Do you have an active love life and want clarity about your health? Would you like to get tested for STDs such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV from the comfort of your own home, but you’re not sure which STD test really gives reliable results?
With a home STD test, you can get tested for STDs – discreetly and easily. However, there are significant differences in quality. And a wrong test result can have serious consequences.
STD stands for sexually transmitted disease or is also known as “sexually transmitted infection” and is abbreviated as STI.
Are Quick Tests Effective?
STD Rapid Test
Home test as a rapid test (without laboratory analysis). You can easily take such a test at home and get a test result in a short time.
Strengths: As the name suggests, this test is unbeatable in speed – and the results are usually relevant enough. The results can be interpreted in 10 to 30 minutes. It is discreet and you can do it in your everyday life.
Cons: An assessment in a professional laboratory is always more accurate and safer than a rapid STI test at home. The analysis equipment in the laboratory is more accurate. However, errors can happen when you take the test – so it’s always a good idea to check the result of the rapid test.
Home STD Test
Or rather, a broadcast test – with a laboratory assessment. This test is innovative and is a mix of a home test and a traditional laboratory assessment known from medical practice. It is also known as the remote broadcast test. You take your own blood or urine, or take a swab and send it to a laboratory.
Benefits: you can take the sample discreetly at home and save yourself a trip to the doctor. Above all, the samples are analysed in the laboratory to the highest medical standard. And if you send samples directly to the lab, you usually get results much faster than a normal visit to the doctor.
Cons: Errors can occur when taking samples. It is therefore ideal if you receive instructions on how to take and send the samples correctly.
Quick Tests Seem Reliable – Are They True?
Today, there are many shops that sell a rapid test for STIs and promise a supposedly reliable test result. The instructions are written in a foreign language and give the impression that they are medically proven procedures. CE marking is often seen by customers as a guarantee of quality. This means that the test has been designed according to European guidelines. But for rapid tests for sexually transmitted diseases, clinical quality tests are important !
Should you get tested for sexually transmitted diseases?
The risk of infection increases, especially if you change sexual partners frequently. In these infections, it is possible for patients to show no symptoms for a long time. However, you can still infect your sexual partners. When changing partners, it is therefore advisable to get tested regularly. This can also help prevent the late effects of infections.
Some STIs can have serious consequences if treated too late. HIV infection that goes undiagnosed for a long time can become life-threatening, syphilis can cause organ damage, increasing gonorrhoea and chlamydia infections can cause infertility, and such infections increase the risk of HIV infection through inflammation and mucosal damage.
To prevent such late effects, it is important to have regular examinations. As a safe and up-to-date alternative, we recommend combining a home test with a laboratory assessment. And if you test positive for an STI, that means: act immediately and seek medical help.
Your health is your greatest asset!
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