Most people that have sexually transmitted infections (STIs) do not have any symptoms, so if you don’t get tested you won’t know if ‘most people’ is you!
It is important to get tested so you can be treated. Having an STI for a long time without treatment can result in complications such as PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) in women, epididymo-orchitis in men and complications of untreated HIV in all genders.
Untreated PID is a serious concern, and as many as 1 in 10 women become infertile because of it.
If you have been to visit us in the clinic you will have heard us talk about a ‘window period’. The window period is the time from potential exposure (unprotected sex) to when our tests will be able to reliably detect an infection if you have one.
For Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea, this window period is 2 weeks, HIV is 7 weeks and Syphilis is 12 weeks, after sexual contact.
e.g. if you were to have unprotected sex with a new partner on Tuesday, we would advise not taking a test until 2 weeks later on the Wednesday to be outside the window period for chlamydia and Gonorrhoea.
If you take a test today the result you get will be looking to see if you have an STI from a partner you had more than 2 weeks ago for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea, more than 7 weeks ago for HIV and more than 12 weeks ago for Syphilis.
Chlamydia - 2 weeks
Gonorrhoea - 2 weeks
HIV - 7 weeks
Syphilis - 12 weeks
If you are ordering the STI kit, this will test you for the 2 most common STIs, Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea only. If your test results come back clear and you have symptoms please attend the clinic where we can test for other infections.
If you are ordering the HIV and Syphilis test kit, this will test for HIV and Syphilis only. If you are concerned about any other blood borne viruses, please visit us in clinic.
You will get your results via text message within 2 weeks of the lab having received your kit for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea.
You will receive a text message from the lab when they have your HIV and Syphilis self-testing kit sample. You will then receive another text message with your results within three working days.
The sender will be NHS NO REPLY and the message will either be "Your results from the tests on <RequestedDate> are all clear. No further action needed."
If your test is positive, the message will relay this to you. You will need to arrange an appointment.
If you require treatment please give us a call on 01709 427777 to arrange an appointment.