How Much Is It To Get Tested For Stds

Can You Get Tested for STDs Without Seeing A Doctor?

December 1, 2020

Cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have been on the rise in recent years. There are more than 20 million cases of STDs in the U.S. each year — with about half of those in people ages 15 to 24. Untreated, STDs in women can lead to severe reproductive health complications including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can lead to infertility, as well as ectopic pregnancy and congenital infection. HIV is also an increased risk for people with STDs.

Queer couple walking down the street hand in hand leaning into each other while touching foreheads. — filipefrazao/iStock via Getty Images

Testing for STDs is a routine part of a trip to the gynecologist. But in the midst of the pandemic, routine medical exams often are suspended or just put on the back-burner. Free and low-cost clinics that routinely provide HIV and STD testing may also have reduced hours or services due to the pandemic.

But life goes on. If you are having sex outside of an exclusive relationship, or your sexual partner is, you should be following guidelines for safer sex during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, you should consider being tested for STDs.

If you need to get tested for STDs in the middle of the pandemic or would prefer not to see a provider in person, there are several options that don't require a visit to a provider or a clinic. One way is to schedule an appointment directly with a lab to have a sample collected and the results returned directly to you. Another is to use an at-home testing kit that is then shipped to a lab for analysis, with results reported via email, website, or app. We'll go over both of those options here, including how they work, how much they cost, and where to find them.

What are STD symptoms — and when do they usually happen?

Women usually don't have STD symptoms that prompt them to get tested; when an STD is detected it's typically because a woman has been screened based on her reporting of sexual activity. If symptoms do appear, they may take a few weeks to develop. In addition, STD symptoms can be difficult to tell apart from those of a urinary tract infection (UTI) or bacterial vaginosis.

STD symptoms can include:

Burning or itching in the vagina
A discharge or odor from the vagina
Pain around the pelvis
Bleeding from the vagina that is not normal
Pain deep inside during sex
Sores, bumps, or blisters in the vagina, anus, or mouth
Burning and pain with urine or with bowel movements
Having to go to the bathroom often

Until after the pandemic emergency response is over, the CDC has advised that women with symptoms should be prioritized for testing and treatment — and that routine screening should be postponed. But women without symptoms still have options for testing and can seek treatment if they test positive for an STD.

What are the pros and cons of STD testing without a doctor?

Not visiting a doctor's office — and heading directly into STD testing — could save you time and money, especially if you don't have health insurance. In addition, during the pandemic routine, in-person medical visits are discouraged to protect patients from potential contagion and to allow hospitals to devote resources to the most urgent needs.

However, deciding on the best STD test for you can be difficult; there's a large number of available options, and it can be tough to identify precisely what tests you may need (we've included a table below to help you sort through the common choices). The most common STDs that physicians screen for are chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV.

The CDC recommends that all sexually active women who are younger than 25 years old be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia every year. Women who are 25 years or older who have new or multiple sex partners or a sex partner with an STD should also be tested every year.

HIV testing often falls into its own category. Testing and care on that front is more likely to be available in clinics — but there are also newer tests that can enable sample collection and results at home from start to finish.

Poor sample collection is always a risk in diagnostic testing, but it can be even more of an issue when it comes to collecting a sample by yourself. So be sure to follow the instructions precisely.

How do at-home and lab-direct STD tests work?

You will need to submit a sample for the tests. Required samples vary, depending on the type of disease being tested for, and can include a urine sample, a finger prick-blood sample, or a vaginal, anal, or oral swab.

The tests are conducted in comparable labs and in the same way as a standard test through a clinic or doctor's office. These approaches simply skip the doctor's referral — and you won't have access to immediate treatment upon results through follow-up care from a doctor.

So, if you receive a positive test result, be sure to seek out appropriate treatment. Also, you need to notify any sexual partners you may have exposed that they should also get tested for that infection.

What are rapid, at-home STD tests?

There are some rapid, at-home STD tests available; they are designed to function like a home pregnancy test, with self-collection and results within 30 minutes or so. However, these are not approved by the FDA to be sold directly to consumers. There is one FDA-approved rapid, at-home test for HIV.

Diagnostic tests that are sold for direct use entirely by consumers require an FDA approval. But STD tests done in a lab don't have to be approved by the FDA. Those testing providers simply have to show that their laboratories are compliant with CLIA certification, which means the laboratories and their processes are up to the standards required by federal law.

How accurate are at-home STD test kits?

Lab-based tests provide standard, high-quality results, as long as the sample was well-collected. Most at-home tests are also processed at certified laboratories. So, as long as your sample was collected and preserved correctly until it was processed and then analysed at a CLIA-certified laboratory, your test results should be comparable to what you would receive otherwise.

How much do at-home or lab-direct STD tests cost?

A test that detects three or four STDs starts at just under $100. That goes up to about $400 for some of the most comprehensive offerings that detect 8 or 9 different STDs.

If the cost is a problem, some regional Planned Parenthood offices are also offering at-home STD testing; their services are usually free or low cost, depending on your income level. There are also many free and low-cost clinics that remain open, perhaps with limited hours, for in-person STD and HIV testing.

Below is a list of at-home and lab-based tests available without a doctor's visit, with information about costs, how long results take, and which STDs they can test for.

Can you get tested for STDs without insurance?

Yes — and some at-home and lab-direct testing providers will also work with insurance. A couple of them are able to incorporate your insurance information up front, or they offer information on how to submit for reimbursement from your insurer after you have already paid for the test.