Upcoming Events
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Free STI Testing
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Upcoming Events ✩ Free STI Testing ✩
all about
STIs
TL;DR
STIs are infections you can get from oral/anal/vaginal sex, blood, and other forms of skin-to-skin contact.
STIs are preventable and can either be cured or managed with proper treatment.
Most people don’t get any symptoms.
*If you think you might have an STI… GET TESTED WITH US and we can figure out the rest together (i.e. treatment, telling your sexual partner(s), and your partner(s) getting treatment).*
What’s an STI?
STIs are infections spread most commonly through sex (oral, anal, vaginal) due to the skin-to-skin contact or exchange of fluids that occurs. They come in three different “flavors” - bacterial, parasitic, and viral.
Bacterial STIs require treatment with antibiotics and a second STI test (after finishing the medication) to make sure the STI is completely gone. The same goes for parasitic STIs.
It is important to treat these STIs because they can cause inflammation and scarring in your reproductive organs (like fallopian tubes, uterus, and testicles). If left untreated, the inflammation can lead to something called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), infertility, ectopic pregnancies, and reduced sperm quality. Luckily, these STIs are totally treatable and highly preventable!
Most viral STIs stay in your body and will not “go away,” BUT their symptoms and effects can be managed. Having a viral STI still requires treatment so you can manage and prevent symptoms, and so you can get to a point where the amount of the virus in your body is so small that you can’t give it to anyone else.
Bacterial STIs
Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Syphilis
Mycoplasma Genitalium (“Mgen”)
Bacterial Vaginosis
Parasitic STIs
Trichomoniasis (“Trich”)
Pubic Lice
Scabies
Viral STIs
Hepatitis
HSV (“Herpes”)
Mpox
HIV
HPV
Project STAY High’s
♛ Popular STIs ♛
How does an STI go away?
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How does an STI go away? ☹︎☺︎
Most STIs cannot and will not go away without treatment (even if you no longer have symptoms).
Treatment for STIs commonly includes antibiotic pills over the course of a few days or a couple of weeks, and/or a series of shots. For more information, click here.
It is important to get tested AFTER completing treatment to make sure the STI is no longer there.
For STIs that don’t go away with a short-term treatment, there are still ways to manage them! This includes managing symptoms with medication and decreasing your ability to give the STI to another person. Talk with your doctor or visit the Project STAY clinic to learn more about managing viral STIs!
What is 3-Site Testing?
STI testing shouldn’t be scary - and it’s not! These are 3 different areas on your body that you can choose to test for chlamydia and gonorrhea. We do this to catch any sneaky STIs! For example, if you’re having anal and oral sex, you could potentially have an STI in your mouth but not your butt… and all the other combos!
It’s important to know that 3-site testing will not detect all STIs. Most often, you need to get a blood test to find out if you have a viral STI, like HPV, HIV, or hepatitis. Blood tests do not detect chlamydia or gonorrhea, which is why 3-site testing is so important!
Oral
If you are having oral sex, this one’s for you!! We take a quick swab of the back of your throat and you’re set!
Anal
Anal sex! Woo hoo! You do this test on your own, in the privacy of the bathroom! You’ll take a cotton swab, insert it into your anus (an inch is good), and give it a couple twirls! After this, you will put your swab in a vial and call it a day!
Urine
You get to do this one on your own too (also in the bathroom). You’ll pee in a little cup and suck some urine up into a dropper. The pee in your dropper goes into a vial. The vial goes to us! Don’t worry, we’ll go over this again!
Common Qs
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You can get an STI from anal, oral, and vaginal sex AND by simply touching skin-to-skin. If you have had sex without any protection (aka not using a dental dam or a condom) and you don’t know your sexual partner’s status, the only way to be sure that you did not get an STI is to get tested.
Check out our upcoming events with STI testing or text 646.245.4000 to get tested at our clinic.
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While there is no way to completely get rid of your STI risk, you can give you and your partner the highest chance of not getting/giving an STI by wearing a condom or dental dam during sex. They protect you from “skin-to-skin” contact and from exchanging bodily fluids, which helps minimize risk.
These places give out free condoms and lube ALL over the city.
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If you don’t feel comfortable telling a sexual partner directly, you can notify them anonymously & help them get treatment with Partner Services. Start the process!
If someone you recently had sex with also got the same STI, it will be important for them to get treatment to relieve any symptoms they may be feeling now or any physical damage from the STI in the future.
Long-term effects: brain damage, the inability to get pregnant, organ failure, sight, and many more… You get the point.