London Walk-in STD Profile, 8 Tests – Ascot Clinic visit

A Real Testimony of STD Life – Daniela

Men, people with penises, and some myth-busting: Part I

Let us please begin by saying that I wanted to create a class leading and dramatic myth-busting post that makes people go wow. I want to address the most common comments, questions, fears, and complaints we all hear regularly and increasingly about HPV testing. The purpose of this post is to cover people with penises who don’t identify as men. However, for simplicity, Ill use the word “men” throughout this post. So, please understand that “men” also includes people with penises. The same idea goes for “women,” which includes people with cervixes.

To give some context, there’s a big education gap about Papilloma, especially regarding men. Even though this virus can infect anyone, it’s often seen as a women’s concern or matter only women and people with cervixes need to worry about. This post aims to clear up that myth and also address some of the fear and stigma that can make men with STIs feel scared, depressed, or broken.

I’ll also touch on the question of stigma and who faces it the most.

Disclaimer: not a doctor, scientist, or someone who spends too much time reading about this andDisclaimer: I’m not a doctor or scientist, just someone who likes to keep informed. I’m open to corrections if you have evidence to share. Women who receive a diagnosis and may understandably feel distressed about potentially transmitting something to a partner or vice versa.

Additionally, as we’ll discuss later, the lack of routine screening for men may contribute to the perception that they could unknowingly spread the disease.

Men are not ‘just carriers,’ nor are they ‘the source’ of the STD.

Almost everyone, men and women alike, has infections that usually cause no symptoms or harm. These infections are temporary, and even if they pass to sexual partners, most people won’t even notice.

Health Implications for Men

In a small number of cases, infections can cause visible symptoms for both men and women. Low-risk infections usually cause warts, but high-risk strains can as well. High-risk strains can also (rarely) cause other skin lesions, such as Bowenoid Papulosis.

I want to point out that sometimes sexual infections just seem to stick around even if we dont want them. And they cause cell changes/damage when they stick around. These damages, in rare cases, can turn into nasty cancers.

Actually, the biggest risk I think is for people with cervixes because their cervix is more vulnerable to cell damage. However, STI-related cancers can also affect the mouth, throat and less often, the penis, anus, scrotum, vagina, and vulva also.

Are men responsible?

Saying ‘men are carriers’ for HPV suggests men aren’t affected by STIs. While their cancer risk is lower, men can still face health issues, and warts can cause serious mental distress. It also wrongly suggests men are to blame for spreading the infection, when really, it’s almost impossible to avoid unless you choose lifelong celibacy. Plus, it ignores the importance of STD awareness for men who have sex with men (MSM).

Of course, all men, women, and other people of all types and identities deserve to enjoy and explore sex and love as part of the human experience. And we need to finally accept that while sex will never be completely ‘safe,’ it is nobody’s fault that skin-to-skin contact intimate or not is actually spreading viruses.

Men can’t get checked.

The myth: ‘There is no exam for men for HPV.’

The truth is that doctors can test men for STDs, but it’s not usually done in most clinics with the acknowledgement that in some healthcare systems, testing for men is available and sometimes done fairly routinely.

From posts on this forum, this seems to be in certain Eastern European and Asian countries.

Private or specialized clinics in other places might offer these tests even if they’re not usually available. Scientific studies also use testing tolook at how common and long-lasting STIs are in men.s.

But should the average person get tested?

And why isn’t testing a regular part of sexual health screenings for men? Compared to Other infections

Can we please consider a sexually rampant disease like chlamydia, for example is common. And especially among our young people. But also they can avoid it by doing two simple things: 1) getting tested before starting with a new partner. This is usually quick and easy with a swab or urine test, and 2) by using condoms or dental dams during sex to stop fluid exchange.

Note that if you do get a chlamydia infection, you can thankfully take antibiotics and notify recent partners anonymously so they can get treated too. Problem solved? Firstly, if you go to get a urethral swab done, it’s testing a tiny, tiny area of your genitals (your urethra). It doesn’t tell you about your shaft, balls, anus, inner thighs…all places where this infection could be hanging out, just waiting to hitch a ride onto your next date.

Implications of a Positive Result

Next, imagine your swab comes back positive. So, the next question is what now? There’s no treatment for this kind of infection, so you just have to wait for it to clear up, which could take years for HPV. Meanwhile, condoms don’t fully protect your partners. Would you be willing to stay completely celibate—no touching at all—for a few years?

Testing for women is relatively new.

For example, in the UK, where I live, it was introduced alongside cervical smear tests only about 5 years ago. The purpose of exams in this instance is not the same as a chlamydia —i.e., to treat, treat partners, and prevent onward transmission. We know that it is a cancer screening tool. And that tool helps doctors identify infected people who need more monitoring. And we are preventing it from spreading nbut we know that this would be like getting the sand off a beach.