If you're sexually active, you need STI screening to learn if you have a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Screening protects you and your partner and prevents problems caused by untreated STIs, such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and pregnancy complications. Safieh Javid, ARNP, and the skilled team at All Female Health Care offer comprehensive STI screening. If you have questions about whether you need a test or want to schedule an appointment, call the office in Sunrise, Florida, or use the online booking feature today.
STI screening includes a pelvic exam combined with lab tests that detect the bacteria, viruses, and parasites that travel between partners during vaginal, oral, and anal sex.
You may not have symptoms for weeks or months after becoming infected with an STI. Even if you have symptoms, they're often so mild or last such a short time that you may not notice them. But the infection remains after symptoms disappear. For these reasons, you need STI screening to find out if you have an infection.
Call All Female Health Care if you aren’t sure about needing STI testing. Otherwise, these guidelines can help you decide:
Women under the age of 25 who are sexually active should get yearly STI screenings. People between the ages of 15-24 account for more than half of all new STI cases.
If you're 25 or older, you need yearly STI testing if you have a new partner, multiple partners, or a partner diagnosed with an STI.
All Female Health Care routinely performs STI testing as part of your pregnancy care. Untreated STIs can cause problems such as early delivery and a low birth weight baby. You can also pass some STIs to your baby during vaginal delivery.
STI screening identifies all types of infections, including:
Unlike all the other STIs, your body usually clears away HPV before the virus causes health problems. However, the virus takes hold in some women and can cause cervical cancer.
Each STI has a different set of symptoms. As a group, they cause:
You may also experience fatigue, headaches, a sore throat, fever, or muscle pain.
There isn't one test that detects all types of STIs. Your provider may need to take a blood or urine sample or swab fluids from the infected area.
If you need STI screening, call All Female Health Care, or book an appointment online today.
