I am considering quitting hobbying because of the STD risk. I read that 1/5 adult Americans have Herpes. It's hard to imagine that most providers don't. Am I worrying too much?

I can live without BBBJ. I might limit myself to AMPs. Does this bother you? Have you got yourself tested? What precautions do you take?

As for getting tested, this should really be a no brainer. YES! GET TESTED REGULARLY.  No matter who you're getting busy with, if you regularly have more than one sexual partner, you need to be getting tested. That's just some good old fashioned 8th grade Sex-Ed common sense lol.  

As far as what precautions you should be taking? All the obvious ones.  Wrap it up: every orifice, every time.  Run for the hills if anything looks or smells suspicious, gross, or funky. Get tested regularly. Don't have sex with someone when *you're* sick. Don't have sex with someone who looks like *they're* sick. For most people, that should be enough.  

But if you're still worried, I think you already answered your own question about what you should do

Risk with providers versus overall risk, providers who are not working to support a drug habit (most escorts) have a lower incidence of all STDs than the general population.  Google it.

Reasons?
This is our job- artists take better care of their brushes. Generally.
If we see anything questionable, we're out.  Whereas many girls would keep quiet to keep from "offending" a boyfriend.
We don't get so swept up in lust or love that we just skip protection.

Since herpes is permanent, and escorts had lives before work, you're probably still at the 1 in 5.  If that worries you, looking is your best protection, and asking for all services to be covered isn't offensive in the least.

what risks you are willing to take.

People are at risk of catching some type of disease, no matter how transmitted, by the mere fact of being alive. Life IS risk of disease.

You can catch a "sexually transmitted disease" by means other than sexual activity, just as you can catch "other diseases" through sexual contact.  

Herpes type 1 (HSV-1), the virus that primarily causes cold sores, infects somewhere between 70 and 90% of the world's population. It is spread primarily mouth to mouth by kissing, and most often from family member to family member or friend to friend. Your lifetime risk of contracting HSV-1 is almost literally unaffected by sexual activity, and approaches darn near 100%.

The transmission rate, and the risk of infection, involved with Herpes type 2 (HSV-2) is about 4 to 5 times less than that of HSV-1. It is simply less easily transmitted.

HSV-1 and HSV-2 are both spread by skin to skin contact, and can be spread between various body sites. They are only "STDs" in the sense that they can occur on the genitals through contact with the genitals (genital to genital, mouth to genital, hand to genital).  

A more practical risk assessment:  The risk of herpes transmission is (roughly) 1 in 100 occurrences. If your partner is on anti-viral therapy, the risk is about 1 in 10,000 occurrences. In other words, if you choose a woman at random and raw dog it you will contract genital herpes once in 10,000 occurrences assuming she is on anti-viral therapy. Cover up and the risk is lower by a factor of 10 or more - 1 in 100,000 sexual liaisons.  

Covering up is your best defense against contracting herpes (and any other STI). Your risk drops by a factor of between 10 and 100. Testing cannot prevent anything directly, however it can indicate if you are infected - thus, allowing you to take additional precautions like use of anti-viral therapy to reduce the chances of passing it on to another.

If you interact in any way with real, live people - you are at risk of contracting a disease. If you have sex with real, live people - you are at risk of contracting a disease. In both cases, simple precautions like washing your hands, covering your nose when you sneeze and covering your tallywhacker when you indulge, avoiding contact when you are at risk of spreading something to another and taking meds when you need them... these are the most effective things any of us can do to reduce the risks to ourselves and others.  

We all have to make our own choices... hopefully, we do so in an informed manner and don't let our fears become irrational or ruin our enjoyment of life.

I take STDs seriously, avoid higher risk activities, and get tested regularly. But almost all sources that I read say that BBBJ is fairly low on the risk scale for both participants (especially if giver spits asap & not swallows). Skim through TER reviews and majority of providers do CIM, and I have assumed that most mongers request BBBJ whether or not to completion. Am I wrong?

-- Modified on 6/17/2015 12:46:31 PM

how do you wrap that?

I am questioning the advice to wrap a BJ. Wondering if my assumption is incorrect, that most of us go BBBJ.

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Your bare feet are hanging out. You want the embarrassment of toe herpes? How you gonna type?

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aren't they breathing the same air?

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maybe 3 in 5 is reality..most people have it and they do not know it because they are not symptomatic

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Every good memory I have began with me doing something I should not have done.

Be careful, wear condoms, and get yourself checked regularly. Although with the Herp, all that is going to do is let you know your hobbying days are done.

For the record, I had a girlfriend in college for over a year who had herpes.  We were careful and I never caught it.  Today she is married with two kids. Her husband never caught it and her kids never caught it. YES I asked! I am a rude fucker sometimes. LOL

 
don't let the boogey man scare you too much.

I tried to make an appointment with a testing center that seems to cater to people "in the industry" last week.  Gal on the phone said that I had to come in with an Rx from an MD.

For obvious reasons, I'd prefer to keep my primary care physician out of this.  How do I get an Rx?  How much would it cost to get an Rx from a doc-in-the-box?

I'm sure the ladies know the ins and outs here pretty well...any hints, please?

There's been plenty of threads on the usual testing options including gay counseling centers, planned parenthood, and internet vendors.  Personally I hated my experience at planned parenthood and their demands for personal identification information made me very nervous. Been to a few gay centers, or I should say originally gay centers, and it's ok, kind of amusing. Some women in the waiting rooms with me kind of seemed to be street walkers or BP types, and some guys seemed to really really not want to make any eye contact.

There's two types of herpes. There's HSV-1, or "mouth" herpes, that pretty much includes anyone who's ever had a mouth/cold sore. If you've ever had a sore in your mouth/on your lip, you have herpes, period. It spreads through mucous, saliva, or sharing a toothbrush/utensil/plates etc.  

The "scary" type of herpes, Genital Herpes, is usually caused by the second strain (HSV-2), though in some circumstances HSV-1 strain can still cause genital sores. HSV-2 is by far the predominant cause of genital herpes, with sores in the groin area. Again, it is still very common, with 1 in 5 having it in the US. Most people who have it dont' even realize it, as some never have symptoms, and others, after the initial outbreak, will have at most an outbreak every year or two.

Herpes doesn't bother me at all. Hell, an allergy is probably harder to deal with/riskier to your health than herpes. The only serious health risk it poses is to pregnant women in their third trimester, and even that is a very low chance risk .

Again, it's a personal choice, and any of us in the hobby realize and accept the risk