STD checks vary depending on the doctor and patient’s needs. Doctors consider risk factors and may use blood, urine, or swab tests, as well as physical exams. Routine gynecological checkups may not include STD testing, and comprehensive testing requires a request and sharing of sexual history. Some STDs require different types of testing, such as tissue samples or Pap smears. HPV screening is currently only available for women.
How a sexually transmitted disease (STD) check works depends on the doctor performing the test and the specific needs of the patient. Often, doctors consider the risk factors a patient faces when deciding what tests to perform in an STI checkup, unless the patient requires extensive STI testing. Once a doctor and his patient agree on which tests to take, an STD check may involve drawing blood, urinalysis, or swabbing of a man’s penis or a woman’s cervix. Physical exams are also often used as part of STD testing.
Many women assume that STD checkups are done as a routine part of their yearly gynecological checkups. For example, a woman who has an annual Pap smear may assume that her doctor also performs annual STD checks. The thing is, Pap smears can reveal signs of some STDs, but most of them can go undetected despite regular Pap smears. Also, doctors can’t test for STDs unless their patients are in high-risk groups, such as those who have multiple sexual partners. Men may assume their doctors check for STDs through blood tests, but this is not a routine occurrence.
An individual who wants a comprehensive STD checkup usually needs to request one from their doctor. If so, he can share details of his sex life to help his doctor determine what forms of testing are appropriate. For example, a doctor may recommend different tests for a man who is in a long-term monogamous relationship than for a man who has a new sexual partner or has sex with multiple partners. How often testing is recommended may also depend on the unique details of a person’s sex life.
Once a person has decided on the type of STD checkup they want, they may need to provide various types of lab samples for their doctor to test. Doctors can use urine tests to check for gonorrhea or chlamydia, for example. Alternatively, doctors may send swabs of the inside of the penis or cervix to a lab to check for these STDs. Blood tests are usually used to check for syphilis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hepatitis. Because a blood test can give a false negative early in infection with these diseases, the test may need to be repeated.
Some types of STDs are not revealed by blood or urine tests. Checkups for genital herpes may include testing tissue samples or cultures of blistering rashes and a physical examination of a patient with a suspicious bump or sore. Human papillomavirus (HPV) screening usually involves a Pap smear to check for cervical cancer in women. There is currently no STD control for HPV in men.
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