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In response to frequently asked questions, here are the answers to your questions about the safety of swallowing semen.

At SteadyHealth, we respond to serious health questions with serious answers — even if the questions are about topics that aren't generally discussed in "polite company".

Here are 10 things our readers want to know about the health hazards, or lack of them, from swallowing semen. For our readers who aren't quite sure, "fellatio" refers to the act of oral sex on a man by either a male or female partner.

1. Oral sex is a lower-risk sexual activity, but it is not a risk-free sexual activity.

Oral sex can transmit certain kinds of sexually transmitted diseases, but it can also transmit colds and flu viruses and the germs that cause soft tissue infections. Cuts and sores in the mouth of the partner performing oral sex and on the penis of the partner receiving oral sex offer easy entry to infectious microorganisms into bloodstream, even if they aren't visible to the naked eye. Chapped lips and sores on the lips also receive and transmit infection, as can gums damaged by gingivitis.

2. A male receiving fellatio can receive infections from his partner performing oral sex.

Certain kinds of infections can be passed from the mouth of the partner performing fellatio to the man receiving it. This is particularly true of gonorrhea and chlamydia. In a study of men who have sex with men in San Francisco — which focused on men who only receive oral sex, never giving it — about 4.1% were found to have become infected with chlamydia and about 4.8% were found to have become infected with gonorrhea, without having performed oral sex on another man. There were similar rates of these infections in men who reported only have active anal sex with other men.

3. Transmission of HIV during unprotected oral sex is rare but not impossible.

HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS — but can also relatively successfully be managed as a chronic condition in modern times — is relatively seldom transmitted during oral sex. Many sources will tell you that it is impossible to get HIV this way, but that is not quite true, either.

There are relatively few of the kind of white blood cell, the CD4+ cell, that HIV infects, in the gums and in the lining of the mouth. If the lining of the mouth and throat are intact, there is relatively little risk of the partner performing fellatio's catching the disease. There are only a few known cases of men getting infected with HIV while receiving a blow job without wearing a condom.

However, the presence of cuts, scratches, sores, or abrasions, including abrasions from friction due to excessive sexual activity, can create tiny passageways for the virus. Cavities in the teeth can also become an entryway for the HIV virus. There is much greater risk of exposure to the virus from semen than from saliva.

4. Transmission of herpes during unprotected oral sex is very possible, and not especially unusual.

When someone is infected with the herpes virus, he or she remains capable of infecting others even when there aren't any active sores. Although there hasn't been a new survey since 1993, the last time a study of genital herpes was conducted in the USA, antibodies to the infection were found in 45% of African-Americans, 22% of Mexican-Americans, and 17% of white Americans. Nearly all Americans of any race have been exposed to the milder form of herpes that causes cold sores. It is possible to transmit a cold sore from the mouth to the penis, although this does not always happen after contact.

More About The Health Realities Of Giving and Receiving Fellatio

Here is an answer to another frequently asked question about oral sex.

5. It is impossible to get pregnant as a result of giving oral sex.

In human beings, there is no connection between the reproductive tract and the upper digestive tract. Any semen that is swallowed is digested in the stomach, where powerful stomach acids break nearly everything that is swallowed down. It is possible for a woman to get pregnant if she transfers semen ejaculated during oral sex to her vagina, but this is also very unlikely.

6. Condoms and dental dams reduce the risk of disease transmission during oral sex.

A condom is worn by the man receiving fellatio, while a dental dam is used by the person performing the oral sex. There are flavored condoms for this purpose. It is important to use a real dental dam, the kind you buy at a drugstore, rather than to try to make your own, since cutting out plastic to make a homemade dental dam can introduce small holes in the protective layer. Some couples improvise with plastic wrap, but most report that this reduces sensation for both partners while not guaranteeing safety. Condoms cannot be used with oil-based lubricants; these will break down the latex (although oil-based lubricants can be used with sheepskin condoms).

7. Syphilis is particularly easy to transmit through oral sex.

Syphilis, a sexually-transmitted disease that can have extremely serious consquences though it is not talked about nearly as often as HIV, causes painless sores called chancres. These chancres can be white, purple, or gray circles on the penis, or white spots in the mouth. Many people who have syphilis don't even know that they have it. There is an epidemic of syphilis in larger cities in Texas and the South of the US, although the disease is almost unknown in some parts of the USA.

8. Don't perform oral sex within 30 minutes of brushing or flossing your teeth.

It takes about 30 minutes for the lining of your mouth to heal after brushing or flossing. Waiting at least half an hour before oral sex reduces the likelihood of receiving an infection from the partner's penis. Don't perform oral sex at all for 2 days after having your teeth cleaned or other dental procedures.

9. If you do swallow semen, use mouthwash as soon as possible.

An antibacterial mouthwash reduces the risk of infection with yeasts, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. You don't have to gargle any longer than usual. About 15 seconds is enough.

10. Don't feel pressured to have oral sex.

You shouldn't feel you have to perform oral sex every time your partner requests it, and you should not feel like you have to receive it either, for that matter. It also helps to limit the number of your sexual partners. The fewer people with whom you have sex, the fewer infections to which you will be exposed, and the more likely it is your partner will tell you when infection is discovered. 

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  • Bernstein KT, Stephens SC, Barry PM, Kohn R, Philip SS, Liska S, Klausner JD. Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae transmission from the oropharynx to the urethra among men who have sex with men. Clin Infect Dis. 2009 Dec 15. 49(12):1793-7. doi: 10.1086/648427.
  • Boekeloo BO, Howard DE. Oral sexual experience among young adolescents receiving general health examinations. Am J Health Behav. 2002
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  • Photo courtesy of Jhayne by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/foxtongue/2261856322/
  • Photo courtesy of Jason Coleman by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/jason_coleman/325107937/