Expert: Ian - 11/16/2008

Question
Hi!
I have a nose piercing made with a piercing gun, so I wanted to ask how problably is that I could be infected of hiv 'cause I read a lot of websites saying that is dangerous.

Now my other preocupation...

I need to talk about this, maybe you can help me, it's a bit long but I'll be grateful for your answer.

Since last week I have a cold sore on my upper lip, I used the cream that my mother uses for it.

The thing is and this is a bit painful for me to talk about, but... my mother used to have a lot of sexual partners and I'm afraid that she's infected with hiv, when I was younger sometimes I used to use her razor, and now I used her cream for the cold sore. I'm so scared that I could have been infected of hiv because of using her razor, and if I'm not I'm scared I could get infected for using her cream because the cold sore is an open wound.

I feel so sad and I don't know what to do... do you think that I could be infected? I read about a girl that got infected using her sister's razor and a boy using his mother's cream. I'm so afraid, specially because of my boyfriend he's my first sexual partner and I'm his first, it would be so sad that I may have infected him for not knowing...

Thanks for the answer.

Answer
Hi

Thanks for your question, and I'll answer each section separately.

As long as the person who did your piercing used a new stud, then there is no risk of HIV.

As to the cold sore - well, this is not usually taken as a diagnostic for HIV infection (there are lots of others that would be more obvious - if cold sores ARE present in a person with HIV, it is in a pretty advanced stage). I haven't heard of cases of HIV being spread through cream - and I can't really think of how this would happen :) With the razor, this is more likely, though there needs to be fresh blood on the razor, gaining access to the other person's body through a (very) deep cut.

You don't need to worry. Hope this helps - feel free to send a follow up.

Best wishes

Ian