In addition to checking in with your primary care provider, Dr. Trent suggests visiting www.yesmeanstest.org, where you’ll be prompted to enter your zip code to locate a center which can provide them with confidential, free or low-cost testing for sexually transmitted diseases. “Not only does this campaign raise awareness, but it also gives them [sexually active] the opportunity to get a resource to go to, where they can carry it out.”
Still not convinced? Per the CDC, getting your annual check-up (in addition to strapping up) can reduce your risk of contracting STDs like chlamydia and gonorrhea which undiagnosed can lead to lifelong repercussions for a woman’s reproductive health, including pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility,” says Gail Bolan, M.D., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention.
To reduce STDs, sexually active individuals must protect themselves with a combination of testing and treatment per CDC’s recommendations, using condoms consistently and correctly, and limiting the number of sex partners are all effective strategies for reducing the risk of infection and consequences to health.