If you have had sex before, you and your boyfriend can get tested together at a local health clinic like Planned Parenthood. Or, if you haven't had sex before, you can offer to go with your boyfriend for support if he wants.
Use Condoms
Using a condom correctly every time you have sex can help you avoid STDs. Condoms lessen the risk of infection for all STDs. You still can get certain STDs, like herpes or HPV, from contact with your partner's skin even when using a condom.
Many STIs have no signs or symptoms (asymptomatic). Even with no symptoms, however, you can pass the infection to your sex partners. So it's important to use protection, such as a condom, during sex. And visit your doctor regularly for STI screening so you can identify and treat an infection before you can pass it on.
Getting tested for STDs is the only way to know with 100 percent certainty whether someone has an STD. However, there are certain signs and symptoms that can be useful if you're worried about how to tell if someone has an STD.
If one partner tests positive for chlamydia and the other does not, there are a few possible explanations: The positive test result could be incorrect. The negative test result could be incorrect. The chlamydia might not have transmitted from the person to their partner.
If your partner has gonorrhea or chlamydia, is it possible to have unprotected sex and not get these infections? While it is possible to have vaginal, oral, or anal sex with an infected partner and not get infected, it's unlikely.
How did I get chlamydia if I didn't cheat? You can get chlamydia if your partner had vaginal, oral or anal sex with someone who was infected and then had sex with you.
Studies have established that women have a higher biological risk for contracting STIs and HIV than men, with a higher probability of transmission from men to women than vice versa.
You can't tell if someone has an STD just by looking at them. Many STDs don't cause any symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to get tested. Even if you use birth control, you should still think about STD prevention.
Symptoms can develop within a few days or weeks, but sometimes they do not appear until months or even years later. Often there are few or no symptoms and you may not know you have an STI. If there's any chance you have an STI, go to a sexual health clinic or GP for a free and confidential check-up.
You should know that you can still test positive and negative as a couple when cheating didn't take place. Historically, this has been known as a discordant STI result, and it refers to a situation where a sexually active couple receives different negative and positive diagnoses after taking an STI test.
If 2 people who don't have any STDs have sex, it's not possible for either of them to get one. A couple can't create an STD from nothing — they have to get spread from one person to another.
Here are some ways to start the conversation: This is hard for me to talk about, but I care about you and I think it's important. How do you feel about going to get tested for STDs together? FYI, I got tested for STDs last month and I didn't have anything.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection
HPV is the most common STI in the United States, but most people with the infection have no symptoms. HPV can cause some health effects that are preventable with vaccines.
Some STDs have symptoms, but many don't, so they can go unnoticed for a long time. For example, it can take more than 10 years for HIV symptoms to show up, and infections like herpes, chlamydia, and gonorrhea can be spread even if there are no symptoms.
As long as you're sexually active, you should be tested for STDs at least once a year. If you have more than one partner, share intravenous (IV) needles, or don't always practice safer sex by using a condom each time you have intercourse, you should be tested every three to six months.
The upshot is that it's possible for some — not all — STDs to go away by themselves, but it's also possible for STDs to persist for months, years, or the rest of your life. If you could have been exposed to an STD, the best thing to do is get tested — not to hope that if you did get something, it'll just go away.
What is trichomoniasis? Trichomoniasis (or “trich”) is a very common STD caused by infection with Trichomonas vaginalis (a protozoan parasite). Although symptoms vary, most people who have trich cannot tell they have it.
(2021, Jan). CDC estimates 1 in 5 people in the U.S. have a sexually transmitted infection.
Key facts. More than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired every day worldwide, the majority of which are asymptomatic. Each year there are an estimated 374 million new infections with 1 of 4 curable STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis.
The bacteria are usually spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids (semen or vaginal fluid). You can get chlamydia through: unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex. sharing sex toys that are not washed or covered with a new condom each time they're used.
Men rarely have health problems from chlamydia. The infection can cause a fever and pain in the tubes attached to the testicles. This can, in rare cases, lead to infertility. Untreated chlamydia may also increase your chances of getting or giving HIV.