Making the Diagnosis
Your doctor will put a sample of the discharge from the penis or cervix under the microscope to look for N. gonorrheae. This technique finds the disease 90% of the time in men and 60% of the time in women. If it doesn't show up, the sample will be sent to the laboratory to be cultured. This will produce enough bacteria for the test.
Your doctor will also probably perform a blood test. This won't detect gonorrhea but it may indentify other infections. People who have a sexually transmitted infection often have more than one.