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Medical tests: find the right page

Fifteen guides on this site get you ready for a medical test or procedure, from a colonoscopy to a thyroid scan, and they were spread out across the long list of tools. This page puts them and the pages that go with them, 25 in all, on one list, sorted by what the test looks at. Pick one and it opens. Each line below is that page’s own description.

If someone has trouble breathing or faints, before or after a test, call 911 now. This page is a list. It cannot tell you whether you need a test, or what a result means.

The guides below for a scope, an x-ray, a scan or a biopsy each say: trouble breathing or fainting, call 911. Each one also says what to watch for after the test. Every guide to a test ends with the questions to ask, and a card to print.

A test of the colon (the large intestine)

The first is for a colonoscopy, for anyone told to be screened for colorectal cancer, and for the person driving them home. The second is for a flexible sigmoidoscopy, which NIDDK says takes 10 to 20 minutes, typically without sedatives. The third is for a virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography), which NIDDK says needs no sedatives but cannot remove polyps. The fourth is for a lower GI series (barium enema): x-rays and a chalky liquid called barium.

Getting ready for a colonoscopy: why, the prep, the day of, and afterFor anyone with a colonoscopy coming up, anyone told to be screened for colorectal cancer, and the person driving them home. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for a flexible sigmoidoscopy: why, the prep, the day of, and afterFor anyone with a flexible sigmoidoscopy coming up. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for a virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography): why, the prep, the day of, and afterFor anyone with a virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography) coming up. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for a lower GI series (barium enema): why, the prep, the day of, and afterFor anyone with a lower GI series (barium enema) coming up. Keeps nothing.

A test of the esophagus, the stomach or the bile ducts

The first is for an upper endoscopy (EGD), which NIDDK says doctors use to find the cause of ongoing pain, heartburn, vomiting or trouble swallowing. The second is for an upper GI series: x-rays and a chalky liquid called barium, and nothing to eat, drink, smoke or chew for 8 hours. The third is for ERCP, which combines upper endoscopy and x-rays to find and treat problems of the bile and pancreatic ducts, such as a gallstone stuck in a duct.

Getting ready for an upper GI endoscopy: why, getting ready, the day of, and afterFor anyone with an upper endoscopy (EGD) coming up, and the person driving them home. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for an upper GI series: why, getting ready, the day of, and afterFor anyone with an upper GI series coming up, or whose child has one. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for ERCP: why, getting ready, the day of, and afterFor anyone with an ERCP coming up, and the person driving them home. Keeps nothing.

A test of the bladder, the kidneys or the prostate

The first is for a cystoscopy or ureteroscopy: a thin scope to look inside the bladder, urethra, ureters or kidneys. The second is for urodynamic tests, which look at how well the bladder, sphincters and urethra store and release urine. The third is for an x-ray, ultrasound, MRI, CT or nuclear scan of the kidneys or bladder. The fourth is for anyone with a prostate who has prostate tests coming up, or was told a PSA was high.

Getting ready for a cystoscopy or ureteroscopy: why, getting ready, the day of, and afterFor anyone with a cystoscopy or ureteroscopy coming up. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for urodynamic testing: why, getting ready, the tests, and afterFor anyone sent for urodynamic tests. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for urinary tract imaging: why, getting ready, the tests, and afterFor anyone sent for an x-ray, ultrasound, MRI, CT or nuclear scan of the kidneys or bladder. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for prostate tests: why, the exam and the PSA, a biopsy, and afterFor anyone with a prostate who has prostate tests coming up, or was told a PSA was high. Keeps nothing.

A biopsy of the liver or a kidney

The first is for a liver biopsy: the three kinds, and getting ready with your medicines, blood and imaging tests, a ride home and fasting. The second is for a kidney biopsy, including on a transplanted kidney: getting ready with your blood pressure and your medicines, and how the needle biopsy is done.

Getting ready for a liver biopsy: why, getting ready, how it is done, and afterFor anyone with a liver biopsy coming up. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for a kidney biopsy: why, getting ready, how it is done, and afterFor anyone with a kidney biopsy coming up, including on a transplanted kidney. Keeps nothing.

A blood test: blood sugar, the thyroid, cholesterol or lead

The first is for anyone sent for an A1C blood test, or holding a result. The second is for thyroid blood tests (TSH, T4, T3, antibodies) and the imaging tests of the thyroid. The third is for anyone holding a cholesterol lab report they cannot read. The fourth is for a young child’s blood lead test: who should get one, finger-prick or vein, and what the number means.

Getting ready for an A1C test: what it is, the numbers, what can change them, and your goalFor anyone sent for an A1C blood test, or holding a result. Keeps nothing.
Getting ready for thyroid tests: why, the blood tests, the imaging tests, and a noduleFor anyone sent for thyroid blood tests (TSH, T4, T3, antibodies), an ultrasound, a thyroid scan, an uptake test, or a needle biopsy. Keeps nothing.
When it’s high cholesterol: what the numbers mean, how often to be tested, statins and other medicines, food, when it runs in the family, and what to askFor people who were told their cholesterol is high, people holding a lab report they cannot read, and the people beside them. Keeps nothing.
Lead poisoning: protecting children, the blood lead test, and lead at homeFor parents and anyone raising or looking after a young child. Keeps nothing.

A home pregnancy test, or a sleep study

The first is for anyone whose period is late, who cannot tell what a home pregnancy test says, or who just saw a result. The second is for anyone who snores, gasps or stops breathing at night, and covers getting a sleep study.

I might be pregnant: the test, and the first stepsFor anyone whose period is late, who cannot tell what a home pregnancy test says, or who just saw a result. Keeps nothing.
Sleep apnea: when breathing stops in your sleepFor anyone who snores, gasps or stops breathing at night, who is worn out all day and does not know why, or who has been told they have sleep apnea, and the people who sleep beside them. Keeps nothing.

Before you go: your questions, your symptoms and your medicines

These four are for anyone’s appointment, call or medicines. They were not made for tests. The first puts what has been happening, your medicines and your questions on one page to hand to your doctor. The second is a symptom diary that prints one sheet for the appointment. The third is for a phone call you keep putting off. The fourth is a list of what you take and when.

Get ready for your appointmentTen minutes before you go: what has been happening, your medicines, your questions and what helps you, on one page to hand to your doctor, therapist or psychiatrist, with room to write down the plan. What you type is kept only in this browser.
Symptom diary: write it down, show your doctorWrite down what you notice when it happens, with your own number from 0 to 10. What you type is kept only in this browser.
Call script: know what you will say before you dialA phone call you keep putting off? Write who you are calling, the sentence that says what you want, what to have ready and what to ask. What you type is kept only in this browser.
My medicines: a list and a daily check“Did I already take it?” Write down what you take and when, tick each medicine as you take it, and the page keeps the time. What you type is kept only in this browser.

A test or a bill you can’t afford

The first is for a medical bill you can’t pay or don’t understand, and covers the written estimate when you have no insurance. The second is for anyone sick, hurt or out of medicine with no insurance or no money. They were not made only for tests.

When a medical bill is too muchA medical bill you can’t pay or don’t understand. Keeps nothing.
When you need a doctor and can’t paySick, hurt or out of medicine, with no insurance or no money, anywhere in the US. Keeps nothing.

Good to know

What these pages are

All 25 were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast. No doctor, nurse or pharmacist has reviewed them.
The fifteen guides to a test pass on what NIDDK says (the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases). The other guides name their own sources, such as CDC and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Every line on this list is copied from the page it points to when this list is built. This list adds no health facts of its own.
The order of the list is not an order of how serious a test is.
They are for the United States: the phone numbers and the offices are U.S. ones.

What this page can’t do

It is not medical advice. It cannot tell you whether you need a test, which test, or what a result means.
The office doing your test may give you instructions that differ from a guide here. Theirs are about you; if the two differ, ask them.
It does not have every test. If yours is not on this list, the office that ordered it can tell you how to get ready, and Get ready for your appointment helps you write down your questions.
It does not replace a doctor, a nurse line, a pharmacist or a clinic. If something feels wrong to you, call them.

Pages that go with this

Belly and stomach, Kidneys and bladder and Heart, blood and hormones: the lists where most of these guides also sit, beside the pages about what a test may be looking for.
Health: start with what it is about: the way in to every list.
All the free tools, and search.

If waiting for a test or a result has left you thinking about ending your life or hurting yourself, call or text 988 (in the U.S.) now, or open Get help now.

A list to help you find a page, not a doctor. General information for the United States. It is not medical, legal, financial or educational advice.

This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The names and lines of the 25 pages are read from the pages’ own descriptions when this page is built. The page was checked by programs, not yet used by people. It runs no analytics or tracking (privacy). Also in Spanish: Pruebas médicas. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].