Private Mycoplasma Genitalium Testing Near You

What Mycoplasma genitalium is

Mycoplasma genitalium – M. gen – is a bacterium passed during vaginal and anal sex that most people have never heard of, even though studies suggest it is more common than gonorrhea. It was only recently recognised as an STD, it is not included in standard STD panels, and it is often the explanation when someone has symptoms of chlamydia or gonorrhea, tests negative for both, or keeps getting symptoms back after treatment.

In men it causes urethritis: burning when urinating, discharge, and irritation that may come and go. In women it can cause cervicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease, with discharge, bleeding between periods or after sex, and pelvic pain. Many people, as with other STDs, have no symptoms at all.

Why it is worth finding

M. gen matters for two reasons. It has been linked with the same complications as chlamydia – pelvic inflammatory disease in women, and in some studies infertility and preterm birth, though the evidence is less settled than for chlamydia – and it is frequently resistant to the antibiotics that cure chlamydia, so the usual treatment often does not clear it. Prompt, correct treatment reduces the risk of complications; the wrong treatment can leave the infection in place while symptoms fade.

The CDC recommends testing for M. gen in men with recurrent or persistent urethritis and women with recurrent cervicitis, and considering it when pelvic inflammatory disease is diagnosed; it does not recommend screening people who have no symptoms. If you feel fine and simply had an exposure, this is usually not the test to order – call and a care advisor will help you decide.

How the test works

M. gen is diagnosed with a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), the only reliable way to detect it, from a small urine sample – no swab, no exam. Sign in at the kiosk with your name and date of birth, give the sample in a private restroom, and you are done in about five minutes. A urine test checks for urogenital infection.

Before you go: The only preparation: don’t urinate for about an hour before you go in. The test uses the first part of the stream, and a gap of an hour or more gives it the most to work with. Nothing else to do – no fasting, no swab, no undressing. Every test we offer is FDA-cleared and run in a CLIA-certified laboratory, the same tests a hospital or doctor’s office would order.

When to test

If you have symptoms, or symptoms that came back after treatment for something else, test now. If you had an exposure and feel fine, the timing is on our When to Get Tested page, or call (866) 872-1888 and a care advisor will tell you which day to go in.

After a positive result: treatment and partners

M. gen is curable, but it needs the right antibiotics in the right order: current CDC guidance is a course of one antibiotic followed by a course of a second, ideally chosen with resistance testing where it is available, to get around the resistance that makes single-drug treatment fail. A member of our care team calls you, explains the result, and arranges a consultation with a physician who prescribes the full regimen. Take every dose of both courses, avoid sex until treatment is complete and any symptoms have resolved, and make sure partners are treated too. If symptoms return, call – a repeat test and a different regimen may be needed.

Getting tested privately

We do not bill your insurance. Your testing information is handled confidentially by the physicians and laboratories providing your care. Your lab visit does not announce why you are there: our partner labs collect samples for many different kinds of testing, and to other people in the waiting room you are simply another person having a routine lab visit. The charge on your card shows as RSC Health, and your result goes only to your private online account. Order online, or call (866) 872-1888 and a care advisor will place the order with you and find a lab near you.