Hey so I don't actually think you can get an STI/STD without having sex. I went to my doctor the other day and she said that STIs and STDs can only be transmitted via sex/oral/contact with someone elses privates. Her primary job is as a gynecologist (and she does test for various sexually transmitted things often) I'm not trying to discredit you of course but I was wondering if you could link some studies that say it's possible to get an STD without having physical relations with someone else.
Thank you for the great content! I hope you don't mind this question!
Hi!
So, this is a common misconception and while doctors can be helpful, they're not infallible sources of information.
I remember when I started this blog and had to tell someone that vaginal douching regularly was not healthy (especially with no medical requirement for it!) and their doctor who recommended it was an idiot. Sometimes doctors are fucking wrong! So I'm glad you came back here to ask for some sources!
Herpes is a good example of this. It can transfer through saliva and direct contact with a sore, which does not require someone to be having sex! You can read more about that in this article, which has a lot of sources in it.
Several forms of Hepatitis are STIs and can spread through blood and saliva! Those do not require having sex. You can read about Hepatitis and ways it spreads here if you're interested.
HIV can be spread through blood, breast milk and even sharing needles! Coming into contact with those does not require having sex and you can read more about that here, if you're interested.
But yeah, it just sounds like your doctor is just running on very out-dated information. (Like, "STIs are a punishment for having sex" levels of misinformation, which is very bad for a gynecologist but yeah.)
Hope this helps! I absolutely don't mind the question at all, I appreciate it! It's good to see people asking questions like this, its very important. Let me know if you have any others (and thank you!)
