Blog

How to Read Your Vaginal or Urinary Microbiome Report Without Spiralling

This guide walks you through how to read a Tota microbiome test report, starting with your overall status, understanding context over individual organisms, and using your results alongside your symptoms... Read more...

Recurrent UTI After Sex, Constant Burning, or Symptoms That Keep Returning: Which Questions Should You Ask Next?

For recurrent UTIs, it helps to review what past tests actually found, look for patterns in symptom timing, consider what standard tests might have missed and rule out non-infection causes.... Read more...

How to talk to your doctor about your Tota results

Here's how to prepare for a doctor's appointment after a Tota test, including what to note down beforehand and the questions worth asking. Read more...

Best Vaginal Microbiome Test UK? What to Compare Before You Buy

Choosing a vaginal microbiome test in the UK means comparing what's actually being tested for, whether it shows organism abundance, the underlying technology, lab transparency, turnaround time, and how understandable... Read more...

What is the vaginal microbiome?

Your vaginal microbiome can change throughout your life. Explore what the research tells us about UTIs, fertility, menopause and the microbes that make up your microbiome. Read more...

Men Get UTIs Too. They Deserve to Be Taken Seriously.

Men get UTIs too. Here’s what we know about the male urinary microbiome, why infections can be missed, and how broader testing can provide more information. Read more...

Urine Culture vs. PCR vs. Metagenomics: What’s the difference between these UTI tests?

Urine culture, PCR, and metagenomic sequencing each answer different diagnostic questions. Metagenomics offers a fuller picture of the whole urinary or vaginal microbiome when symptoms persist or recur. Read more...

Vaginal Symptoms but Your Swab Was 'Normal'? Here's What Could Be Going On

A normal vaginal swab only rules out a short list of common infections, so persistent symptoms can still stem from hormonal factors, natural microbiome fluctuations, or an individual imbalance that... Read more...

Why BV Keeps Coming Back and Why Your Test Results Might Not Tell the Whole Story

Recurrent BV is common and often driven by lingering bacterial biofilms, unrecovered Lactobacillus, or missed imbalances that standard swab tests aren't designed to catch. Understanding your wider vaginal microbiome can... Read more...

UTI Symptoms but the Test Is Negative? Here’s What Might Be Going On

Standard urine cultures often miss real infections because of outdated thresholds and limited detection methods, so a negative UTI test doesn't always mean nothing's wrong. Read more...

Can the Vaginal Microbiome Affect Fertility? What We Know and What We Don’t

Emerging research links a healthier vaginal microbiome to better fertility and IVF outcomes, though causation isn't proven. Read more...

Why we created Tota

Gabrielle and Nick, co-founders of Tota, on why they built Tota. "We didn't set out to build a testing company. We set out to we set out to help the... Read more...