When you are ready to get tested, its important to take the time to assess the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of your decision. Taking the time to assess these factors will help you find the best testing center for your needs in a timely manner.
1) Ask yourself WHO you’re getting tested for.
There is no wrong answer! Its okay to want to be tested “just in case”! Getting tested regularly, even if you haven’t been sexually active regularly, is still important! There are many STDs and STIs that can you have that don’t show any symptoms at all, even if you have had it for years!
If you are getting tested because a partner asked you to, don’t feel afraid to ask them where they get tested! They may be able to recommend an easy and/or affordable place to go. It’s always a good idea to get tested when entering a new sexual dynamic with someone, and can even make a great (pre-sex) “first date”. A mature partner won’t make you feel bad for asking to go with them sometime, or if you ask them to get tested. If they do, know that they aren’t going to be a safe partner to have in your life, probably on multiple levels.
2) Ask yourself WHAT you’re interested in getting tested for.
There is no wrong answer! Ideally, it’s safest to get tested for what is called “a full panel”. Some locations offer this a package deal, others test everything individually upon request. It’s important to talk to your doctor or clinic directly about what you want to get tested for because many places will only test for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea if you’re under 35. I think partially this is due to the lab expenses of getting tested for the offices themselves, and also due to just pure laziness. Many places will say it’s because “they’re the most common for your age group” but with this lazy approach, all it does is increase the possibility for all of the other STDs and STIs to be passed along, like HSV.
HSV (herpes simplex virus) is one of the most common STIs in the United States due to the difficulty that comes along with getting tested for it. Sadly, even many of the “serious” testing centers don’t include it in their normal testing regiment. To get tested for HSV, you need to check with your clinic first (don’t assume they offer it) or ask your primary care physician to run an individual lab test for HSV. If you don’t have insurance, you can always ask your doctor if they know of a place that offers them for free or cheap, or check out some of the resources listed below in this blog.
“Most people with oral herpes get it during childhood or young adulthood from non-sexual contact with saliva.”
This is why it’s especially important to get tested for it. It’s important to keep in mind that there is no vaccine for it, nor any cure, so being aware your status is important for the safety of both yourself and your partners.
Although HSV is one of the few that are non-curable, that doesn’t mean that it is the end of the world if either you or your partner come up positive for it. Thousands of people contract HSV unknowingly every year, and it’s not always due to them being irresponsible and not getting tested.
“In 2018, CDC estimates show there were 572,000 new genital herpes infections in the United States among people aged 14 to 49.”
There are ways to live and play safely with HSV. If you or your partner come up positive, talk to your doctor or a private clinic (if you feel more comfortable talk to a stranger about it) about how to maintain a healthy and normal lifestyle both inside and outside of the bedroom. Thousands of people do, you can too!
For more information on HSV, click here for access to the CDC’s guide on HSV-1 & HSV-2.
3) Ask yourself WHEN you’d like to get tested and WHEN you’d like to get the results.
Every location will have different availability and different result times.
Some locations will be available for walk-in appointments, while others will only be available through scheduling an appointment with the office through a phone call or, when available, through their website. The fastest way to find out if they offer walk in appointments or not is to check their personal website for information or call the location you want to go to directly and talk to their receptionist.
Every location will have different availability in terms of when you can plan on getting your results back.
https://www.talenttestingservice.com/ra_schedule.asp
Like Talent Testing, Inc. there are companies that charge a higher fee (~$190 for a full urine and blood panel – excluding Herpes testing; they also now include Covid testing for an additional small fee) for faster result return rate (their brand focuses on guaranteeing your results will be returned within 24 hours of any testing done before 3pm).
Other locations like Quest Diagnostics focus on getting your results back within 3 to 10 business days, but can also take up to 28 days based on how backed up their specific office location is, through personal experience. This is very rare though. Their results work directly through their website or app, where you have to log in to access your records. (This is actually a good thing - it gives you access to show your partners results at any point via your phone.)
Non-profits like Planned Parenthood usually get your results back within 14 days, but their results can be returned both earlier and later, depending on location. Although keep in mind many locations will only call you if your results are positive, so to see your results or get a copy of your negative results for partners you will have to call the office you went to and ask for a copy personally.
AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation) offers results in 3-7 business days, and suggests to contact the office you went to if you do not get results back after 7 days from your testing.
4) Ask yourself WHERE you would like to get tested
If location is important to for privacy reasons or if you have lack of personal transportation (i.e. no access or ownership of your own vehicle), location is important. Finding the closest clinic to you can be stressful for some, but thanks to the internet there are resources to help you find the best options.
Some resources available online are:
CDC Get Tested Online Location Resource*
Testing (.com) Find A Lab Resource*
https://www.testing.com/find-a-lab/
AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation) Locations*
https://locations.freestdcheck.org/
Your STD Help Free Clinic Finder*
https://yourstdhelp.com/free_clinic_locator.html
Safter STD Testing STD Pricing Resource*
https://www.saferstdtesting.com/std-tests-pricing#
STDcheck (.com) Test Center Help*
https://www.stdcheck.com/std-test-center.php
Planned Parenthood Find A Health Center*
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center
*Please note that all marked resources have not been personally used or verified by me, and are only recommended resources via secure internet search on DuckDuckGo. I am not personally responsible for any incorrect information advertised through their sites and have no affiliation with any of these companies and websites.
5) Ask yourself WHY you’re getting tested
Have you met someone that you like and want to play with but want to make sure they’re a safe partner first? Did you discover that an old partner has come up positive for an STD and want to make sure you are not infected? Have you been in a long term relationship but want to just make sure that you and your partner do not have any symptom-free STDs that you may have no caught initially?
There is no wrong reason to get tested. As some STIs do not show up on tests until a breakout, it is important to get tested regularly, even if you are in a long term monogamous relationship. Nobody is safe from STDs and STIs, sadly. Although many people think that you can only get an STD through unprotected sex, that is not true. Some STDs are transmittable through saliva, semen, and even skin contact on places like your pelvis (which is not covered with a condom – like herpes) or through kissing.
Many places will recommend only getting tested once a year - but that is unsafe behavior! If you have a regularly active sex life, getting tested every 1 - 3 months is crucial, and if you have not been active, every 6 months at the latest. It’s important to know that there are different incubation times for different STDs and STIs, and it is very rare to get tested the following few days of unprotected sex (or even protected sex) and get accurate results.
Asking yourself why you are getting tested is also a great practice to help build your self esteem to talk to your partners about it as well. Being able to have the conversation about your partners health practices (i.e. how often they get tested or when the last time they were tested) is very important to both building trust and maintaining the feeling the trust through partnerships.
If you try to have a discussion with a partner about their testing status and they get defensive or dismissive, it’s important to realize that no matter what YOUR health comes first. Even if your partner is as hot as Brad Pitt, that doesn’t mean that your health should be ignored! There are lots of healthy clean fish in the sea, don’t settle for one who doesn’t take their health seriously just because they may fit your ideal aesthetics.
6) Ask yourself HOW you plan on paying for it
Although getting tested through your primary doctor without insurance can be expensive, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it! There are lots of options for getting tested, and many resources to find either a free or sliding scale clinic near you. Those who live in major cities will probably have easier access to closer clinics, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find one near you!
Some of the links that I posted above in the “Where” section offer resources to find free clinics near you. Upon searching for resources for this blog I found multiple scam websites that claimed that “it’s hard or impossible to find completely free testing clinics, but we offer paid testing for you”. THAT IS A LIE! Do not fall for this scam!!!
Non-profit companies often focus on maintaining free or cheap testing for patients, and take their patients privacy seriously as they have more to lose than corporations. The most commonly known non-profit health clinic is Planned Parenthood, which is available in many cities and also globally. The AIDS Health Foundation (AHF) is also a well known non-profit that takes their patients privacy seriously and offers free testing, although they have less locations than Planned Parenthood (from my understanding). Both of these non-profit companies have their own personal location search via their websites.
If you are a student, many colleges also offer both insurance programs through their yearly tuition programs and have their own health clinics. You can call your HR department to see if they offer STD testing, or at minimum have free condoms available.
AT HOME STD TESTING – PROS AND CONS
Last but not least – OTC (over the counter) STD testing kits. I put these last because I personally don’t believe in them, but that doesn’t mean that they are all bad. Many OTC kits are very costly (ranging from $50 – $300) which is just a scam to me considering how important it is to get tested. I also am a believer that you cannot get a better result than done by a professional lab. It is easy to botch an at home test, even if you follow the directions perfectly, as well as to receive an expired one by accident and forget to check.
You’ve probably seen the ads for them – “TAKE A TEST IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN HOME! AVOID EMBARRASSMENT AND AWKWARDNESS!”
So here’s my personal advice on OTC STD Kits – If you WANT to spend the money on them, go ahead. But make sure to ALWAYS check the expiration dates on each individual test you are taking (not just the box they come in) and go to a free clinic anyway for a second opinion, just to be safe.
You’re probably asking yourself, “why would I take the time to go to a clinic if I already took the test?” and I completely get your confusion. But here’s the thing – the same way that pregnancy tests are sold OTC but you can also go into a doctors office and get tested for pregnancy hormones, the doctor (or clinic) will always have a higher chance of being accurate.
Which is why I personally say, save the money on OTC kits and use it to get to a real testing clinic.
But if you prefer to do it yourself at home, just make sure to read the directions thoroughly and carefully. Also, the same way with OTC pregnancy tests it’s better to take 2 tests a day apart to make sure there wasn’t any product or personal error on the first one.
Photo credit: Dainis Graveris
Although there are many resources available for STD/STI screening, that does not mean that you shouldn’t take your health seriously still by practicing “safe sex”. Using condoms are only 89% effective in the prevention STDs!
If you’ve been sexually active for awhile, and practice safe sex, you know how ridiculously expensive condoms can be. It’s honestly probably one of the biggest health care rip offs ever, in my personal opinion.
But don’t let that stop you from taking the proper measures to practice safe sex!
Did you know that there are actually a lot of companies and programs available to acquire condoms for FREE?
Yep!
To keep this blog from going on forever I’m just going to post links that explain some of these resources for you (instead of going into each one in detail personally).
For more information on where to get FREE condoms, check out the following links!
https://dealtrunk.com/free-condoms/
https://moneypantry.com/where-to-get-free-condoms/
https://www.teensource.org/condoms/free
https://www.verywellhealth.com/where-to-find-free-condoms-3133074
https://www.heyitsfree.net/free-condoms/
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/effective-interventions/prevent/condom-distribution-programs/index.html
https://www.chcmed.com/request-your-free-condoms-by-mail/
https://yofreesamples.com/s/free-condoms/
Thank you all for reading, and don’t forget to stay safe and always communicate with your partners!
