Hi, Late last year I had my routine smear came back as positive for HPV. I have never had this before and initially was very worried before realising in the UK its commmon and they dont' test the under 25's for it as most have it! I am 45, the only encounter I have had in recent years was with my female friend and 1 male who I had known for a while and was on the rebound from a long term relationship. But I have no idea which if either it came from or if it had just been dormant for years and came back as I was particulalry stressed by events. My friend was my 1st lesbian experiance and honestly didn't enter my head what safe sex would be female to female, from what I can see there would be no way to protect against it. But I did know her very well and she was always having casual hook ups with men, I think it was a bit of a rebellion to have one night stands for her with random strangers and I know she never practiced safe sex. I should be glad thats all I got ! Apparently ( Google) Many types of HPV affect the mouth, throat or genital area. They're easy to catch. You do not need to have penetrative sex. You can get HPV from: any skin-to-skin contact of the genital area vaginal, anal or oral sex sharing sex toys HPV has no symptoms, so you may not know if you have it. It's very common. Most people will get some type of HPV in their life. Has anyone else had this? I have to wait until October 21 for another test to see if it's cleared itself. I am trying to keep it in perspective and simply don't have any sort of relationship in the planning so for now I cant spread it to anyone else. The internet searches say it's very common so should I even be concerned about it being passed on at all.
I do not know about having HPV, I do know that it is more common than most people think and also that my mother had it and passed it at least to my younger half-brother. as far as this though To reduce the spreading of STI's in oral sex with an AFAB person use a dental dam or something similar like cutting a condom open to form a sheet. You can also use condoms on sex toys or make sure to wash them thoroughly and sterilize them before switching who they are being used on. As far as "not being concerned about passing", I think that people should be honest with others about what they have and that people should communicate a lot more before they have sex. I certainly talked to my husband about a lot of things before we ever did anything intimate.
