1. If you think you have come into contact with an STI you need to get tested. You can go along to your own doctor who is not allowed to tell anyone else without your permission. With most sexually transmitted infections the doctor will refer you on to your local clinic. STI clinics are also called GUM Clinics or special clinics. A Kent-wide list of clinics and their numbers are to be found on under the services section on this website.
2. If you think you have come into contact with an STI you should not be having unprotected sex with another person until you have been tested, know the results and have received treatment.
3. The people who work at STI Clinics really HAVE seen it all before; it’s what they do. They are not there to judge you or to comment on your behaviour. This is a service, the same as any other. They are paid to help you. They should treat you with respect and consideration. They may give you advice on how to avoid infections in the future and if they tell you not to have sex whilst they are treating you please do what they say, they are the experts!
4. If you have taken the trouble to go to a clinic and get tested you should make the effort to find out the results and then go back for treatment!
5. Please remember having a smear test does not mean you have been tested for any STIs nor can the nurse 'tell' if you have contracted one, unless the symptoms are immediately obvious. STI clinic staff have been specially trained and know what to look out for.
6. Having a blood test for another reason does not mean you have been tested for STIs. Your practitioner will indicate to the lab what he or she wants the blood tested for. A test for anaemia for example will not indicate you are HIV positive.
7. Being prescribed antibiotics for something else, like a chest infection, does not mean it will treat an STI at the same time. Infections treated by antibiotics need specific types and dosages as there’s not one magic cure.
8. Taking the contraceptive pill does not guard you against contracting an STI. Neither does washing your genital area straight after sex, crossing your fingers and hoping for the best or denying to yourself and others that you ever had sex.
9. Having a good look at your partners genital area, even 'up close and personal', will not necessarily show you that they have an STI. Also observing to yourself that they 'look clean' or wear great clothes is not a good indication they are STI-free.
THE BLAME GAME
It is very difficult to tell how long you may have had an STI. The effects of some STI’s, like Chlamydia or Syphilis change over time but there’s really no point in trying to work out who gave it to you to blame them. They are not dirty or deliberate disease spreaders. All they did was have unprotected sex – and so did you!
