WHEN SHOULD I HAVE A CHECK-UP?
You need to consider having a sexual health check-up:
• At the beginning of a new relationship, particularly if you don’t plan to use condoms.
• If you have recently ended a relationship.
• If you have had unsafe sex or believe there was some risk to your health during a sexual encounter.
• If you have genital symptoms such as pain, discharge, itching or new lumps.
• If you think you might have an STI.
• If your partner has recently had an STI.
• If you want information on preventing pregnancy.
• Regularly, if you get paid for sex work.
• Regularly, if you have frequent changes in sexual partners.
• Regularly, if you have sex with people outside your relationship.
• If you are concerned about some aspect of your sexual health.
• Regularly, if you are sexually active and part of a population group in which there is a high frequency rate of STIs.
SHOULD I GET TESTED?
The decision to get tested for STIs is a personal decision. Your doctor can discuss with you what tests to have based on your sexual history and potential risk for STIs, but the decision of what tests to have remains yours to make.
Some people don’t like to get tested because they are concerned about their confidentiality. All health care settings do their best to maintain and protect your privacy and confidentiality. A range of measures are used to protect your confidentiality and the law requires that consultations with your doctor or any health professional are confidential (with some exceptions such as where someone is at risk of seriously harming themselves or somebody else, or if they suspect a young person is being subjected to physical, emotional or sexual abuse).
Before getting tested it may be worth discussing with your doctor the advantages and disadvantages of testing.
Some of the advantages of being tested include:
• Effective treatment of the STI and/or ongoing monitoring and management.
• Able to make better informed choices about your lifestyle and future plans.
• Ease of mind – comfort in knowing with certainty what illness you may or may not have.
• Detection of an unknown STI. Some STIs lead to infertility if left untreated.
• If you have HIV, you can treat many STIs and therefore minimise the impact it has on your immune system.
• Better able to make decisions about your sexual practice and safe sex strategies.
• If you have an STI, you can act to protect your sexual partners and tell former partners so they can act.
Some disadvantages of being tested include:
• You may become anxious and concerned while waiting for the results.
• Some STIs may have implications for your insurance coverage.
• Concern about others finding out about your health.
• Impact it may have on your partner, friends and family.
• You may become stressed or upset when you’re informed about your STI testing results.
EXAMINATION AND TESTS
Physical examinations can be embarrassing but they are an important part of a sexual health check-up. Your doctor will do his/her best to make sure you feel comfortable. You may want to consider whether you feel more comfortable undergoing a physical examination by a male or female, and therefore choose your IWGP doctor accordingly.
If you have concerns about a physical examination, discuss these with your doctor beforehand. Your IWGP doctor can explain what the procedure will involve.
A physical examination might involve:
• genital examination;
• swabs (long cotton bud) from the cervix, vagina or rectum, tip of the penis or back of the throat;
• blood tests for STIs;
• urine tests for STIs; and
• pap smear (smear taken from the neck of the womb) for early screening of cancer.
Remember you can say no to having any of these tests or have them at your next visit. Your IWGP doctor may recommend tests if he/she believes there’s a chance you have an STI.
Follow up
If tests are taken, then it is important that you return to your doctor for follow up. This allows you to find out the results of the test. Do not assume your doctor will contact you if the results are abnormal. It is your responsibility to chase them up!
If you have had symptoms, returning for follow up allows your HHMP doctor to monitor your treatment.
Informing partners
If you do have an STI, it is important to work out who else you have recently had sex with. This is so that your sexual partner/s can go and visit their doctor to get tested. This helps in reducing the continual spread of STIs.
Whether your partner/s need to be contacted depends on many factors including which STI you have and even whether it is possible to trace your sexual partner/s.
Your HHMP doctor will advise you on whether you should not have sex while your STI is treated or if the use of condoms or stopping specific sexual activities will protect your partners.
SEXUAL HISTORY
During a sexual health check-up you will be asked questions about your sexual history. These are standard questions that your doctor will ask every patient. While many questions are of a personal nature, you need to answer as honestly as you can as the information you provide will enable your HHMP doctor to better support your health needs. You can skip any questions you prefer not to answer.
Your doctor must respect your confidentiality. There are a limited number of situations where they can be required to report information, for example if they have serious concerns about you or someone else’s safety.
Questions may focus on:
• whether you have any physical symptoms
• any previous STIs you may have had
• sexual behaviour (e.g. what kind of sex you have had)
• relationship history (e.g. how may partners you’ve had)
• menstrual cycle and contraception (e.g. how regular your periods are)
• drug and alcohol use and
• general questions, if not already known, about your health and medication history.
