STD testing procedure

Well that's interesting.

There's a standard pap, a more in depth scraping (with a cotton swab but it feels like scraping) and then blood work for the rest. You have to specifically ask for a full STD work up to get it.

katatonic said:

Hey, I was wondering what's the standard STD testing procedure for women?

Do they take a look and take swabs and then do blood tests? Whats the norm?

Need it for a college comedy....

Cheers

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It kind of depends upon what you are looking for
History and Physical Exam
plus or minus some swabbing, scraping, pee in a cup with microscopic exam of urine and blood tests.
Some diseases can be identified at the same visit and some might take up to a week to get lab results, like a culture report. It is also important to know that if you identify one disease that does not preclude a few more.

STD is a category of diseases, not a specific disease

You might find the Mayo Clinic website helpful if you're looking for testing procedures on a specific STD.

What do you want to know?

Gonorrhea & Chlamydia can be tested via urine. HIV can be by mouth swab or blood test. Syphilis screening is a blood test. Herpes can be blood or a lesion can be swabbed (the fresher the better). HPV can be either visual warts or done as part of a Pap screen (or just a cervical swab).

Testing depends on the woman's symptoms and/or specific concerns. If someone has zero symptoms and is just being screened, I would recommend a urine GC/CT and an HIV test. If she has bumps or sores, they should be looked at. Annoying discharge would be swabbed and examined under a microscope (trich, BV, candida).

I live such an exciting life....