This At-Home STI Testing Kit Alleviates Some of the Stigma Involved with Getting Tested

In a perfect world there would be no stigma surrounding regular trips to a doctor's office or free clinic for routine checks for sexually-transmitted infections. Though some communities exist within that ideal world, many others still feel the judgment of a society still making progress toward overall sex positivity.

While HIV testing, the one that arguably holds the most stigma, has been available in at-home over the counter options for years, other companies are now starting to offer general STI testing that can be done in the privacy of your home. With the CDC having recently announced that STI diagnoses are in an upswing, testing kits like myLAB Box are more relevant than ever.

Time constraints and surrounding stigma are two major reasons people put off getting tested, and myLAB Box solves both. The kit screens for the same STIs that your doctor can screen for including HPV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, trich, syphilis, genital herpes, hepatitis C, HIV, mycoplasma, and ureaplasma. The test also has options for extragenital testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea in oral and rectal areas and is done at your convenience and mailed out a lab to be processed.

"As one of the most developed countries in the world, the US is also suffering STD infections with unprecedented epidemic proportions. STIs currently affect one in three Americans, which is unacceptable by any health standard." said myLAB Box co-founder Lora Ivanova. "Founding myLAB Box was motivated by our own past dating experiences and our eagerness to find a solution to a problem which seems to have remained a puzzle for educators, health providers, and the public alike."

Ivanova likens the arduousness of going to the doctor or clinic for routine testing to other daily good health practices. "How often would you brush your teeth if somebody told you that you had to go to the dentist every time you had to do it?" While no one is recommending daily STD testing, the convenience of an at-home option is undeniable.

While myLAB Box provides lab-certified test results in 1-5 days, it emphasizes the privacy and stigma-free atmosphere in which you get these results: your own home. While the digital age connects people more than ever, certain subjects are still difficult to talk about face to face with other people. "The stigma surrounding testing positive for an STD has become so strong that people are just flat-out avoiding the trip to their doctors as the shame of testing positive for HIV, herpes, and other infections can seem more difficult to manage than the treatment of the disease," said Ivanova (myLAB Box offers free phone consultations with physicians if a test result is positive). "By allowing customers to get tested from the privacy of their own home, we hope to reduce the mental barrier preventing people from getting tested on a regular basis." Read more about myLAB Box or order your own testing kit, here.