Rimming - Is it safe?

[+ imagooddog]

Just how safe is it to rim a guy? I am relatively new to this site

so maybe this has been discussed before. In over 35 years of

gay life, I have only rimmed a few guys in the last couple of years

and only then because I was really turned on by them, they seemed

very clean and seemed to really enjoy it. But I have a friend

who had to quit rimming because of several bouts with hepatitus.

So this is an honest question on my part....if the guy enjoys it

and seems clean and I enjoy doing it, is it really safe? Are

there certain precautions I should take? Should I just avoid it

altogether because of health concerns?

[Guest dstud4hire]

Re: is rimming safe? well, technically, it's not the safest behavior you can do, though there are riskier behaviors as well. In order to make it as safe as possible, you can try following some of the advice that is out there by safe sex experts.

 

First of all, you can rim a guy using a dental damn, or basically a condom will work. If you contact your local AIDS service organization, they should be able to inform you in better detail on how to use. Of course, using a dental damn or unfurling and cutting up a condom may not be as fun for some, so there are other ways to reduce the health risk....make sure you don't brush your teeth for a couple hours prior and after. (use mouth wash) This is actually a rule of thumb for oral sex as well. The reason behind this is because when you brush you teeth, the gums become inflamed and could potentially be an area that can be open to problems.

 

ensure you don't have any open wounds/cuts in mouth/gum area (cold sores, kankers, etc)

 

Also, ensure the guy is clean, or (douched etc) From enough experience , we all can tell when a guy is clean or not, within a short amount of time of getting close to that area.

 

I love being rimmed, and love rimming, though I will admit I generally will not rim someone unless I've gotten to know them pretty well because of the whole helth risk thing, though I will note that I've never developed any health problems as a reult of being rimmed or rimming someone else. So will generally choose to have guys rim me instead, until I get to know them.

 

Like any sexual behavior, their are certain risks, it's just the degree of risk that is associated with different behavior. I would suggest calling your city's health department or looking in your phone book for an AIDS hotline. Trust me, these volunteers or employees are used to just about any question. Failing that , you can always look up the # for a similar info line in San Fran) When I was first coming out many years ago, I did that because I was too embarrassed to ask the local help lines, and thought that in San Fran they probably have heard it all, so it was easier to ask about certain behavior.)

 

Ok, that's all for now....hope this was somewhat helpful. Gabe in St. Louis 314-707-8602 [email protected]

[Boston Guy]

The short answer is no, it's not safe, at least not the way most guys practice it. There are multiple risks. The advice to contact a hotline for more information is good advice. Or do a Web search. But you'll find that most sources list rimming without some kind of barrier as "unsafe."

 

BG

[Guest dstud4hire]

>The short answer is no

 

ok, so I'm probably known for my overly verbose answers or comments...hey, at least I'm detailed...I think... Good consice answer tho, BG.

 

Gabe in St. Louis

[email protected]

314.707.8602

[Traveller]

Only if done with magenta or burnt umber lip stick. Anything else and you're a goner.

 

Later.

 

PS. For those of you new to this, to avoid embarrassment you may want to try rimming out first on your favorite household pet. Of course it's easier and tastier if you own a great dane, much trickier with a neon tetra.

[Guest cp8036]

Oh my God, Trav, Great Dane? That's dreadfully recheche.

 

What next - backyard squirrels?

[Boston Guy]

>Good concise answer tho, BG.

>

 

That may be the first time anyone here has ever said that to me ... or where it was even warranted! }>

 

BG (not generally known as a man of few words...)

[Rick Munroe]

Get vaccinated for Hep A&B if you're going to be sexually active.

[Guest pickwick]

>Get vaccinated for Hep A&B if you're going to be sexually

>active.

 

That's good advice. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for Hepatitis C, a far more serious version of the disease which can be contracted in the same way. Hep C can cause irreversible liver damage over a long period of time and to the best of my knowledge there is no completely effective treatment for it.

[+ Lucky]

I think it is safer to rim smooth, hairless holes than hairy ones.But, remember, this is not safe sex, just fun.

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

Depends... do you have your seat belt buckled and are you holding on tight??

 

As pointed out shots advised (maybe bumps too... traveller??) else you might settle for faux rimming: Place a Krispy Kreme donut over the asshole of your partner and begin working over the doughnut hole a until it (the doughnut) crys "uncle" or melts down your chin, or if ethinic is your schtick then a bagle or mega-tortellini -- you choosd the flavor depending on your mood.

 

:+

[Donnie]

>Hepatitis C, a far more serious version of the disease which

>can be contracted in the same way.

 

According to the CDC: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a type of hepatitis that is transmitted intravenously, through a blood transfusion, sharing needles while using illegal drugs, or an accidental "needle-stick" in a health care setting. Where you gettin your info, dummy?

[Guest TruthTeller]

>That's good advice. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for

>Hepatitis C, a far more serious version of the disease which

>can be contracted in the same way. Hep C can cause

>irreversible liver damage over a long period of time and to

>the best of my knowledge there is no completely effective

>treatment for it.

 

You are spreading complete disinformation. Hepatitis C cannot, under any circumstances, be contracted through oral-anal contact, and your implied statement otherwise is totally irresponsible and, I would guess, a by-product of some severe anti-sex neuroses you're harboring, which leads you to associate certain sexual practices with diseases that are not caused by, and cannot be contracted through, those practices.

 

Maybe you should think about why your brain has established non-existent links between disease and sex.

[+ imagooddog]

Gabe.....thanks for the reply. It was a serious question and I

appreciate your serious reply. Take care of things in St. Louis,

its a great town!!

[Guest pshaw]

According to the GMHC's guide, with rimming there is the potential for contracting hepatitis A or B, parasites, warts or herpes - many of the same risks as sucking a cock without a condom. E coli would also be a concern, I imagine, so if you have suppressed immune system, rimming probably isn't a very good idea.

 

Hepatitis C is transmitted primarily by blood or shared needles, so is not of much concern with regard to rimming. Neither is HIV. As Rick Munroe pointed out, all sexually active gay men certainly should get the vaccines for hepatitis A and B. I believe that many school systems now require that children get the hepatitis vaccines.

[Boston Guy]

Actually, some cases of Hep C have causes that are never determined.

 

The CDC and others believe that Hep C can very rarely be caused by unspecified forms of sexual contact. The risk is low but apparently not zero.

 

The risk of contacting other forms of hepatitis through sexual contact with multiple partners is much higher, though. Gay men who are sexually active are well-advised to get vaccinated for Hep A and B.

 

BG

[Guest pickwick]

>>Hepatitis C, a far more serious version of the disease which

>>can be contracted in the same way.

>

>According to the CDC: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a

>type of hepatitis that is transmitted intravenously, through

>a blood transfusion, sharing needles while using illegal

>drugs, or an accidental "needle-stick" in a health care

>setting. Where you gettin your info, dummy?

 

I'm certainly not getting it from lying shitheads like you and TT. You "forgot" to mention that the CDC Fact Sheet on HCV, which is available on the CDC website, does indeed indicate a risk of transmission by such sexual practices. Numerous other sources, including the Hepatitis Foundation International, report the same thing. Why lie about it?

[Guest pickwick]

>Actually, some cases of Hep C have causes that are never

>determined.

>

>The CDC and others believe that Hep C can very rarely be

>caused by unspecified forms of sexual contact. The risk is

>low but apparently not zero.

>

 

Actually, BG, the Hepatitis Foundation reports that a recent study in Italy shows that as many as 35% of those infected with HCV had infections traceable to sexual activity. I believe Italians are members of the same species as the rest of us, are they not? I've always assumed so. :-)

[Boston Guy]

LOL, yes, I think we can count on that.

 

I hadn't heard of that study -- thanks for passing that info on.

[Guest regulation]

>You are spreading complete disinformation. Hepatitis C

>cannot, under any circumstances, be contracted through

>oral-anal contact, and your implied statement otherwise is

>totally irresponsible and, I would guess, a by-product of

>some severe anti-sex neuroses you're harboring,

 

'Fraid you're out on a limb here. A recent paper by Dr. Howard Worman in the New England Journal of Medicine reports a case of HCV transmission between two colonoscopy patients who "shared" the same equipment. That seems to put the kibosh on the idea that the disease can't be transmitted anally. Sorry to be such a killjoy. :-(

[+ Lucky]

TY

To talk about "Depends" in a rimming thread is a little offsetting!

[Guest TruthTeller]

>'Fraid you're out on a limb here. A recent paper by Dr.

>Howard Worman in the New England Journal of Medicine reports

>a case of HCV transmission between two colonoscopy patients

>who "shared" the same equipment.

 

This is rank bullshit, and publishing it in a supposedly "peer reviewed journal" doesn't make it otherwise. Studies purportedly documenting the "causes" of diseases are, to put it mildly, inherently suspect, because they rely upon the histories given by the patients, who - for multiple reasons - lie about everything.

 

How the fuck do these imbeciles know how these two patients got HCV???? Because they denied IV drug use; therefore, it must be some other way, so they search desperately around, find something else, and then declare it to be the cause -- all predicated on the initial, uncorroborated denial of IV drug use by the patient, who is incentivized, psychologically at least, to lie.

 

It's no different than all of those studies purporting to link HIV transmission to oral sex -- all based on the patients' denial of unprotected anal sex. OF COURSE they're going to deny that - patients like to demonstrate that they didn't get a diesease by being reckless or "guilty," but instead, are "innocent victims," so they deny engaging in the known, common causes, especially when - as here, the known causes are considered immoral or dirty.

 

How many patients are willing to tell CDC doctors and researchers that they shot heroin into their arm?

 

If HCV were trasmissible through oral-anal contact, huge numbers of gay men would have it and would have died from it. They don't and they haven't, because HCV, self-evidently, is not transmissible that way.

[Guest regulation]

>How the fuck do these imbeciles know how these two patients

>got HCV???? Because they denied IV drug use; therefore, it

>must be some other way, so they search desperately around,

>find something else, and then declare it to be the cause --

>all predicated on the initial, uncorroborated denial of IV

>drug use by the patient, who is incentivized,

>psychologically at least, to lie.

 

 

These "imbeciles," who are actually physicians whose knowledge of the disease and associated risk factors is vastly superior to yours, know how the patients got HCV. They know because, as you would be aware if you had read the paper, both patients had tested negative for HCV prior to the procedure. Both underwent the procedure using equipment that had previously been used on a patient who had tested positive for HCV prior to the procedure. The equipment in question was not cleaned in the manner required by hospital procedures. DNA testing of virus samples from all three showed major similarities in the organisms infecting all three.

 

It's kind of risky to shoot your mouth off about the details of a study you haven't even read.

 

>If HCV were trasmissible through oral-anal contact, huge

>numbers of gay men would have it and would have died from

>it. They don't and they haven't, because HCV,

>self-evidently, is not transmissible that way.

 

Or it could simply be that the characteristics of the virus are such that in MOST cases of oral-anal sex it will not be transmissible, but in SOME it will.

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

LOL....

 

I would have said off-putting myself... it certainly puts me off -- that's put not get :-)

[Guest Thunderbuns]

But you'll find that most

>sources list rimming without some kind of barrier as

>"unsafe."

 

Rimming is my all time favorite thing to do. But I won't even think about it if there is any indication that the rimee is not clean.

 

And if I have to use a barrier - then what's the point - takes ALL the fun out of it.

 

Thunderbuns