STIs (sexually transmitted infections) are common. We all know that you are at increased risk of getting an STI when you have unprotected sexual contact with someone who has an STI. However, there is a lot of confusion about the danger of unprotected oral sex. Can you get an STI from oral sex? And if so, which STIs can you get from oral sex? And what symptoms can you expect in your mouth or throat when you have an STI here?
Oral STIs are most likely underdiagnosed because they are often not recognised. Whereas someone with an oral STI can then pass it on to any subsequent partner. So it is super important to be aware of the characteristics of an oral STI, so you can protect yourself and your future partners. In this blog, we will teach you all about oral STIs, read on quickly!
STI through oral sex
You usually contract a sexually transmitted disease (STI) through penetrative sex, where you have had contact with the semen, pre-cum or vaginal fluid of someone who has an STI. Although it is a smaller risk, you can also contract certain STIs through oral sex, such as kissing or sucking. The STI can then cause symptoms in your mouth or throat. You may get blisters or bumps on the tongue or experience symptoms similar to a throat infection. However, some oral STIs do not cause any symptoms at all. Not all STIs are transmissible through oral sex and not all STIs cause symptoms in your mouth or throat.
STIs that can be passed on through oral sex are gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes, HPV and syphilis. You can contract HIV by sucking someone with (untreated) HIV, but an HIV infection does not subsequently cause any symptoms in the mouth or throat.
Are you curious which STIs you can get through oral sex and what symptoms the above STIs cause when they occur in your mouth or throat? We have compiled a list of oral STIs and the symptoms you can expect to get with them.
STI in mouth or throat: what symptoms to expect?
Chlamydia in mouth or throat:
Chlamydia is mainly transmitted through penetrative vaginal or anal sex. Nevertheless, chlamydia can also be transmitted orally, even though this is very rare. The symptoms of oral chlamydia occur 1-3 weeks after sexual contact with someone who has chlamydia. It can come from sucking and/or petting. When oral chlamydia is present, a person usually experiences no symptoms at all, this is called asymptomatic. Also, oral chlamydia infection often goes away on its own.
Gonorrhoea in mouth or throat:
Gonorrhoea infections are transmitted through mucosal contact. Usually this is through anal or vaginal contact, but gonorrhoea can also be transmitted through oral sex. So by blowing or eating pussy, you can catch a gonorrhoea infection in your mouth or throat. Usually, this oral STI does not cause any symptoms. If oral gonorrhoea does cause symptoms, it is very similar to a throat infection. You may get a sore throat, have enlarged lymph nodes in the neck and experience a foul taste in the mouth. There is no information about the duration of an oral gonorrhoea infection if you do not treat it. If the test shows that you have gonorrhoea, the advice is to take treatment for it through antibiotics.
Want to test if you have chlamydia or gonorrhoea (oral or genital)? With the STD test Basic package from Easly, you test for both chlamydia and gonorrhoea. You can reliably take this test yourself at home.
Herpes infection in mouth or throat:
Someone with a genital herpes infection often has wounds in the genital area. When you suck or copulate with someone who has genital wounds due to a herpes infection, you may experience symptoms at your mouth, tongue or throat. Conversely, you can also transmit a herpes infection to someone if you yourself have symptoms of a herpes infection at your mouth (cold sores) and go down on someone to suck or eat.
Symptoms usually arise within a week of sexual contact with someone with herpes. You may then develop complaints of bumps, blisters or painful sores on the tongue or around the mouth. The initial infection with herpes is often very painful and causes many symptoms. The herpes virus then stays with you forever, so it cannot be treated, but you can use medication to combat the symptoms. The virus can come back and give symptoms again. When you have symptoms, you are most contagious, but even when you have no (visible) symptoms, you can transmit the herpes virus to your partner through kissing, oral, anal or vaginal sex.
Related tests
Syphilis in mouth or throat:
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that has several phases of symptoms. The first symptoms of syphilis occur within 10-90 days after sexual contact with someone with syphilis. In the first, primary phase, there is an ulcer at the site of infection. If you have had vaginal or anal sex with someone with syphilis, you will develop an ulcer in the genital area. However, have you given blowjobs or brushed someone who had an ulcer in the genital area? Then you may develop an ulcer in your mouth or throat. Also, by kissing someone with syphilis in their mouth, you can also contract syphilis in your mouth. The third, tertiary, stage of syphilis is the most severe; organ-level symptoms may then develop. In some cases, a person does not develop any symptoms at all in the first and second stages, and the third stage occurs after being asymptomatic for many years. Syphilis occurs mostly in men who have sex with men. When syphilis is diagnosed, it can be treated by antibiotics.
Would you like to test yourself for syphilis and/or herpes? You can do so in a very simple way with the Easly Herpes and Syphilis home test.
HPV in mouth or throat:
You can contract the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) through vaginal, anal or oral sexual contact. You carry the HPV virus with you for a while and in most cases it is not dangerous and goes away on its own without treatment. However, some people may develop genital warts or – often years later – cervical, throat or anus cancer. The HPV virus you carry with you, need not cause any symptoms, but it can be transmitted to your next sexual partner. The HPV virus has several types and you can be vaccinated against certain types of the HPV virus; these are the types that can cause cancer. In the Netherlands, this is free for young people. Women in the Netherlands can also get free screening for the HPV virus from the age of 30 as part of population screening. Get advice on this from your own (GP) doctor.
HIV through oral sex:
The HIV virus is in your body; so it is not in your mouth or throat and therefore does not cause any symptoms in your mouth or throat. However, you can catch HIV by giving blowjobs to someone who has HIV and who is not treated properly for it. This is because pre-cum and semen can contain the HIV virus. When you come into contact with this semen or pre-cum, you can contract HIV. However, the chance of contracting HIV through oral sex is very small.
Conclusion
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can, in some cases, be transmitted through oral sex and cause symptoms in the mouth or throat. These are chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HPV, herpes and syphilis. You can also contract HIV through oral sex, even if HIV does not cause symptoms in the mouth or throat. It is important to be alert to oral symptoms of an STI, because you can also transmit the STI again to your next sexual partner. Are you sexually active? Get tested regularly; for your own safety and to prevent further spread of STIs. Good sexual health for you and your sex partners is very important to us at Easly. That is why we offer several STI tests. Do the Easly STI test guide, order your personal STI test and take the test yourself. Good sexual health starts with yourself!
