest comment in the whole entire world goes to…..(drum roll)…. Studski…for being a Dudski…”fear brings it on”..lol I heard God protects babies and fools…you’re no baby so that leaves one other category…