Source: teenvogue.com
Welcome to AP Bio, Teen Vogue’s guide to what you need to know about sex and your body before you head to college. Whether it’s getting tested, taking care of a yeast infection, or opting out of so-called hookup culture all together, we’ve got you covered.
Walking into Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Center in New York to get an STI and HIV test, I felt nervous. You’d think I’d know the deal by now — after all, I’ve gotten them before, and I’m someone who regularly advocates on this very website for others to know their status and take preventative measures against STIs and HIV. In my personal life, I’ve encouraged friends to go get tested (no, it won’t hurt!), and balked when previous partners told me it wasn’t part of their regular health routine (why not?). Still, as I stepped into the waiting room to be tested for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV, I was scared — and that was the whole point.
If I get nervous or don’t know what to expect despite my experience and advocacy around STI and HIV testing, someone who has never gone through this process before probably feels those nerves much more intensely. Like I was, you might be wondering what exactly getting an STI and HIV test entails, particularly whether or not it hurts. So, let’s walk through it step by step.
I set up my testing appointment online via Planned Parenthood’s scheduling portal, which isn’t available for every health center but the option is expanding to more places. Of course, there are many place to get an STI test — including your primary care physician or other local health centers — so your experience might be different than mine depending on where you go. But, if you do head to a Planned Parenthood where the online scheduling via DocASAP is available, it’s fairly easy. I chose the health center that was most convenient for me, and filled out a bunch of personal information about me, my health, and my insurance plan. (You can still visit Planned Parenthood if you don’t have insurance! Visit your clinic’s website for more information on how they charge.) There were only two snags in the process. It took so long to register for the scheduling platform that the appointment time I wanted was taken by the time I was done, and I was only given male and female as gender identification options. According to Planned Parenthood, the options are due to the scheduling platform DocASAP (which isn’t specific to Planned Parenthood). Currently, Planned Parenthood said it is working with DocASAP to provide more inclusive language.
Once I was registered and my appointment was set, I waited about a month before it was time to go for my screening (if you have symptoms, you definitely should not wait this long). On the morning of my appointment, I arrived a few minutes early and checked in at the front desk of the clinic. I was asked for information about my insurance, marital status, race, and income level. Then I sat in a pleasant and clean waiting room for what seemed like forever because I had to pee SO BAD.
Here is where I made my first mistake: I thought my STI screening would include a urine test, so I drank a ton of water and rolled up to the clinic with a very full bladder. First I sat smugly, thinking this wouldn’t be one of the many times a doctor has asked me to pee in a cup and I couldn’t even squeeze out a drop. But as the minutes ticked by, my smugness wore off. The clinic was running a little behind that morning, so I sat in the waiting room for quite a while, squirming. When I was finally called in to the testing room, though, I realized my pent-up pee was for not — urine testing was not in my future.
Once in the testing room, I chatted with a very kind nurse, who, unlike the scheduling platform, asked very inclusive questions about what pronouns I use, what genders my sexual partners are and were, and what kind of STI prevention methods I use. Then she performed the HIV test, which included a very quick finger prick, some coercing of blood out of my finger, and a rapid diagnostic test that gives you the result of the test in minutes. I won’t lie — this process isn’t totally painless, but it’s not exactly painful. The finger prick hurts about as much as a quick pinch (but honestly kind of less). The worst part of this process was the nurse collecting the blood from my finger, for which she had to kind of squeeze my finger tip for a few minutes until she had enough. It didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t a super comfortable process.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV testing can be done on either blood, oral fluid, or urine — though blood and oral fluid are most common. The blood can be collected via finger prick, like mine was, or drawn from the vein. Oral fluid can be collected by swabbing the inside of your mouth. So depending on which test your doctor opts for, the pain or discomfort level can vary from not at all to a solid pinch. Some tests deliver rapid results, meaning you’ll know the results of the test before you leave the doctor’s office. Others require testing in a lab. It’s also important to remember that no test can tell whether you have contracted HIV directly after exposure. Depending on what kind of test you get, it won’t be detectable until between 10 and 90 days after exposure according to the CDC. If you suspect you’ve been exposed to HIV, you can ask your doctor about taking post-exposure prophylaxis — a drug that can help prevent infection when you’ve been exposed to HIV — within 72 hours after the potential exposure. If you believe you’re at high risk of HIV exposure, you can ask your doctor about taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which can reduce your risk of infection should you be exposed to HIV in the future.
After the finger prick, the nurse sent me and my newly bandaged finger to the bathroom with a plastic bag containing a swab and a vile that would be used for the chlamydia and gonorrhea tests. She instructed me to insert the swab into my vagina, swirl it around a bit, and then put the swab in the vial (which contained some type of liquid) and place it all back in the bag to return to her. This process didn’t hurt a bit — in fact, I loved this step in the testing because it meant that I was in a bathroom and could finally pee. It was honestly a sweet relief.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, testing for both chlamydia and gonorrhea can be done on people with vaginas by “a swab from the vagina, mouth, throat, rectum, or the area around the cervix.” A self swab is available if you’re testing the vagina or rectum. A urine test (I wasn’t totally off base!) can also be used for people of any sex.
The final step in the testing process was a visit with a doctor, who asked if I had any symptoms, or any reason to believe I had been exposed to an STI. She sent me on my way after a very brief chat, and told me that I could access my results online in a few days. Should any of the tests come back positive, she informed me that the clinic would call to let me know. No call, she said, meant negative tests.
Because the clinic was busy on the day I went, the process did take about an hour and a half, but it was mostly waiting time. The actual tests were quick, easy, and mostly painless. Of course, everyone’s pain tolerance is different, and you might not get the same tests that I did, meaning your experience may be different. I was also only screened for a specific set of infections, which are deemed appropriate for women in my age range. Depending on your sex, sexual orientation, and number of partners, these recommendations could be different.
No matter what kind of testing you get, though, the truth is that it’s worth it. Whether it’s the quick pinch of a needle or the feeling of holding your pee for a much longer time than you ever needed to, the slight discomfort is quickly forgotten once the tests are over. Knowing your status and being proactive about your health protects you — and there’s nothing more valuable than that.