BC Women’s Hospital CARE Program

Everywoman’s Health Centre

Elizabeth Bagshaw Clinic

Willow Clinic

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Health Nurse

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

I don’t know what the discharge might have been, but it can be common to have some irritation to the urethra after having sex. During intercourse there are lots of microbes (non-harmful, normal healthy bacteria) that can be passed between partners. While these microbes don’t necessarily cause an infection they can get up into the urethra and cause some irritation. Staying well hydrated, urinating frequently (especially right after sex) and drinking cranberry juice or taking some cranberry supplements can help with this discomfort.

Finally, yes some STIs could be passed from your finger’s to a male partner’s genitals, if your fingers had been touching your own genitals first and there is an infection already present. The most common things would be infections passed through skin to skin contact such as HPV, herpes or even syphilis. So for example, if a person has an active herpes outbreak on their genitals and touches the sores, then immediately touches their partner’s genitals, it would be possible to pass that infection to the partner.

You might find our STIs at a Glance chart helpful as it gives a quick overview of how different infections are passed.

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Health Nurse

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

If you have sex with an ongoing partner that has not been treated for the infection, you will likely get it back again.

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Health Nurse

We often forget that the skin on our genitals is just like the skin on the rest of our bodies and there are any number of things besides STI’s that can cause irritation and rashes. Just because it’s on the genitals doesn’t mean it’s automatically an STI!

Things like dehydration, alcohol, nicotine and soaps/detergents can causes irritation to the urethra which can result in a discomfort when urinating. Soaps and detergents can also cause irritation or rash on the skin of the scrotum.

That being said, if these symptoms have been there for a couple of months and are not resolving, then I would recommend visiting a walk-in clinic or family doctor for a full assessment. You really don’t need to go to a sexual health clinic, as they will likely repeat the tests which you’ve already had. It would be worth having a physician assess. Without knowing which area you’re in I can’t really recommend a specific clinic. However, you should be able to find a walk-in clinic near you with a quick internet search.

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Health Nurse

The reason that HIV antibodies have not been detected in your case is presumably because you do not have HIV.

The symptoms you are describing are not specific to HIV and could be attributed to any number of different causes.  If you are concerned about the symptom, you could revisit your family doctor to discuss the symptoms themselves, knowing that your HIV test is negative.

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Health Nurse

Keep in mind, however, that while herpes is easily spread (which is why it’s so very common!) it is only being passed when the virus is active. Typically this means that it’s only spreading when the symptoms of blisters or lesions are present on the skin. When the blisters heal, the virus goes to “sleep” on the nerve pathway and is not being passed until it wakes up again. The frequency of when the virus “wakes up” and spreads from person to person varies. Some people only ever get one outbreak in their lifetime, while other people might have 2 or 3 outbreaks per year.

If you’re interested in reading more about herpes and the virus that causes it, have a look at our Herpes: Patient’s Guide.

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Health Nurse

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

It sounds like you have quite a lot of anxiety about this encounter and the fear of HIV. Our Worry and Anxiety page has some helpful tips on managing when worries are taking over. If you find that you are unable to concentrate or function due to your anxiety, I would also recommend seeing someone like a counsellor or even a family doctor to discuss this.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse