Can HIV be transmitted through a handjob?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have a question regarding the risk of HIV transmission from receiving a handjob. I recently received a handjob from a person whose HIV status I did not know, at a massage parlor. To my knowledge, I did not have any open wounds on my genital area, and I am not aware of any open wounds on her hand. I also did not notice any blood or visible injuries during the encounter.

Thank you for your guidance.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thank you for sending in your question.

Given the details you gave, the chance of getting HIV from getting a handjob is very low to nonexistent. HIV can be spread through direct contact with certain body fluids, like blood, sperm, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids, and breast milk, but only if these fluids enter the bloodstream through a broken skin, mucous membrane, or injection.

In this case:

The contact was external, and there were no visible open wounds(Injuries that break the skin, exposing the tissue underneath and making it more likely to bleed and get infected) or bleeding.
Hand-to-genital contact is not thought to be a way for HIV to spread, so even if the other person was HIV-positive, this type of contact would not pose a risk.

Unless there was significant blood exposure (which would have been obvious), you do not need to get tested for HIV just because of this incident. However, a general STI (sexually transmitted infection) is an infection that spreads from one person to another through sexual contact; screening can provide you with peace of mind.

I hope this answers your questions.

We appreciate your comments and use them to make patient care better.

Thanks.