After anal sex, the tests you actually need depend on your role, not your identity. Receptive partners should add a self-collected rectal swab for chlamydia and gonorrhea; everyone exposed should test
If you're on a parent's plan, an STI test can show up on the insurance paperwork — specifically the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) mailed or posted to the policyholder, which may list the date, provide
A window period is the gap between when you're exposed to an STI and when a test can actually detect it. Test too soon and you can get a falsely reassuring negative. For chlamydia and gonorrhea, a NAA
Yes, you can still get an STI after menopause — and in some ways the risk goes up. Falling estrogen thins and dries vaginal tissue, making small tears more likely during sex, and any break in that tis
If you stop taking PrEP, the medicine clears from your body over days and your protection against HIV fades — you're no longer shielded once levels drop. Because PrEP works only while it's in your sys
Syphilis moves through four stages. The primary stage is a painless sore (chancre) at the infection site. The secondary stage brings a body rash and flu-like illness. The latent stage has no symptoms
Syphilis moves through four stages. The primary stage brings a painless sore (chancre) at the infection site about three weeks after exposure. The secondary stage adds a body rash, often on the palms
Syphilis testing is a simple blood draw that needs two tests to confirm a diagnosis — a nontreponemal screen (RPR or VDRL) and a treponemal test (TP-PA, FTA-ABS, EIA, or CIA). Because antibodies take
Gonorrhea and syphilis are both curable bacterial STIs, but they behave differently: gonorrhea is the classic "discharge" infection — burning urination and penile or vaginal discharge — while syphilis
Syphilis, herpes, and chancroid all cause genital sores, but the classic split is pain and depth: a syphilis chancre is a single firm, painless ulcer; herpes makes clusters of small painful blisters t
Transgender women face higher HIV risk than the general population, but the same proven tools protect them: PrEP, condoms, regular testing, and treatment-as-prevention. The most common worry — that es
Trichomoniasis symptoms, when they show up, include vaginal itching, burning, soreness, painful urination, and a clear, white, yellowish or greenish discharge with a fishy odor in women; men may notic
Trichomoniasis treatment is a short course of prescription antiparasitic pills. Women are now treated with metronidazole 500 mg twice daily for seven days, while men take a single 2 g dose; tinidazole
A "full" STD panel usually tests for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, and often hepatitis and trichomoniasis — from a urine sample, a swab, and a blood draw. What it routinely leaves out surprises
At an STD test appointment, you check in, talk briefly about which infections to test for, then give a sample — usually a urine cup or self-collected swab for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis,
Wait until you and all recent partners have finished treatment and any clinician-given wait period has passed. For a single-dose treatment that usually means abstaining for about seven days after the
STDs come back after treatment for three main reasons: you got reinfected (usually by an untreated partner), the medicine never fully cleared the infection, or the infection was viral and can't be cur
A yeast infection brings diffuse itching, burning, and a thick white discharge across the whole vulva, while genital herpes typically causes a cluster of painful blisters or sores in one spot. Yeast i
If a condom breaks during sex, stop, withdraw, and clean up gently with water — don't douche or scrub. If HIV exposure is possible, call a clinic or ER about post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) right away
The best condom size is the one that fits snugly without pinching and stays put without rolling off — length covers from base to tip, and width matches your girth so the condom neither chokes nor slid
DoxyPEP is a single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline — 200 mg taken within 72 hours after condomless sex — used to lower the risk of certain bacterial STIs, mainly syphilis and chlamydia CDC. It tar
Folliculitis, herpes, and genital warts can all show up as bumps below the belt, but they're caused by completely different things: folliculitis is an inflamed or infected hair follicle, genital herpe
Free at-home STD test kits are mail-order kits — you order online, collect a urine sample or self-swab at home (and sometimes a fingerstick blood spot), mail it back, and view results in a secure port
Teens can get free or low-cost STI testing at Title X family-planning clinics, federally funded community health centers, health departments, and Planned Parenthood — most charge nothing or use an inc