Quick Links
- 1 What Are STDs?
- 2 What Is STDcheck.com?
- 3 How STDcheck.com Works
- 4 Available STDcheck.com Tests
- 5 1. Chlamydia Test
- 6 2. Gonorrhea Test
- 7 3. Hepatitis A Test
- 8 4. Hepatitis B Test
- 9 5. Hepatitis C Test
- 10 6. Oral Herpes Test
- 11 7. Genital Herpes Test
- 12 8. HIV 1 & 2 Antibody (4th Gen) Test
- 13 9. HIV RNA Early Detection Test
- 14 10. Syphilis Test
- 15 11. Additional Test Packages
- 16 Final Thoughts
- 17 Related Articles
What Are STDs?
Sexually transmitted disease, or STD, are infections that are usually spread via anal, vaginal, and oral sex. They can also be spread via nonsexual contacts, such as unclean intravenous needles, breastfeeding, childbirth, and skin-to-skin contact.
STDs are extremely common, and often show little to no symptoms. However, they will progress and remain contagious even without symptoms. If left untreated, they can cause irreversible health damage. Luckily, most can be easily treated – especially if caught early.
What Is STDcheck.com?
STDcheck.com is an online service that allows people to purchase private, affordable STD tests online. Customers never need to visit a doctor if they don’t want to – though STDcheck.com provides consultation services with their physicians to answer questions and discuss treatment, should you have concerns or your tests return positive.
In addition to providing convenient, affordable, and private STD tests, STDcheck.com also aims to educate the online public about STDs, and how to stop spreading them.
How STDcheck.com Works
Prospective customers first must make an order a test with STDcheck.com, either via phone or online.
Then, you must visit the nearest test center in order for the labs to draw a sample for the ordered tests. No waiting, prior appointment, or paperwork is needed. The sampling process itself should only take minutes.
After samples are taken, you may leave. You will receive your test results 1-2 days later on your online account. Should you find any positive test results, STDcheck.com offers phone consultations with their doctors.
Available STDcheck.com Tests
1. Chlamydia Test
The symptoms in male genitals can include:
- Swelling and pain in one or both testicles
- Unusual discharge from one’s penis
- Burning sensation or pain while urinating
The symptoms in female genitals can include:
- Burning sensation or pain while urinating
- Unusual discharge from the vagina
Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STD that is named after the bacteria that causes it – Chlamydia trachomatis. It can spread via shared sex toys and anal, vaginal, and oral sex. Left untreated, it can permanently damage the reproductive system and potentially cause infertility.
The disease rarely shows any symptoms. If symptoms do actually manifest, it will happen about 1-3 weeks after infection.
Chlamydia can be easily treated with prescription antibiotics.
STDcheck.com tests for chlamydia via a Nucleic Acid Amplification (NAA) test, where it looks for the bacteria that are responsible. This is an FDA-approved urine test that is widely considered to be the most accurate chlamydia test available.
All the testee must do is avoid urinating for at least an hour before testing. Labia should not be cleaned beforehand as well. Afterward, they must collect only the first 20-30ml of the urine stream. No further amount is necessary, lest the sample is diluted. The results will then be presented within 1-2 days.
If you are concerned you may have been exposed to chlamydia and want to check, it is advised to wait for up to 2 weeks post-exposure to ensure accurate test results. The test costs $89.00.
2. Gonorrhea Test
The symptoms in male genitals can include:
- Pain while urinating
- Yellow, green, or white discharge from one’s penis
- Swollen or painful testicles
The symptoms in female genitals can include:
- Burning sensation or pain while urinating
- An increase in vaginal discharge
- Bleeding from the vagina between periods
Gonorrhea is another common bacterial STD that is transmitted via sexual bodily fluids coming in contact with mucous membranes. It can infect a partner without any ejaculation. If untreated, it can cause serious health issues and potential infertility.
This disease often doesn’t manifest symptoms. At most, the symptoms will be mild.
Gonorrhea can be easily treated with prescription antibiotics.
A Nucleic Acid Amplification (NAA) test will be used by STDcheck.com to check for gonorrhea. It is a urine test that is considered the recommended method for this disease.
The testee should not urinate for at least an hour prior to testing. Labia should also only be cleaned after testing. No other preparation is necessary.
After signing in, a lab technician will direct you to a bathroom. There, you will be asked to produce a urine sample and given privacy to do so. The “first catch”, or the first 20-30ml of the urine stream, must be collected.
Ideally, you would want to wait for at least 2 weeks to get the most accurate results for gonorrhea. That said, the bacteria show up on tests as quickly as 2 to 6 days after exposure, so getting tested immediately after exposure is advised. The test costs $89.00.
Hepatitis refers to liver inflammation, which in turn can cause serious liver problems. It can be caused by various things, including certain viral infections – namely hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. It can be infected sexually if a partner’s sexual fluids mix or interact with infected fecal matter.
Unlike some of the other strains, hepatitis A is acute and contagious but does not develop chronic symptoms. The infection may be mild last only a few weeks, or be severe and persist for several months. It is normal for patients to recover without any long-lasting liver damage, though there are reported cases where it caused liver failure and death.
Hepatitis A is contagious immediately after infection. After two weeks of post-appearance of symptoms, most people with healthy immune systems will cease being contagious.
No cure currently exists for hepatitis. Thankfully, most infected people do not usually require treatment, and instead only need plenty of fluids and proper rest to recover completely. After a complete recovery, you will gain complete immunity to it.
Since vaccines are available for this virus, it is ideal that you and your loved ones are vaccinated against it for permanent and guaranteed immunity.
To check for hepatitis A, a blood test will look for antibodies related to the virus. A lab technician will draw a small blood sample at STDcheck.com’s testing center, where it will be analyzed by a lab. No fasting is required. The test costs $24.00.
An acute infection can be asymptomatic or mild, though it has a rare chance of becoming severe and requiring hospitalization. It can also develop into a chronic infection, though the chances of this happening decreases with age. The disease can be lethal, though a full recovery guarantees immunity to it.
A vaccine is available for this virus strand.
It is diagnosed with a similar blood test, with the body needing 3-6 weeks to start building antibodies that can be detected for a positive or a negative result. If you have been tested positive for the virus, STDcheck.com’s labs will run a free confirmation test on the same sample. The test costs $24.00.
Unlike hepatitis A and B, there is no vaccine for this virus. Chronic-stage patients, however, may manage and possibly treat the virus through medication. Patients who make a full recovery will be permanently immune.
Hepatitis C also has an acute stage and a chronic stage. Unlike hepatitis B, where most of its patients make a full recovery from the acute stage, 75-80% of hepatitis C patients will develop a chronic infection.
This disease will often not develop any symptoms. If symptoms do appear, they will show up in 2-12 weeks after exposure.
Chronic infections can also develop irreversible liver complications, including liver failure.
STDcheck.com diagnoses it with a blood test that provides results in 1-2 days. The test should ideally be taken about 8-9 weeks after suspected exposure. A follow-up test 3 months after initial exposure should be done to ensure there is no active infection. The test costs $24.00.
It can be transmitted via skin-to-skin touch and is highly contagious. Upon contact, it will infect the cells of the localized area. Eventually, it will infect further into your nerve cells and make its way to live inside your DNA. Barring transmissive acts, the virus will normally remain localized to that area for the rest of the person’s life.
This disease is normally asymptomatic, though it may occasionally create open sores and fluid. It can still be transmitted even if the skin appears clear.
There is no cure for this disease. That said, the virus is not very serious – at most, it may cause some discomfort. In fact, the CDC does not recommend testing for the virus since it may cause more shame and stigmatization than any actual help.
STDcheck.com will test for HSV-1 when testing for oral herpes. However, the site recommends testing for both HSV-1 and HSV-2 at the same time, since it is impossible to identify the correct virus strain via the location of symptoms alone.
A blood sample will be taken, and the results provided in 1-2 days. No other preparation is necessary. It’s recommended that you get tested for it 4-6 weeks post-exposure. The test costs $65.00.
7. Genital Herpes Test
Genital herpes does not refer to a specific herpes virus – instead, it merely refers to the location of the virus. It is usually caused by the HSV-2 strain, though the increase of oral sex has made it more likely for HSV-1 to be responsible for genital herpes. It cannot be spread through the use of communal devices, such as towels, bedding, or swimming pools.
Just like oral herpes, there is no vaccine, recovery, or cure for genital herpes – it is, unfortunately, a lifelong disease. It is also possible to be infected by both strains simultaneously.
STDcheck.com offers tests for HSV-2 when testing for genital herpes. It is recommended to take this test along with the test for HSV-1.
The blood test’s preparation, procedure, and wait time is exactly the same as that for oral herpes. It’s generally recommended that you get tested for it 4-6 weeks post-exposure. Negative test results should be confirmed with another test after 3 months. The test costs $65.00.
8. HIV 1 & 2 Antibody (4th Gen) Test
HIV can only be spread through the following body fluids:
- Breast milk
- Anal mucus/fluids
- Semen
- Blood
- Vaginal fluids
The symptoms are often mild. They include:
- Flu-like symptoms
- Body rash
- Fatigue
- Swollen lymph glands
- Sore throat
- Headache
- Muscle ache
- Joint pain
- Fever
- Upset stomach
Symptoms of AIDS include:
- Weakness
- Night sweats
- Oral thrush
- Swollen lymph glands
- Skin and mouth problems
- Persistent cough
- Pneumonia
- Fever
- Weight loss
- Memory loss
- Anal/genital sores
- Chronic diarrhea
Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a virus that attacks your immune system. This eventually leads to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), which is the final stage of any HIV infection where the virus has caused permanent damage to the patient’s immune system.
The virus can also infect a patient via open sores, cuts, or mucous membranes such as the rectum, the vagina, and the opening of the penis. Transmission cannot occur via physical contact or other bodily fluids such as saliva or sweat.
If untested and untreated, the virus will progress through 3 different stages. The first stage is acute infection, which develops about 2-4 weeks after exposure and can last for 8-10 years. The patient is highly infectious at this stage.
The second stage is a chronic infection. At this point, the patient is asymptomatic. However, they will continue to be contagious.
The final stage is AIDS. At this point, the HIV virus has damaged their immune system severely, which means that the body can no longer fend off any simple illnesses and often succumbs to death as a result.
There is no cure or vaccine for HIV. That said, medication can slow down the disease’s progression and effectively neutralize it. This makes HIV-infected persons practically non-contagious, so they may have sex without the risk of transmission.
STDcheck.com offers a blood test that can detect both HIV Type 1 and HIV Type 2. The results will be available in 1-2 days. If positive, the labs will perform a free confirmation test on the same sample. No fasting is required.
STDcheck.com recommends testing to be performed 2-3 weeks after initial exposure so that the test can detect the applicable antibodies. They also recommend retesting 3 months post-exposure to be certain of a negative result. The test costs $79.00.
This is a blood test that has the exact requirements and the same procedures as a normal HIV test. However, it will take 2-4 days for a result to be available. The test costs $169.00.
10. Syphilis Test
Symptoms include:
- Non-itchy skin rashes
- Mouth, anus, and vagina lesions
- Swollen glands in groin, armpits, or neck
- Sore throat
- Muscle ache
- Headache
- Hair loss
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Fever
Symptoms include:
- Large sores (gummata) on the skin or in the body
- Numbness
- Deep, boring bone pain
- Strokes
- Vision issues or blindness
- Heart issues
Syphilis is a bacterial STD that is spread either via skin-to-skin contact or when a mucous membrane touches someone’s syphilis sore. This usually happens during oral, vaginal, or anal sex. Untreated syphilis can cause irreversible health problems such as paralysis, blindness, and brain damage.
Syphilis has multiple stages which can last for years. They may overlap or occur in a different order than expected, and manifest symptoms that are similar to other diseases. Symptoms also can go through asymptomatic periods, or appear in hard-to-see spots.
Stage one of syphilis sees small, painless sores appear where the bacteria has infected the body – including inside the rectum or vagina. They are called a chancre, and on average develop within 3 weeks post-infection. Chancres will heal within 3-6 weeks.
After this, syphilis may develop to the second stage. These symptoms will go away with time, regardless of whether treatment is given or not. However, the infection continues regardless.
The infection may then become latent, and all symptoms vanish for years. However, the patient continues to be infectious.
Syphilis rarely proceeds to stage three. When it does, it causes permanent damage to various organs, and may even cause death.
Syphilis can be treated with antibiotics at any stage. However, treatment cannot reverse any damage that has taken place.
STDcheck.com offers a blood test that can offer results in 1-2 days. No fasting is required. It is recommended that testing is performed 3-6 weeks after initial exposure. Another test should be performed 3 months after treatment, to ascertain complete recovery. The test costs $79.00.
11. Additional Test Packages
STDcheck.com offers the 10 Test STD Panel, which combines all their available tests into one package. This package costs $198.00. Adding HIV RNA Early Detection changes the price to $398.00.
Other packaged tests include a test panel for chlamydia and gonorrhea, which costs $129.00.
Privacy with STDcheck.com
STDcheck.com complies with all U.S. federal and state medical privacy laws. They also minimize the need to process or maintain sensitive personal information wherever possible and have their system protected with a standard HL-7 interface and 128-bit SSL encryption. They also do not accept health insurance, to avoid having your results keyed into your medical record.
Additionally, STDcheck.com will not send you any voice mails, tests, or mail unless explicitly given consent to do so. Instead, they will inform you that the results are ready via email from “HealthLabs.com”. You then will have to go to your online account and download the results to view them.
Payment Options with STDcheck.com
STDcheck.com accepts all major credit cards. They also accept debit cards or gift cards that carry the MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover logo, PayPal, and over 50 different cryptocurrencies. For your privacy’s sake, the transaction will appear as “HealthLabs.com”.
You can also pay with your Health Savings Account, your Flex Spendings Account, or with cashier checks and money orders. However, the latter two are only available for phone orders. You are also given a “Pay Later” option, where you have yourself tested first before paying. Please note that payment must be done online in order to release the results and that the labs cannot accept payment.
You are free to cancel any time before your lab visit. You will be refunded afterward, though STDcheck.com will take a 20% cancellation fee. If your cancellation was made 21 days after your purchase, your refund will be issued in the form of credit for any future tests.
Final Thoughts
STDcheck.com is an online service that provides great privacy and convenience when ordering STD tests, thanks to the methods they use to ensure their customer’s privacy.
They have FDA-approved tests for some of the most common STDs in the world – all that is required of their customers is to show up at their labs for just a few minutes. They then return results within 1-2 days.
If you are concerned about your privacy in this sensitive matter, STDcheck.com may be worth looking into to see if it works for you.