STD testing is often an afterthought. People don’t worry about it until they are force to by the situation. However, medical professionals would prefer a more proactive approach given the high number of infections every year. The World Health Organization estimates that about a million new sexually transmitted infections occur each day. That’s over 300 million new cases every year. The most common ones are syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Yet very few are talking about them because of the shame surrounding these diseases. An at home STD kit can be used to privately collect the samples which can then be sent to labs for analysis. Here’s why you should get a kit today:

To Detect Asymptomatic Infections

You should not wait until you experience symptoms before you try to check if you have gotten infected. As long as you are sexually active, you should test yourself regularly. The lack of outward signs don’t mean that you are safe. It’s just that the infection is working in the background and causing physical damage slowly. If you can catch it right away, then the doctor will be able to prescribe the appropriate medicines to kill the pathogen whenever possible. It’s best to conduct another test after the initial course to confirm that the infection is gone.

To Prevent Negative Outcomes

Different types if STDs have different effects on the body. Study the common ones so that you can have a better idea about what you should look out for in terms of the symptoms. Beyond those, however, they can also cause several negative outcomes if left untreated. For example, they might result in pneumonia, itching, infertility, birth defects, ectopic pregnancies, skin lesions, warts, blindness, sterility, or death. Those who engage in risky behaviors are more likely to get STDs. These include having sex with multiple partners, having unprotected sex, and getting intimate with a person with unknown sexual history.

To Protect Your Partners

It’s a good idea to get tested at least once a year not only for yourself but for your partners. Make sure that you are not carrying any kind of at home STD kit when you get intimate with them so that you do not infect these people. If you test positive, then you should refrain from having sex until you have been treated and cleared by your doctor. Although you are not forced to tell anyone about the results, you should consider telling the partners whom you might have infected so that they can get tested as well. Ask your doctor for guidance about this.