So today we're here in St. James' STI clinic
Ellie and I are going to get tested just to show how easy it is
Anyone who's sexually active is at risk of contracting an STI so should be tested.
It costs nothing and everything is completely confidential so you don't need to worry
all you've to do is show up the day the clinic is running
When you arrive you'll get a ticket and they'll call your number when they're ready
then you have to fill out a form to register with the clinic
and don't forget if your a guy hold of on going to the toilet for an hour beforehand
Before we get tested we're going to talk to Grainne about some common STI myths
So firstly, if I had an STI surely I'd know about it?
Not necessarily not all sexually transmitted infections actually have symptoms so
you wouldn't necessarily have any physical signs
And what if I'm on the contraceptive pill?
The contraceptive pill just protects you from pregnancies you need to use condoms if you want to protect against sexually transmitted infections
If I had an STI I'm worried that that would prevent people from wanting to have sex with me?
Well the most important thing is that you have a test and
then you know if you have a sexually transmitted infection
then you can get treatment for it
If you are open with new partners it's good to have that conversation about testing
and then you can both get tested and start from a level playing field
And what if I've only had oral sex?
So there's still a risk of sexually transmitted infection even if you've just had oral sex
Because there's a lack of penetration doesn't mean that you're immune from STIs
Okay so will we get started? (Yeah great)
So how exactly is the going to go?
So first of all I'm going to ask you a few questions about your sexual history
to make sure I'm doing the right tests for you
and then I'm going to take a blood test and then I'll explain to you how to take your swab test
And is it going to hurt at all?
I'll explain it to you and you'll take your time doing it nice and slowly and it shouldn't hurt
The blood test just feel a little pinch but there is just one sample so
it's over very quickly
So as a guy how exactly is this going to go?
So first of all I just ask you a few questions about your sexual history
to make sure that I'm doing the right tests for you
and depending on your answers I will do a test for a heterosexual man for
a blood test and a urine sample for men who have sex with men
we take a urine sample, a blood test, I would take a swab from your throat
and I'd explain to you how to do a rectal swab yourself
And what's STIs exactly are you testing for?
We're testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea from the three sites
from the throat, from the urine sample, and from the rectal swab
and the blood tests are checking for HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
So ready to get started? (Yeah let's do it)
So that's everything
Ok great and what happens next?
There's two options in terms of getting your results
the first is that we would call you if there's any problems with any of your results
If you don't hear from us after two weeks everything is okay
The other option is that we can make an appointment please come back and
get the results in person if you'd prefer to do that
Ok brilliant thanks
So we're done here at St. James GUIDE clinic for today
Now we just have to wait until we get our test results back
So we're back here at SpunOut HQ
It's been two weeks since we got our tests done and
we haven't heard anything from the clinic
so we're safe in the knowledge that we're infection free
As you can see getting an STI screening is super easy, getting bloods taken is nothing more than a pinch
and they are loads of free clinics around the country
You can click here to find your own local clinic
Some clinics even have a service to contact your former partners in case you
don't feel comfortable in doing so yourself
Most STI's are totally curable and all of them
are treatable and manageable with the right treatment
So guys if you do have an infection it's not the end of the world