Hello doctor, yesterday while i was on my lunch break at work i was approached by some black dude and he was selling music cds. He had all the music cds that he was selling downloaded on his ipod so that you could preview the cds before you bought them. Well without thinking i grab the little earpiece for the ipod and i put it in my ear and listened to it for about 20 seconds and that i took it out. Im worried and terrified now about HIV. I dont know how many or whos all ears those have been in. As soon as i got back to work i cleaned out my ear but i wanna know what my risk was. Does ear wax have HIV. Should i be worrying over something like this. Please doc can you answer. Do i need to be tested based on this incident. PLease let me know.

Hello,

You're wondering if iPod earpieces or earwax can transmit HIV??? Oh my . . . can you really know so very little about HIV/AIDS? Dude, where have you been for the past quarter century? In a Bush/Cheney-mandated abstinence-only sex education course? Oh OK, that explains it. To answer your question, no, iPod earpieces and/or ear wax do not transmit HIV. No way, no how. HIV testing is not warranted. However, your learning more about HIV transmission risks definitely is! I suggest you spend some time perusing the wealth of information on this site, in its archives and on its related links.

Dr. Bob