This depends on whether you have symptoms or not. We commonly do the following tests with patient consent for people who are worried they have a sexually transmitted infection (STI):
Males – For Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea, we routinely offer a urine test. If you have symptoms like discharge, a swab will be taken from the tip of your penis. For other STIs like HIV and Syphilis, we do blood tests. Depending on your sexual history we may also take swabs from your throat and rectum and blood tests for other infections.
Females – For Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea, we routinely ask you to take swabs yourself from your vagina and/ or to provide a urine sample. If you have symptoms, an examination will be necessary so the clinician can see your vagina and cervix (neck of the womb). For other STIs like HIV and Syphilis, we routinely do blood tests. Depending on your sexual history we may also take swabs from your throat, vagina (using a small instrument called a speculum), and do blood tests for other infections.
If you had unprotected sex with someone who has or you’re worried could have HIV, contact your local sexual health service immediately for advice and an appointment as this needs specialist assessment. If you need advice when your local sexual health service is closed, go to your local A&E. Virgin Care runs help and advice in its services 24/7 Monday to Friday. Weekend cover varies by service area.
It’s not possible to 100% confirm whether you’ve been infected with HIV until you test three months from the last time you had unprotected sex.
Not all STIs show up immediately on tests. If you don’t have any symptoms, we recommend testing after two weeks for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea and after 4 weeks for HIV. However you should getting another test for HIV and Syphilis 12 weeks you’ve had unprotected sex, as this will be more accurate. If you have symptoms, you should come in straight away for testing.
Some people who have an STI will not get any symptoms. This means the infection can damage your body without you even knowing about it. It also means you could accidentally pass on an STI to someone else. If you think you have an STI, the only way to be sure is to see a doctor or a nurse.
Common symptoms include:
- Unusual discharge from the vagina
- Discharge from the penis
- Pain or burning when peeing
- Itches, rashes, lumps, bumps or blisters around the genitals or bottom
- Pain and/or bleeding during sex
- Bleeding between periods (including women who are using hormonal contraception)
- Bleeding after sex
- Pain in the testicles (balls)
- Pain in the lower stomach
If you have symptoms, we advise coming to the clinic as soon as possible and to avoid sexual contact until you have been seen. You’ll find details of symptoms on the STI pages on this site.
Yes, but you may need to wait a few days. You can have an STI without having any symptoms. This means the infection can damage your body without you even knowing about it. It also means you could accidentally pass on an STI to someone else. If you think you have an STI, the only way to be sure is to see a doctor or a nurse.
If you don’t have any symptoms, we advise waiting 14 days since the last time you had unprotected sex before coming to one of our clinics for STI testing. Depending on the infection, it can take several days from being infected before our tests are able to detect it.
STIs can be passed from person to person through oral, vaginal and anal sex if a condom isn’t used, breaks or is used wrong.
Unprotected sex is where you have sex without a condom or where you think the condom might not have worked because it was damaged or slipped off during sex. There are two serious consequences of having unprotected sex – pregnancy and contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI). You will need to attend a sexual health clinic, your GP or pharmacy for STI tests and to get emergency contraception if you had unprotected vaginal sex and don’t want to become pregnant.
There are three options for emergency contraception – two pills (commonly called the “morning after pill”) and a contraceptive method called the IUD.The earlier you use emergency contraception, the more effective it will be in preventing a pregnancy. Please note, if you want to take a pill and it is more than 72 hours since you had unprotected sex, your pharmacist will not be able to provide medication. You will need to see your GP, sexual health service or CASH clinic.