Answered Questions

In the years since SmartSexResource launched, we have developed a library of questions asked by you, and answered by our expert sexual health nurses.

Our answered questions library cover a broad range of sexual health topics and common questions we hear at our clinics.

STI Symptoms (135)

I gave oral sex to a civilian woman (ONS) and the next day she complained that the outside of her vagina really hurt.I thought it might be because I spent 1/2 hour on her until she came and that I spent too much time there causing a lot of friction. Now she won’t reply to any of my messages.Only used tongue on her clitoris and no fingers. I will get checked for STD’s, but should I be worried?

I don’t know the full details of her symptoms or sexual history, but it is possible that the friction from the oral sex could be causing the pain she is having.

As most STI do not show symptoms and are common I think your idea of going for an STD check would be good.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on September 28, 2014.

If you have been exposed to the herpes virus will you get your first outbreak quickly or can it take years before you have any symptoms?

Both situations can happen.

If someone gets a primary outbreak you would typically start developing symptoms between 2-21 days (average 6 days) after you were exposed to the herpes simplex virus (HSV).

It is also possible for someone to get a non-primary outbreak as well. This means that you had HSV passed to you in the past, but you did not develop symptoms when this first happened or the symptoms were so mild you did not notice them. It is possible to have HSV for several years before noticing your first outbreak.

Have a look at our HSV page for more information.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on September 3, 2014.

This answer was updated on February 7, 2022.

I’m male 31yrs I have only one time unprotected oral sex with unknown girl on 23rd jun2014 she kiss may penis average 10 minutes so, I blow her mouth. I did not know she have mouth ulcers or not . After I wash my penis with water. After oral sex 21days passed 4weeks ago in 21st July to 6th Aug I have skin Rush itch like mosquitoes bite in my arms, hands, stomach,elbows. neck and legs. Can you help me I’m so worries . I have headache also. But I was not use any medicine. I think I have HIV symptoms. Now today rush in my legs and my back still became a few times today 13Aug2014 I have heat under my legs. Rush itch will came an hour and gone but will comes again

Hi there,

You probably don’t need to worry about getting HIV in this situation. HIV is passed through unprotected anal or vaginal sex, through direct blood-to-blood exposures like sharing needles, or from HIV+ mothers to their babies. It is extremely rare for people to be infected with HIV by receiving oral sex. We are not seeing this happen in practice. So, from what you’ve told me, you are at a very low risk of getting HIV.

We do not diagnose HIV based on symptoms like rash or headache – these are very common symptoms and can be caused by many different things. The only way to tell if a person has a HIV is to get an HIV test. For the tests we have in BC, the best time to test is 3 weeks to 3 months after you have had unprotected sex. If you are very worried, you may want to get a test now to re-assure yourself, and get another test at 3 months after a risk just so you can stop thinking about this risk. Again, if your only possible risk is receiving oral sex, we do not think that you could have gotten HIV, but a test will tell you for sure.

It is a good idea to seeyour doctor to find out what might be causing your symptoms. I would also suggest getting tested for other Sexually Transmittted Infections. Infections like syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea can be passed during oral sex, so it makes sense to get a test for these infections. You can look at our “STIs at a glance” chart to find out the best times to test for these infections – a test for all of them at 3 months after a risk is a good idea. If you are in BC, you can use our clinic finder app to find a place to get tested for HIV and STIs.

Let us know if that helps answer your question,

Health Nurse

This answer was posted on August 17, 2014.

Ok , so my girlfriend and I have been sexually active for a few months now. She has recently started to become sore for days at a time and even “torn” and bleed from sexual intercourse . Our sex is kind of rough but not exactly out of the ordinary, I mean I just do what she likes, but She went to the doctor and they have no idea what is wrong exactly. She thinks she may have an iron deficiency because she also bruises very, very, easily. However; my penis size is 8in length, 6in girth. I have no idea if this is considered large or would have anything to do with it but I am very concerned with it as is she.

Sorry to hear that your girlfriend is experiencing this. There are a number of different things that can cause pain and bleeding and it is important that she follow up with her doctor to determine what might be the cause in her case. Certainly pain and bleeding can be related to “rough” sex but it can also be related to infections, medications and other causes. A doctor or other health care professional can take a full history from her, do a full exam, review any medications that she may be on (including birth control), do testing and if needed refer her to a specialist, such as a gynecologist.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on August 16, 2014.

Hi I had sex 3 weeks ago on the last day of my period and the guy didn’t wear a condom but I am on birth control. I got a weird rash on my arms the other day and have been having a lot of vaginal itching… Could this be a sign of an sti or pregnancy symptoms ?? I’m due for my period this week so hopefully it comes!!

I don’t know your full medical and sexual history so I am unable to give specific information about what could be happening, but I can give you some general information based on what you have written.

It is possible that an STI could have been passed to you when you had sex 3 weeks ago. STI can cause irritation to the vagina that may cause itching, but it is also common to get conditions like a yeast infection that can cause itching as well.

Some common symptoms for being pregnant is a missed period, swollen tender breasts, feeling sick, loss of energy, going to the toilet more often. Given what you have described it does not sound like you have any of these symptoms. Using birth control would really reduce the chance of you being pregnant.

I would recommend going to see a health care professional and describing your symptoms to them. They would be able to do some testing for you and let you know what could be causing the rash and vaginal itching.

If your period does not come this week you could do a pregnancy test next week.

Let us know if you need help finding a clinic.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on August 12, 2014.

Sprems comes with pee and back pain what the actual problem is this

Hi there,

It’s not possible for us to tell you online what is causing your symtoms. We would need to see you in a clinic and do an exam and some tests to find out what is going on for you. It does sound like you might have an infection and should see your doctor or STI clinic to get a diagnosis and treatment. If you are in BC, you can use our clinic finder app to find the nearest STI clinic.

Let us know if that helps,

Health Nurse

This answer was posted on August 4, 2014.

This answer was updated on February 7, 2022.

What causes lower stomach pains after unprotected sex

Hi there,

Pain in your lower abdomen can be caused by many different things, so it’s important to get an exam and some tests to find out the cause. One thing that can cause this kind of pain in women is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). PID can happen if women have an infection like Gonorrhea or Chlamydia that is not treated. PID causes pain and swelling in the uterus and fallopian tubes and can cause infertility later in life.

If you are getting pain in your lower abdomen after sex, we recommend you see your doctor or go into an STI clinic for an exam. If you are in BC, you can use our clinic finder app to find an STI clinic near you.

Let us know if that helps or if you have further questions,

Health Nurse

This answer was posted on August 2, 2014.

Hello I had a sexual encounter with a sex worker on 28/06/2014. The sex worker had given me a oral without condom and we ended up having intimacy with each other.she went on top of me. In a few minutes probably 5 minutes at most we both ejaculated. As she got up she saw the condom broke. She removed it carefully and threw down the condom, I rushed to the bathroom and I managed to wash my private part with cold waterJust to inform I am an uncircumcised man I went back and took the condom and pour water to find out where exactly the condom broke.It was on the left side a hole was there as the water was leaking there,yup precisely on the side and not the tip, according to the sex worker she did not feel me without condom also.I spoke politely to the sex worker asking if she infected or if she is hiv+ and she mentioned this is the first time something like this has happened to her and she tested 2 months ago and she proclaims she is negative.After 2 days I saw a doctor and he told that there are possibilities to get infected through vaginal fluids and he advised me PEP and he did a rapid hiv test which was negative..After doing my research I realised that these medicines have really bad side effects.so I didn’t eat.Although a lady at The pharmacy informed me if i start having running nose in 2 weeks chances are I am infected.On 02/07/2014 I did malaria test and found some parasit es as I was not accepting this results I ended up going to another lab and they showed the result that I have malaria I took LUMERTEC which was a 3 day course which goes with Panadol.Body temperature is about 37.3 degrees Celsius during that time. 05/07/2014 I ended up going to another doctor and he told me chances of getting HiV are really low,he did go for another. Rapid hiv test which turned out negative but by now I have sore throat and a little swell on my lymph nodes.The doctor advices me ampilicin I spoke to another Doctor he took me to another hospital to get tested using PCR And DNA which turned out Non reactive,08/07/2014 I did complete blood picture and urine, stool test in a completely different city and all test were fine except of some typhoid which the doctor said is due stress of fear getting hiv.he gave me nozrole, bascopan and some shyrup.Five day course did not help. 09/07/2014 I started to monitor my temperature but remained between 34.5 to 37 degrees Celsius through out the day but my sore throat got worse and fever yes continued,lost weight about 2kilos in 2 weeks and diahorea but stopped after bascopan medicine. 10/07/2014-17/07/2014 still had fever and very weak and same weight 76kg since I have been to India now .19/07/2014 i met another doctor he told I should not be worried but wait for 6th week for Eliza test, He also ran another complete blood picture and have not found anything so far instead he gave medication for sore throat and flu. It has been over ten days flue is till not gone so as my weight not returned normally especially I am eating well, I also sleep a lot. The doctor here have given me a lot of anti acids medicines and a small course of anxiety medication.. I am scared to do the Eliza test What are the chances that I may be infected and yes I do feel weak and somètime I walk I get this abruptly dizzy ness but then back to normal,After complete the course of 7 days I have no issue 31/07/2014 5the week Again am having soar throat.fever 100.4farheight, loss of apetite,loose motions and sweats but all day..i still have to wait for 1 more week for test but i am worried need enlightmen. thanks

Hi there,

Sorry to hear that you have been feeling so unwell and so worried at the same time. It sounds like there has been a lot going on for you over these past weeks. I would agree with your doctors that the chances of getting HIV are quite low from a one-time exposure like this. It’s great that your tests have been negative so far, and the 6 week ELISA will be very helpful. In the meantime, it might help to remind yourself that the symptoms you are having like fever, tiredness, or swollen lymph nodes are all very common signs of ANY kind of infection, so it really does not point to HIV. It’s quite likely your test in 1 week will be negative, and that these symptoms were caused by malaria and stress.

Hope that is helpful,

Health Nurse

This answer was posted on August 1, 2014.

Dear Nurses,i need ur advise as now i am in high anxiety. i got the unprotected oral sex (thats all) 1,5 months ago and i already do the blood test twice at 2 weeks and 5 weeks after it. pls advise my questions below:1. first week after it i feel uncomfortable feeling in my penis. i search in the email and i think this is GONOREA but i didn’t have some white fluid from my penis as the sign of Gonorea from i search in some website. then i went to the doctor in 2 week after exposure, the doctor check my penis to find some sign like fluid or the red colour in my penis. doctor said everything its ok as no sign and doctor ask me to get the test blood and urine test to check Gonorea, Herpes, clamydia, sifilis and HIV. the doctor said its only psychosomatic disorder, i was very stressful, guilty, and really affraid, and doctor said that one made me feel that uncomfortable feeling in my penis. the result of test come all negative. i need ur advise, is psychosomatic can make the things like this?2. for HIV i checked in website that 2 weeks is still not enough to test HIV and i tested again after 5 weeks using test method AG/AB Combo test, is this method already valid in 5 weeks as i checked in the website that this test not only find anti body but also the anti gen? pls advise all comes non reactive3. my throat is red but i dont have other symthomps like fever, swollen nodes or others. is it because i am stress, pls advise how stress can impact all of it.4. is 2 weeks and 5 weeks are valid to do the test Syphilis (TPHA & VDRL)?5. i have very little cut in the skin of the penis but not in the glan of penis, i think its because i did masturbation and also i read in some website that the cut of syphilis is beginning with bump that has liquid inside, i dont have this one. is it syphilis? how can i differentiate the cut of syphilis and the normal cut?5. is 2 weeks is valid to do the test Herpes (Herpes simpleks 1 igG, II igM, II, IgG)?6. is 2 weeks is valid to do the test chlamydia?7. i dont know but i think because i am stress, sometimes i feel like burning around my anal but i checked by myself and nothing looked wrong just my anal is looked red that i think its normal. what is the color of the healthy or normal anal?really need your advise about it.thank you very much

I can certainly answer your questions.

1. It’s great that you went to your doctor and that they did all the testing for you. I find that it is common for the body to have different normal sensations from time to time. If you are not worried about something you probably do not even notice these but if you are anxious about having an STI you seem to notice these sensations. As most STI do not have symptoms it’s good to get a test done.

2. Your HIV test would give you an accurate result by 5 weeks but it can take up to 3 months for a final result. This means the majority of people would show a positive result by 5 weeks but there are a small percentage of people that could take longer. I would not be concerned about HIV as we do not see it passed from receiving oral sex.

3. There are a large number of different things that can make your throat red. I also find that stress can cause many different symptoms in the body.

4. We find that most syphilis tests would show a positive result by 6 weeks but that sometimes it can take as long as 3 months.

5. 2 weeks is too short of a time for the herpes blood test. It can take up to 3-4 months to show antibodies to herpes with the blood test.

6. Most chlamydia would show up in a test by 2 weeks, but sometimes it can take up to 6 weeks for it to show up in a test. If chlamydia was causing the symptoms in your penis, you would expect the chlamydia test to be positive when you went for your test.

7. Normal anus color can vary from person to person depending on skin tone.

It sounds like you are really stressed over what happened. It is common for people to feel different symptoms on their body when worried about STI. I have also found that sometimes people can actually cause symptoms by checking areas too much e.g. frequently examining penis.

I would recommend finding a way to reduce your stress levels, when you have been stressed in the past what has worked for you? Talking with a counselor can also help, in situations like this there can be lots of feelings of shame and guilt which add to the problem. I would also recommend seeing your doctor about any follow up tests and discussing your symptoms with them.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on July 14, 2014.

I am sixteen years old and have only been sexually active for a few months, we were both virgins when we met eachother. I started showing symptoms about a week ago. My clitoris is very sore, to the touch, and to walk, or sit. And it hurts extremely bad to urinate, it’s really hard to wipe as well. I just found out today that my boyfriend carries the herpes virus, he gets like two cold sores a year. And we are both very worried and not sure what to do :(

The best thing to do would be to see a health care professional who could see what is going on. I know it can be a tough time when you don’t know what is going on and the area is so sore.

It sounds like the area is very sore and there are a number of things that could cause this. For example it could be a yeast infection, urinary tract infection, herpes outbreak etc…

The health care person could probably give you a good idea by just looking at it.

It is possible your boyfriend could have passed the herpes (cold sore) virus to your genital when performing oral sex.

A health professional like a doctor or nurse would need to keep all your information confidential which means they would not share it with anyone else without your permission.

Have a look at our clinic finder for a clinic in your area.

Let us know if you need assistance with anything else.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

This answer was posted on July 14, 2014.

This answer was updated on February 7, 2022.

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Answered Questions

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STI Symptoms (135)

If you have been exposed to the herpes virus will you get your first outbreak quickly or can it take years before you have any symptoms?

Sprems comes with pee and back pain what the actual problem is this

What causes lower stomach pains after unprotected sex