This Is What Really Happens in an STI Screening Appointment

You might be filled with the utmost dread just at the thought of describing your bedroom habits to a stranger. You may have even more anxiety about getting tested for unwanted infections you can pick up from said bedroom activities. It is very understandable. Some things should be kept private. However, with the rising rates of sexually transmitted infections, it has never been more important to pay attention to your sexual health. Now is the time to come to you GP and get tested. We spoke to Dr Preethi Daniel, the Clinical Director at London Doctors Clinic who has put all our minds at ease.

What exactly happens during an STI check up anyway? Do they do a swab? Do I have to provide a urine sample? Do I have to have a blood test? There is absolutely no need to feel apprehensive. If anything, as GPs they have heard it all before! Nothing can shock them. Truly. Be open and share your worries and we guarantee you, it will go better than expected. Often, doctors do not even need to examine if you do not present with any symptoms.

The basic STI test involves taking a blood sample. This is to look for the common viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C. This test also detects bacterial infection such as syphilis. Blood is usually drawn from the crook of your elbow and the procedure takes less than a minute. It is slightly painful but not horrendous.

The basic test also involves a urine sample for men and a swab for women. Men are advised to hold their urine in for a minimum of an hour to provide a sample for chlamydia and gonorrhoea. In women, usually swabs are considered more accurate and this is a self-swab.

There are various other tests they can do in addition to the above. If a man was to come with a penile or rectal discharge, the doctor would take a sample of this discharge on a swab. The penile swab is not as ghastly as it sounds. It is a very thin cotton bud barely a few millimetres wide and is only inserted into the tip of the penis around a few millimetres deep to collect the sample. This procedure although uncomfortable,is painless. This also goes rectal swabs.

Any skin lesions that are worrying in the genital area can also be swabbed using a cotton bud and sent to the lab. Again this is painless. This can confirm genital herpes or warts (although often just a clinical examination is more than enough for this). So whilst it all sounds rather unpleasant, doctors are hear to make you feel comfortable and now that you know exactly what happens during a sexual health check-up, you do not have to feel scared at all!

Danielle Mead