posted
I was wondering why latex gloves are recommended for manual sex with a partner but are clearly not need for masturbation? What's the difference?
Posts: 9 | From: london | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
For sterters, we can't usually give ourselves an infection we already have. bacteria is a concern, sure, which is why we'll always suggest having clean hands, covering toys, etc.
Also, most women don't masturbate with a lot of manual vaginal insertion (in part due to plain old geometry, in part because it's just not what many women prefer).
I don't know that we've ever said gloves clearly aren't needed: if you're not washing hands, if you are doing insertion, if you don't keep your nails short and trim, then gloves could be a fine idea. But overall, since another person isn't in the mix -- and all their germs and what not -- it's less important, especially if your hands are clean.
-------------------- Heather Corinna, Executive Director & Founder, Scarleteen About Me • Get our book! Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead Posts: 63428 | From: An island near Seattle | Registered: May 2000
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posted
Why is it that latex gloves are required for manual sex? I just can't figure out what the STI risk would be.
-------------------- “In a strange room, before you are emptied for sleep, what are you. And when you are filled with sleep you never were. I don’t know what I am. I don’t know if I am or not... how often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.” Posts: 1269 | From: London, UK | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
Bacterial infections, (smaller risk) HIV and other bloodborne illness (via typical abrasions and cuts on the fingers, and those fingernails may cause), Herpes (especially if someone with an active sore may have touched it), scabies, public lice, CMV, and HPV.
So, there's far more than one.
Handwashing right before will also decrease these risks, but not as well as gloves.
-------------------- Heather Corinna, Executive Director & Founder, Scarleteen About Me • Get our book! Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead Posts: 63428 | From: An island near Seattle | Registered: May 2000
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-------------------- “In a strange room, before you are emptied for sleep, what are you. And when you are filled with sleep you never were. I don’t know what I am. I don’t know if I am or not... how often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home.” Posts: 1269 | From: London, UK | Registered: Jun 2006
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