Getting Tested for STDs

The most important reason for getting tested is to find out if you have an STD so you can get treated and so you don’t pass the infection on to your partner. Most STD’s are curable with simple antibiotics.

The type of tests you may need will depend on the nature of any sexual contact you may have had. Some STD tests require swabs of the throat, the woman’s cervix, the anus, or the urethral opening of the man’s penis. Others require urine or blood samples. Your health care provider can help you decide what tests you need and when to have them done to get the most accurate result.

HIV tests in the United States are either “anonymous” or “confidential.” With anonymous HIV testing, your name is not linked to your test results—you are assigned a number matched to your results. With confidential HIV testing, your name is recorded with your results, and together may be made available to medical personnel and, in some states, the state health department.