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Quick answer
- Anyone can catch or pass on an STI, and many have no symptoms.
- Condoms and dental dams help protect you, and testing is the only way to know.
- You can say as much or as little as you want at a clinic.
Anyone who has sex can pass on or catch an STI, whoever their partners are. Many STIs have no symptoms, so you can have one without knowing, and the only way to know for sure is to get tested.
- Use a condom or dental dam for sex, including oral sex, until you have been checked or tested.
- STIs can take up to 7 weeks after unprotected sex to show up on a test. If you have no symptoms, the NHS says it is best to wait 7 weeks before testing.
- If you have an STI, tell current and past partners so they can get tested and treated too. The clinic can often do this for you without naming you.
- Sexual health clinics are confidential, you do not usually need a GP referral, and nothing is shared with your GP unless you ask. Some clinics offer home testing kits.
Sources
Written by the Splash teamSources checked
This is general information, not medical advice. Splash can’t diagnose. If you’re worried, talk to a GP, pharmacist or sexual health clinic. In an emergency call 999 (UK) or 911 (US). How we write and check articles.