Health consequences of oral sex

Oral sex is a sexual activity involving contact between a person’s mouth and their partner’s genitals. Oral sex also known as “blow-job” is a practice that is common amongst the youths and adults alike. Some youths practice this when they don’t want to have sexual intercourse with their “partner”, while others engage in it as a pre sex. Married couples are not left out, even though they have the right and liberty to do whatever they want as couple, the act might be unethical and not hygienic for a partner thereby raising objections to it.
These are some reasons people go into oral sex:
1. Curiosity: This is definitely the first reason. This was how it all started for everyone who is into the “game” today. Someone must have started this out of his/her own curiousness or yearning to satisfy his/her partner. Others have read, watched or heard about it, and have gone into it to see how it feels like.
2. Seeking pleasure: People practice oral sex for the pleasure they derive from it, like I said earlier, a man/woman might not be in the mood for a real sex, at the same time, they want to be satisfied.
3. Improving relationship: Some people are of the opinion that having oral sex with their partner would help improve their relationship. A lady once told me that so many men enjoy oral sex, some might be shy to ask for it, but deep down, they desire it. She said she would do it (that’s if she is not doing it yet) to improve her relationship.
4. Gaining popularity: This thought is common amongst the youth when they want to prove to their partner how good they are sexually and how in tune they are with the latest moves on bed, in order to be popular amongst the ladies/men folks.
There are consequences or side effects to oral sex. You can have the whole pleasure in the world, improve your relationship and gain a reputation for yourself, as the best oral sex machine. All these are at a serious risk. Consequences are as follows:
It is possible to acquire several forms of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis through oral sex if the other person is infected as the genital wonts be protected or covered before the action. They can be transmitted to the throat through oral sex. Gonorrhoea germ can cause inflammation, formation of pus and sometimes soreness in the throat but often causes no symptoms at all and the person just carries it. Syphilis usually appear on the genitals or or the anus but do occasionally appear on the lip as a result of oral sex.
Other infections transferred by oro-anal sex includes salmonella, shigella and campylobacter which are dangerous bowel organisms. Shigella causes severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea and fever. Threadworms among other worms can be transmitted by oro-anal contact.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection which is the commonest cause of genital ulceration has 2 types: type 1 and 2. Type 1 affects mainly the lip causing cold sores while type 2 causes blisters on the genitals. Genital herpes is characterised by small blisters either on the penis or vulva or other parts of the female genital tract. These blisters rapidly break down to form small painful ulcers. HSV can cause pharyngitis, an inflammation of the throat with ulcer formation.
The genital area can be affected with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) thereby causing mouth and throat cancer. This is a deadly place to have this disease because it is very difficult to operate on.
HIV can also be contracted through oro-anal sex, though risk is low but it is absolutely not safe.
If you feel you’ve taken a risk with oral sex, go to the nearest genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic next to you for a check-up.