If you are diagnosed with an STI you should avoid having sex with anyone until you have completed treatment. If you do have sex, the infection could be passed to your sexual partner. If you have signs or symptoms of an STI it is best to go to a sexual health service to be tested in person. Often people with STIs will get no symptoms at all or the symptoms will take a long time to show, meaning you could be passing infections on to other people without knowing it.
STI symptoms vary from rashes, to pain when passing urine, discharge from the penis, vagina or anus, and lumps, or sores on the genitals and anus. Some symptoms may also be internal - for example, pain inside your stomach, testes, pelvic or rectal area.
You can read more on types of STIs and their symptoms and treatment on the Sexwise website here. The self-sampling kit will arrive in the post in a plain unmarked envelope or letterbox-friendly box and will have everything you need to take the samples, and a freepost return label to send them back.
You take samples yourself and then send them to a laboratory to be tested and get your results back in a few days. Find out where to order free STI testing kits and find other free online services here. It is a good idea to get tested, especially if you have recently changed partners or think you were exposed to an STI. Women and other people with a womb or ovaries aged under 25 years who are sexually active should be screened for chlamydia on change of sexual partner or annually, and gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men should test for HIV and STIs annually or every 3 months if having condomless sex with new or casual partners.
The contents of self-sampling kits will depend on the answers you give about the types of sex you have. Your kit will come with instructions explaining how to best take the samples and some also link to video guides online. Self-sampling test kits must be sent back to the lab for analysis.
