This was SARS-Cov-2 PCR test, I guess. They only stick the swab up about an inch or a little more, twirl it around for 6 seconds, then do the other nostril. It’s irritating but not painful. Fortunately, I had a very good RN who explained everything and really put me at ease.
I had this test in preparation for a medical procedure that I am having next Tuesday. So between now and then, I am supposed to stay under rather draconian self-isolation rules – stay home, stay away from anyone else in the house, use a separate bathroom, no visitors, no contact with pets, disinfect everything every day, etc. Fortunately, our living setup makes this do-able, but what a pain. At least I can go out into the yard and into my workshop.
I’ve had the test three times since last March. The nurse checked one nostril. The swab twirling is the worst part. Doesn’t hurt, it’s just annoying and makes my eyes water.
I always sneeze after the swab is removed. It’s involuntary and I can’t hold it in.
That could be a anterior nares swab (back of the nose). If they stick it in a bit further, it’s a mid-turbinate swab, and it’s a bit more unpleasant. Nasopharyngeal is all the way, back to the ear. I’ve never had it stuck in all the way, but someone once described that to me as the most unpleasant thing he had ever voluntarily subjected himself to.
For COVID, they started with nasopharyngeal, and they’ve been backing off since. My understanding is that the deep swab is the most accurate (still not 100%), but leads to an increasing level of non co-operation, and the anterior nares is both the fastest and the easiest, for when testing more people catches more cases than testing fewer people with higher sensitivity.
I’ve had two as part of Oregon State University’s TRACE OSU program. Each week they invite a portion of the school’s students to drop by for free testing. They walk you through the test from a distance, behind a sheet of plexiglass. It wasn’t too bad. I tested negative both times.
I had my first and only test last week Thursday, also in preparation for a minor procedure that I had on Monday. The person conducting the swabbing told me it would hurt, but only for a second. I had both nostrils swabbed, probably about half way in. It did not hurt at all, slight discomfort for a split second. Then I sneezed many times in rapid succession when it was over.
I was not given any instructions to isolate. etc. I do live alone, so that might have been the reason.
I’ve had that test done four times. In order to work on the local film sets you need a clean COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the time of shooting. The person doing the swabbing did three rotations in each nostril.
I’ve also had two antibody tests done on donated blood, so I know I haven’t had an asymptomatic case.
Here in Brooklyn, New York (Brooklyn Heights, to be specific), there’s always a long, long line outside CityMD. I mean like two hours or more long, according to the wait time signs they put up.
In the nearly adjacent neighborhood of Red Hook, there’s one of the testing facilities set up by the city. It’s efficient, clean, and fast. There are nine testing stations. The staff, from security guards up to nurse practioners, are pleasant and efficient.
And it’s free, and I always have my results in less than 24 hours.
And it takes me ten minutes by bicycle from my home. Or there’s a bus that goes there (right to the corner) from Brooklyn Heights.
But there’s never a line. In fact, there’s hardly ever anyone there at all. I don’t know why. It’s right in the enormous Red Hook housing projects, which have something like seven thousand residents, not to mention the nearby neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill.
I don’t know why Red Hook residents don’t go. I certainly don’t know why residents of my neighborhood would prefer to stand outside in crappy weather for a couple of hours than go to Red Hood. Maybe they’re afraid to go into the projects. Who knows.
But for once, NYC government did something right. I wish people would make more use of it.
There’s a tiny facility near where I lived (until I moved this month) in Manhattan that no one seems to know about, there is usually either no line or maybe 2 people outside, when the CityMD a few blocks south has huge lines.
I’ve gone there three times, they always do the brain-poking one. I went to another tiny facility (again with no lines when CityMD had 3 hours waits!!) on Long Island that did the double nostril one that went in maybe half as far. I much prefer the latter!
The test is free at work, and while they encourage weekly testing, I have it done every two weeks. I live alone in a sparsely populated area, so weekly seems overkill.
I got my swab when I was already showing symptoms (positive, to no one’s surprise). It wasn’t fun, but it’s far from the worst thing I’ve ever had done.
It was uncomfortable, went deep and for 15 seconds my eyes were watering and I could feel/taste the solution hitting the back of my throat. In the end the result was “not detected”
I’ve been lucky in that I never had to deal with the brain-poke test. When I took my first one at CityMD, the doctor told me I was lucky that it was the first day that they got the “new” test that only requires going about half-way up both sides. The second two were the mail-order, and the instructions specifically say that you only need to go as far as the white part isn’t visible.
I’ve had the Nasopharyngeal test once several months back. The Missouri NG medical unit set up at a nearby church parking lot and offered the test free of charge. The swabbing wasn’t comfortable, but I’d not let it stop me from being tested if it were the only type available.
Seven times, four of which was when I was in the hospital last April for a non-Covid related emergency. Every time I moved from one station to another they tested me (ER->ICU->Room->Discharge). The other three were at drive up testing sites. I’m going to go in for another before Christmas.
I get it done once a week at work, and have since July. They use the “massage your brain” test, but I guess I got used to it. The last time I tested positive, but I never developed symptoms. Irritatingly, our process is that if you test positive once, you cannot get tested again at our work site. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
By coincidence, I had the test Wednesday at work, and got my results today - negative. But the guy that was in line behind me yesterday tested positive and we have a bit of a stir when security swarmed his work station and bustled him out, then folks in hazmat suits sanitized it.
The kid was asymptomatic - I saw him multiple times and he hadn’t so much as a sniffle, and he passed the temperature scanners on the way in.
Yeah, well, I had no symptoms and passed a temperature check at 5 am one day and by 2 pm that same day was running a 103 degree fever and coughing coughing coughing. The symptoms can come on pretty abruptly, and it’s believe you can carry the virus and even shed it for a couple days before you start showing symptoms.
I didn’t have symptoms until October 19, but if you had tested me the day before I probably would have shown up positive and folks would have looked at me and said “she hasn’t so much as a sniffle, and she passed the temperature scanners on the way in”.
