Medicine is a field that gets a lot of research and a lot of emphases is put on innovative technology and investigations. New clinics appear overnight and each of them tries to resolve a problem and offer a solution for day to day health problems that people are facing. And as a consequence, nowadays we have separate doctors for each of your body parts.
If you have a specific health concern, a sexual health clinic can help you. These clinics, also called GUM clinics offer sexual health or genitourinary medicine. They can also provide HIV testing and vaccination for common sexually transmitted diseases. These services are available to everyone, and they are confidential.
GUM Clinic Definition
GUM is an acronym that stands for “GenitoUrinary medicine”. A GUM clinic is a specialized health care facility for problems involving sexual and reproductive health.
Both these systems are crucial for human survival, therefore it is very important to have them checked whenever concerns arise.
What Services Does a GUM clinic Offer?
Many patients present to the GUM clinic with STDs or suspicion about STDs, some might just need counselling. Problems like erectile dysfunction or performance anxiety are also very common. Here are a few areas of expertise of the GUM clinic doctors:
Counselling
People often come for advice and counselling to a GUM clinic. It is an excellent practice to seek knowledge before you decide to be sexually active or maybe you want to avoid getting pregnant and have some questions in this regard. Many young adults are unaware of the dos and don’ts regarding sexual intercourse, which sometimes makes them fall prey to diseases like AIDS, chlamydia, and syphilis.
Therefore, the consultation process at a sexual health clinic might involve personal questions such as the use of contraception and the number of intimate partners.
Family planning
There are many practices regarding family planning. And if you are wondering which is the right one for you – a GUM doctor can tell you that.
The doctors will be able to explain both the male and female methods of contraception. For example, some women want to go on the pill, while others prefer an IUCD.
It is not as simple as it sounds. There are many factors to consider before opting for a certain contraception method and your doctor will be able to help you to make the best decision in this regard.
STDs testing
Sometimes, people come with scepticism about having STDs. Some sexual clinics have express testing services. They will only test for a few types of STDs at a time.
In this way, you can get the necessary treatment on time. Or, you can get relief from a negative result.
Treatment of STDs
After diagnosis, you can consult a GUM clinic for proper treatment. The doctors will ensure the best medicine and adequate follow-ups. They manage the symptoms and tend to their patient’s needs. However, this can only be possible with maximum patient cooperation.
Vaccination
We have vaccines for protection against many deadly diseases. These sexual clinics can also provide HIV testing and vaccination for common sexually transmitted diseases.
The need for GUM clinics
STDs are very common given the lifestyles that many people have nowadays. Their transmission grows at an alarming rate. AIDs, syphilis, and herpes are just a few of the very dangerous sexual diseases out there. AIDs, for example, is incurable, and it can makes a person weak enough to die from disease as simple as pneumonia. And that is why GUM clinics are very important, they can help people to get better information in order to prevent catching these diseases and they can help diagnose and get treatment as soon as possible.
