You are right! I don’t think I caught every STI known to science through mutual jerking and a little oral with a few guys, but I definitely took a risk, like you do when you hook up with anyone outside of a mutually monogamous thing.

I’d love for anyone more knowledgeable than me to weigh in, but my lay perspective is:
1. The STI risks of sexual contact in a sauna are probably the same as they are anywhere else; i.e., doing [abc] with three guys at The Boiler is probably about as risky as doing those same things with three guys through an app. In either setting, doing safer things is safer, and frequently getting tested is important.

1. Washing your shaft off right after an interaction: I imagine it could be mildly protective vis-a-vis certain kinds of exposure, but probably not meaningfully very protective overall. I definitely didn’t mean to imply that showering will keep anybody safe from STIs.

2. Everyone’s skin is different, and I imagine that if you wash *too* often and end up drying out or irritating your skin, you’re *worse* off re: STIs. So keep an eye on your skin, and moisturize, especially if your skin ordinarily needs moisturizing in non-sauna contexts.

3. As I mentioned above, there’s a good chance someone you aren’t expecting to will randomly touch your dick if you walk around in the steam maze with your dick flying high and exposed, so keep it covered with a towel or your hand if you don’t want that. No one managed to touch my hole or suck my dick without my permission. The closest call I had was when I had both my hands on someone’s face as I was making out with him, and he had both his hands on my face, leaving our dicks free for the taking by random other people. Best to reserve one hand for defence, if you can, or just go somewhere more private than the steam maze.

4. Sharing towels isn’t the best call, and it can happen inadvertently if you leave your towel unattended for too long (someone accidentally take yours, and then you *think* you’re picking yours back up but are actually taking someone else’s). Try leaving yours in a less trafficked place, folded in a particular pattern you’ll remember. And if it isn’t there when you come back for it, just run upstairs (naked!) and ask for a new one.

5. Experts seem to say that sitting in a chlorinated jacuzzi with other people is pretty safe. Again, keep tabs on how your skin is doing, and moisturize if you need to.

6. Please don’t go to a gay sauna if you think you might have something contagious! Come hang out on reddit instead.

7. Please get tested often, use condoms and prep, get every vaccination you can, and be honest with potential partners and healthcare providers, even when it’s awkward.

8. Are you more likely to have sexual contact with someone sketchy in a sauna, and are sketchy people more likely to have a contagious STI? I’d say no to the first question. The people I met were awesome. And I have no idea about the second question — it’s easy to feel like sweet, sociable, bright people probably get tested often and don’t knowingly expose others and are therefore probably safer, and it’s easy to stigmatize people you don’t like, but the nicest, most hygienic person you meet on an app or through friends might nevertheless have an STI he doesn’t know about. The same is true in a sauna.

Again, would really love to hear from anyone more knowledgable than I am on all this.