Can you give yourself an STD?

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In horrifying health news, it turns out that self-pleasure may put you at risk for an STD

You read correctly: according to new research presented at the American Public Health Association Meeting earlier this month, it seems that masturbation doesn't exempt you from disease.

Researchers at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions studied oral sexual behaviors and oral HPV infections in 1,030 women. The women completed surveys about their oral sex behaviors, including a few that may put them at risk for self-infection if they already had genital HPV.

Specifically, they were asked if they ever touched their genitals then their mouths with a hand or sex toy. And unfortunately, 15.7 percent did. Not surprisingly, those women were about six times more likely to have oral HPV.

While this was a small study that didn’t prove a cause and effect relationship, it’s still not smart to touch your mouth with the same hand or sex toy that was recently down below—whether or not you have genital HPV.

Experts aren’t yet sure which oral sex behaviors are riskier than others, so it’s best to play it safe by washing your hands or sex toys before putting them anywhere near your mouth...

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