Can You Get an STI During Dry Humping?

The term “frottage” is the technical name for what two people are doing when they rub their bodies against each other for sexual pleasure. It’s also known by such colorful terms as “pants burning” and “dry humping.”

When you engage in frottage while wearing clothing, it is very safe sex. If you take off your clothing, dry humping is still relatively safe, but it is possible to pass on certain diseases that are transmitted through skin-to-skin contact.

Although frottage is a relatively safe form of sex, it is possible to get a sexually transmitted infection (STI) when you are dry humping someone if their infected skin rubs against yours.

How STIs Are Transmitted

To understand the risks of dry humping, it helps to know that STIs can be broken down into two groups:

• Diseases that are spread by bodily fluids, such as blood, vaginal secretions, and semen
• Diseases that are spread by skin-to-skin contact

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), chlamydia, and gonorrhea can only be spread by infected bodily fluids, and so there is basically no risk of getting any of them when you’re dry humping someone—bodily fluids are not involved.

Skin-to-Skin STI Transmission

However, there are diseases that can be spread by infected skin rubbing on uninfected skin. These diseases include:

• Herpes
• HPV (human papillomavirus)
  
• Syphilis
• Molluscum contagiosum (skin condition causing small, round, often itchy bumps)

These types of diseases can be transmitted with various levels of ease during frottage where someone’s infected skin is rubbing on yours. However, such diseases require skin-to-skin contact for transmission. That is why frottage while wearing clothing is generally considered to be safe.

Transmission Through Clothing

Theoretically, it is possible for secretions from an open sore to seep through fabric and transmit diseases. It’s not likely, but it’s still a good idea to avoid aggressive contact with sores.

Even if the infected person doesn’t transmit the disease to their partner, they might make their own situation worse. Clothing rubbing on a lesion can irritate it, risking either a secondary infection or the disease spreading through self-inoculation, transferring the infection from one part of the body to another.

A Word From Verywell

If you are worried that you might have contracted an STI or any type of infection, it is good to get tested. Some infections can lead to complications if they are not treated. You can find a free STI clinic or see your healthcare provider. Be sure to ask any questions you have about safer sex practices and what your risks might be.

A visit to a clinic or your practitioner can also be an opportunity to discuss birth control options if you or your partner are at risk of pregnancy. Being educated and prepared can prevent future stress.