Understanding

Sexual & Reproductive Health

Practicing safe sexual and reproductive health is an important aspect of a person’s mental, physical, and reproductive well-being. This encompasses people being able to have safe and satisfying sex, the ability to reproduce, and being able to decide when and how often they choose to do so.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, sexual health requires access to up-to-date information and safe, affordable, and effective access to contraception and testing.

At IH4Well we focus our efforts on:

• Access to sexual and reproductive health education
• Pregnancy testing
• Affordable and private STD/STI testing

Pregnancy Testing

Pregnancy testing is a fast and affordable way to test if you’re pregnant. Pregnancy tests are very accurate. Pregnancy tests are 99% effective. 

What is a pregnancy test?

A pregnancy test checks for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the urine (pee). HCG is a hormone only released when someone is pregnant. If your pregnancy test is positive, you are pregnant. If your test is negative, you are not pregnant. We also provide HCG blood testing. HCG testing can indicate the length of time you have been pregnant (if positive). The levels of HCG coincide with the time since conception. 

When should I take a pregnancy test?

Pregnancy tests can be taken as soon as your period is late or you believe you may be pregnant. 

Some tests say you can check for pregnancy prior to a late period, however, the results will likely be less accurate.

Men’s Health

Unfortunately, men’s reproductive health is often overlooked. At IH4Well, we take pride in understanding that reproductive health is not limited to women alone.

As part of our Men’s Health initiative we look at:

• Testosterone level
• STI’s – which may have no symptoms
• STI’s that may present as a bump, have discharge, or pain
• We also test for prostate health and hormone health

We highly recommend getting labs, testing, and getting checked annually. Many diseases are preventable and much more treatable with early diagnoses from annual checkups.

Testosterone Testing

A testosterone test is a simple blood test that checks testosterone levels. Testosterone levels often decline starting at age 40. The most common testosterone related health issue is hypogonadism (low testosterone). 

Low testosterone can have the following symptoms: 

• low sex drive
• erectile dysfunction
• inability to conceive
• excessive tiredness

Abnormally high or low T levels may indicate illness. Irregular T levels can indicate ovarian cancer in women but testicular cancer in men. 

HCG Testing for Men

The same test that indicates pregnancy in women can also be used to indicate testicular cancer in men. Elevated HCG in men is sometimes an indicator for cancer in men.

Women’s Health

 Women’s health is one of our top priorities. Some of the services we offer are:

• Education about self – breast exam’s
• Clinical breast exams along with mammograms and testing
• Pap smears
• Hormone evaluation (STI/ Thyroid tests)

What do breast exams test for?

Both self and clinical breast exams are used to test for signs of breast cancer. A self exam can be an important way of detecting breast cancer early. For in-depth information and instructions of how to perform a self exam, visit BreastCancer.org. 

What is a clinical breast exam?

A clinical breast exam (CBE) is a breast exam performed by a healthcare professional used in conjunction with mammograms to check for breast cancer or other abnormalities of the breast. 

What is a Pap smear?

A Pap smear or pap test is a diagnostic screening to detect pre-cancerous or cancerous cells on your cervix. During a procedure, cells from your cervix are gently scraped and examined for abnormal growth. 

Testing recommendations vary by age, and type and timing of last test date.

Hormone Evaluations, STI testing, and Thyroid Testing

We also offer hormone testing, full STI/STD testing, and Thyroid testing. Your provider will let you know your options and discuss testing during your appointment. 

UTI/Vaginal Discharge

STI/STC

 IH4Well offers several services related to testing and treatment of women’s health including sexually transmitted diseases and infections (STD/STI):

• STD/STI testing and treatment for:
• bacterial vaginoses (BV)
• chlamydia
• genital warts
• gonorrhea
• herpes
• HIV (testing and diagnosis only)
• syphilis
• trichomoniasis (trich)
• hepatitis testing