Question

Do I need an HIV test after sex with a condom?

18 July 2006. Related: All topics, HIV testing, HIV transmission.

Hi there, please could you answer my question as it is tearing me apart with worry.

Approx two days ago i paid a woman to have sex in Nottingham (UK). I was extremely stupid to do this as i have a beautiful wife and three amazing children.

I was very drunk at the time and the woman firstly put on a condom on my penis and then gave me oral sex, after which we had penetrative sex in the vagina from behind.

Although the condom stayed on throughout the whole experience, my main worry is that i was not fully erect at any point in the whole experience as i was drunk. My penis was not fully erect during the penetration. the prostitute squeezed on the base of my penis whilst penetration (i think she did that to get me more erect). I did not ejaculate either.

Although the condom stayed on throughout the whole process, i am worried that due to the fact that i was not erect, i may have caught HIV from her. I suspect that she is a drug user, and therefore i am becoming extremely worried.

Answer

Answer: Simon Collins

From what you describe, you have not been at risk for catching HIV.

You wore a condom through the whole encounter, and therefore there is no chance that you could have caught HIV. It doesn’t matter that you were not fully erect – the barrier from the condom would still be very effective.

The fact that you used a condom for oral sex too. means that it is very unlikely to have been exposed to any other sexually transmitted infection either.

If you want to discuss this in confidence with a health advisor, then your local hospital will have a sexual health clinic – often called GUM clinic (Genitary Urinary Medicine) or STI clinic (Sexually Transmitted Infections), and they can give you information over the phone, and also make an appointment for free confidential testing.

You can find an NHS clinic by putting in a town or the first part of a postcode into the search box on the NHS site:

Search for HIV test site.

Note: this page was edited in January 2018 to update the NHS link.