Like most people I do not particularly enjoy getting my blood tested, after all who likes having a big needle stuck in their arm. Nevertheless I do get my blood tested every three months. I do this because I am sexually active and not in a committed relationship. In order to protect myself and my partners it is important that I get tested regularly.
The main reason that I get my blood tested every three months is to test for sexually transmitted diseases. The one that I am most concerned about of course is HIV. Getting tested on a regular basis will help to make sure that any disease that I do contract will be caught early. The sooner treatment is started the better the outcome usually is. The fact is that there is a risk of infection if you are sexually active so it is important that you make sure that you get tested on a regular basis.
Having my blood tested every three months also makes sure that I don’t spread any infection that I might have to anybody else. It is important that I make sure that I don’t infect my partner so I have to make sure that I am tested on a regular basis. Again this down to catching it early. The more frequently that you get tested the more likely you are to find out that you have an infection before you spread it to somebody else. It also helps to ensure that if you have had unprotected sex with somebody you can tell warn them about so that they can get themselves tested and start treatment early if they are infected.
While getting your blood tested on a regular basis is a good idea if you are sexually active and not in a committed relationship there is a limit to how frequently you are going to want to get Blood Tests. In most cases it will take about three months for the HIV antibodies to show up in your blood. That means that it is unlikely that you will be able to get an accurate test result before three months has passed. Therefore it doesn’t make a lot of sense to get tested more frequently then every three months.
Obviously there are a lot of other reasons that you would want to have your blood tested besides checking for HIV. Doctors can tell a great deal from the results of your blood test. These tests however really don’t need to be done every three months. It is usually sufficient to have most of your blood work done once a year at your annual checkup. However there may be cases where your doctor recommends more frequent testing. For example if you have high cholesterol he might recommend that you get tested more frequently so that you can keep tabs on it. However in most cases tests every three months are really only necessary to check for sexually transmitted diseases.