1. Determine the Need
Perhaps you’re wondering if your water quality is up to snuff. Your energy level may be ridiculously low, and you can’t curb your weight gain (despite cutting back from two morning pastries to one). Or you have an embarrassing itch that won’t go away, and it still burns when you pee. It could be that your stomach rebels every time you eat a slice of bread or that you’re trying to conceive a child, and while it’s fun to try, you’d like to know the likely results of your efforts. Whatever your physical issue, there may be an at-home lab test that can help you determine your next steps.
2. Choose An Appropriate At Home Lab Test
This article can help you learn the options available for at-home lab test: 33 At-Home Lab Tests You Can Do
3. Order
This is the easiest step of the whole process (except for the 6th, which we’ll get to). Once you’ve seen where the need is, researched options, and chosen an appropriate test, you simply need to order the test. This step may not be as simple for people of a certain age or technical disinclination. Find your local millenial and ask them if they can help (you may have to wait for them to finish a Tik Tok video).
4. Here Comes The Wild Card
How you collect the data will vary drastically depending on the issue at hand and the type of test you choose. You may simply need to run a test strip through a stream of water or pee into a cup. Or you may be asked to draw blood or squish feces into a test tube. Whichever method the test requires, at least it is from the comfort of home.
5. Get Your Results
Some of the test kits provide instant results. Other kits will need to be sent to a lab for further evaluation. The test instructions are clear (unlike maybe your water or urine) and will direct you to the next steps.
6. Celebrate Or Call A Friend
Depending on the original need and the at-home lab test you chose, your results will land differently after receiving them. If you were concerned about your child’s drug use or whether gluten wreaked havoc on your body, a positive result will likely not be a comfort. If you were worried that your lethargy was caused by a hormonal imbalance but learned it was simply a case of COVID, then congratulations. Call a friend and wait for your allotted quarantine time before celebrating with others.
7. Take Action
If you receive unpleasant news about a health condition or the state of your water or air, then further action is necessary. Call a doctor, specialist, or contractor to help you figure out how to remedy the situation. If, however, the results were determined to be in your favor and no further action needs to be taken, congratulations, and continue with the first part of step 6.
The Why Of At-Home Lab Testing
Health issues and unpleasant news can be very scary. But don’t let that stop you from taking charge of your health. Knowledge is power, and we need to know the state of our body’s health. We can then take better care of ourselves and those around us.