Urgent Care Clinics – Offering Quick and Reliable STD Screening Facilities for All
In almost all age groups – even teenagers – sexual diseases exist in one form or another. Most of the time, it may be a result of failing to practice safe sex like using condoms or other barriers during physical intercourse. Sometimes, it may also be due to the careless attitude of sexual partners who do not get screened regularly and do not bother about how it may affect the health of other people as well.
In spite of educational programs and several awareness drives about the importance of regular screening for sexual diseases, the number of people who go in for regular testing is minimal. Thankfully, the situation has been witnessing a change with the advent of urgent care clinics in most locations.
Read on to discover more about sexual diseases and why visiting an urgent care clinic will be an excellent idea for your long-term health.
More about sexual diseases
Just as the name suggests, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) refer to diseases or infections that spread through sexual contact or intimate physical touch. While the sexual contact may be vaginal, anal or oral, physical contact implies skin-to-skin contact or coming into touch with sores related to STDs. In rare cases, STDs may also be spread by sharing sex toys that have come into contact with infected individuals.
Some of the most common STDs include:
• Genital Herpes
• Syphilis
• Gonorrhoea
• Chlamydia
• Pubic Lice
• HPV
• Trichomoniasis
• HIV/AIDS
Sexually transmitted disease may be caused by virus, bacteria or other parasites. Although it affects both men and women, the impact tends to be more severe for women. For instance, a pregnant woman can pass on her sexual disease to her unborn child. In more serious cases, certain STDs cause serious health complications in the baby or may even result in the baby being stillborn.
Do not assume you are free of STDs just because you do not experience any specific symptoms. In fact, most STDs or STIs do not produce symptoms in a majority of people. If you keep waiting for symptoms to surface before getting tested, there is a high risk of developing irreversible health problems.
Since most STDs and STIs show no symptoms, affected individuals very often remain unaware that they are infected and that they are unknowingly passing on the disease to many others. For this reason, you must get regularly screened for sexually transmitted infections – especially if you are a sexually active person.
Advantages of getting screened at an urgent care clinic
Unlike hospitals where people have to book appointments, fill out multiple forms, and wait for considerable time to get tested, you can simply walk in to an urgent care clinic and request for an STD screening. If you are not comfortable with sharing your real name, you can provide a fake one just for the testing purpose. Within minutes, your blood, urine or swab samples will be collected. Most urgent care clinics offer test results on the same day. The entire process is easy, quick and affordable.
