Test for Gonorrhoea at home

Test for gonorrhoea at home

Gonorrhoea is a common STI, caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It can sometimes be resistant to treatment, so it’s important to get it treated early with the right antibiotics.

Do I need a gonorrhoea test?

Getting tested is the only way to know if you have gonorrhoea.

It’s a good idea to get tested at least once a year and whenever you have a new sexual partner.

If gonorrhoea is not treated, it can cause serious health problems including:

• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which can cause long-term pain and increase the risk of ectopic pregnancy and infertility in women.
• Painful infection in the testicles, which may rarely lead to reduced fertility.
• Inflamed joints, although this is rare.

Gonorrhoea symptoms in men

Most men with gonorrhoea will get symptoms, but around 1 in 10 won’t notice anything wrong.

Symptoms may include:

• Discharge from the tip of the penis (this looks like snot coming out of your penis)
• Pain or a burning feeling when you pee.

Gonorrhoea symptoms in women

About half of women with gonorrhoea will get some symptoms, but half won’t notice anything wrong.

Symptoms may include:

• A vaginal discharge that’s unusual for you and may be yellow or green.
• Pain when you pee.
• Pain low down in your tummy.
• Bleeding between periods or after sex, or heavier periods, although these symptoms are not common.

When do symptoms for gonorrhoea appear?

Symptoms often show up within 2 weeks after infection. In men, symptoms most usually appear within 2-5 days.

But many people with gonorrhoea won’t have symptoms at all, or their symptoms will only show up months or years later.

If you’ve had anal (in your bottom) or oral (in your mouth) sex, it’s possible to have gonorrhoea in your rectum (bottom) or throat. Rectal gonorrhoea can have symptoms – discharge from the bottom, or pain. But oral gonorrhoea probably won’t cause noticeable symptoms. 

When should I get tested for gonorrhoea?

You can do a gonorrhoea test at any time.

A test can’t always detect gonorrhoea in the early stages. If it’s less than 2 weeks since you might have been exposed to gonorrhoea, you can still do a test now but if that is negative you may need another test later.

If you have any symptoms, you should get tested at a sexual health service as soon as possible.

What test do I need for gonorrhoea?

Our gonorrhoea tests are only for people with no symptoms.

Men need to give a urine sample to test for gonorrhoea.

Women need to swab the vagina to test for gonorrhoea. This is easy to do. We’ll send you clear instructions along with the swab. We have detailed guidance on taking these samples.

If you’ve had anal (in your bottom) or oral (in your mouth) sex, you can choose to add rectal (bottom) or throat swabs for gonorrhoea to our Standard and Comprehensive STI test kits.

A gonorrhoea test is available as part of our Basic, Standard, or Comprehensive test kits.

How quickly will I get my gonorrhoea test results?

You will usually get your online results in 2 to 5 days.

As soon as your gonorrhoea test results are ready, we’ll contact you by text or email with details of how to access them securely online.

What happens if I get a positive gonorrhoea test result?

If your gonorrhoea test is positive, we will give you details for local treatment, help and advice services.

It’s important to get treated with antibiotics at a sexual health service as soon as possible. You can show them your online test result or print it out. It is very likely that they will need to examine you and take swabs before treating you. This is to make sure that you receive the correct treatment.

Your current or recent sexual partners will need to be tested for gonorrhoea and may need treatment. Sexual health services may be able to help you contact them anonymously.

Don’t have any sex until 7 days after both you and your sexual partner(s) have finished the treatment.

You’ll need a follow up test to check the gonorrhoea has gone.

How confidential is my gonorrhoea test?

Our service is completely confidential. We won’t tell anyone else about your gonorrhoea test.

We don’t share your results with anyone else but if you test positive for gonorrhoea, you will need to share your result with a sexual health clinic to get the right treatment.

All our tests are delivered in plain packaging.

We have procedures in place to keep your data secure. See our FAQs for more information.

How accurate are gonorrhoea tests?

No STI tests are 100% accurate but all our tests are carried out by a leading STI testing laboratory.

It is very unlikely that you will get a positive result if you don’t have gonorrhoea.

If your test is negative but you start to develop symptoms, or if a partner tests positive for gonorrhoea then you should go to a sexual health clinic for a further test.