Exploring 6 Top Reliable STD Testing Options

6. Your Local Family Doctor or Walk-In Clinic

Before the advent of at-home STD test kits and on-demand STD checks, getting checked for STDs meant booking an appointment with your family doctor or heading to your local county-run STD clinic, and those options still exist today.

While getting tested at your local walk-in clinic or through your primary physician is better than wondering about your sexual health status, there's plenty of reasons why alternatives to traditional STD testing are so popular today. At a regular doctor's office, you'll likely have to deal with a busy waiting room, need to worry about your privacy, and maybe even bump into friends or family members who you really don't want to encounter while you're getting an STD check.

And if you've had the same family doctor since you were a kid, talking about STDs can feel really awkward, making the experience more difficult than it needs to be.