Things You Need To Know About Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Commonly known as STDs, sexually transmitted diseases are passed when you have sex with an infected person. The sexual activities that can infect you with STD are ones that involve the penis, mouth, vagina or anus.

STDs need treatment as they are serious diseases. HIV is an STD that is deadly and incurable. By knowing more about STDs, you can learn ways to protect yourself from getting the following STDs:

  • Gonorrhea or the ‘clap’
  • Genital herpes
  • Syphilis
  • Genital warts/Human papilloma virus (HPV)
  • Chlamydia
  • Hepatitis B

Symptoms

Most of the time symptoms will not show but if they do, they may include:

  • Severe itching near the vagina or penis
  • Warts, bumps or sores near the vagina, mouth, penis or anus
  • Pain during sexual intercourse
  • Rashes on the skin
  • Chills, aches, fever, pains
  • Redness or swelling near the vagina or penis
  • Foul-smelling discharges from the vagina. Discharges from the penis
  • Night sweats, weight loss, diarrhea
  • Pain during urination

Consult a doctor as soon as you show any symptoms so tests can be given to determine if you are positive for an STD. If placed under treatment, it can:

  • Help you recover and stay healthy
  • Help cure many STDs
  • Help you prevent from passing on the infection to others
  • Help relieve the symptoms of STD

Most STDs are treated with the use of either oral or injectable antibiotics. It has to be noted that even when you feel better, the complete course of antibiotics has to be taken. Your illness may be different from other people’s which means that you must never take medicines from someone else. This could make it hard to diagnose your illness. In the same manner, you must not also share your medications with other people.

Protection/Prevention

Here are some of the ways to prevent or protect you from STDs:

  • The surest way from getting infected is to abstain from sex.
  • Correctly use a latex condom to all your sexual activities. A water-based lubricant is a better choice if you want to use some.
  • Avoid having multiple sex partners. The more sex partners you have, the higher risk you’ll have of getting STD.
  • Have a monogamous sexual relationship with only one sexual uninfected partner. Your partner should also have only you.
  • Choose your sex partners well. Do not engage in any sexual activity with the one you suspect may have an STD though just looking at a person is not a guarantee you will know if he or she is infected or not.
  • Get tested for STD. Avoid passing the infection to others.
  • Avoid using drugs or alcohol before engaging in sexual contact. The influence of alcohol or drugs may make you forget to use a condom during sex.
  • Learn more about the different signs and symptoms of STDs. Examine yourself and see if you have it or observe if your sex partners have it.
  • Read and learn more about STDs. You can better protect yourself when you know more about STDs.

How To Identify Gonorrhea Symptoms?

Some people are not sure what gonorrhea is even if they have heard something about it. Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease caused by a bacteria passed on during sexual intercourse. It can infect the throat, penis, urethra, vagina, anus or cervix. It is commonly known as ‘the drip’ or ‘the clap’.

If left untreated, gonorrhea is a serious health risk which yearly affects around 800,000 men and women in the United States.

Symptoms

Most of the time gonorrhea does not show any symptoms, more so with women. It has been reported that out of five women, four will not have symptoms while out of 10 men only one will not have any symptoms.

When symptoms occur, it usually starts between days 1 to 14 days after exposure.

Some women show symptoms and it would include:

  • Yellow-green or yellow colored vaginal discharges
  • Pain in the abdominal area
  • Vomiting
  • Bleeding between periods
  • Frequent urination
  • Fever
  • Tenderness of swelling of the vulva
  • Irregularities in the menstrual cycle
  • Burning sensation during urination
  • Painful sexual intercourse

IN men, the symptoms will be:

  • Frequent urination
  • Pus-like discharges from the penis
  • Burning pain during urination

Gonorrhea could also cause itching in the anus which happens to both men and women. It can also cause oral infection which causes soreness in the throat making swallowing difficult and painful bowel movements accompanied by discharges.

In men, the symptoms could be mild and show mostly in the morning. This is why people could always be unaware that they are already infected.

Health complications

Complications in pregnancy

Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious complications in pregnancy as it may lead to stillbirth or premature birth.

During birth, the infection can be passed to the fetus by the infected mother. The disease can cause eye, blood, and joint infections. Drops of antibiotics are normally used in the eyes of newborns to prevent the occurrence of serious eye infections that are caused by gonorrhea. The risk of transmitting the infection is greatly reduced when testing and treatment is done to a pregnant woman who has gonorrhea.

Infertility

 

PID or pelvic inflammatory disease is a serious health complication caused by untreated gonorrhea which can lead to infertility in women as it affects the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.

The untreated infection can also lead to infertility in men. The infection can quickly spread from the urethra to the testicles which result in epididymitis, a condition that can give extreme pain and swelling in the scrotum accompanied by fever.

Arthritis

Untreated gonorrhea has been found to develop a condition known as DGI or disseminated gonococcal infection which can cause skin sores and arthritis. Women have a higher risk of acquiring this condition than men, with teen girls having the highest rate of infection.

The symptoms will include:

  • Fever
  • Pain in the joints
  • Lesions or skin rashes

The condition is easily treatable if diagnosed early, but could damage joints permanently if left untreated.

How To Prevent Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea is one of the most common STD or sexually transmitted disease that affects both men and women. Infections can be caused in the throat, genitals, and rectum. Among people aged 15-24, gonorrhea can be a very common infection.

During childbirth, a mother can pass on the infection to her newborn. Gonorrhea can also be acquired through oral, vaginal or anal sex with an infected person.

Prevention

Abstinence is the best prevention against all sexually transmitted diseases.

If this is not possible, the following things can be done to lower the risk of getting infected with gonorrhea:

  • Use a latex condom for all sexual activities
  • Have a monogamous relationship with a non-infected partner

Risk group for gonorrhea

Unprotected oral, anal or vaginal sex will always put you at the highest risk for acquiring gonorrhea.

An open and honest talk with a medical practitioner to ask about preventive measures and STD tests is one of the ways to prevent acquiring the infection especially if you are sexually active. If you are a man and is bisexual, gay, or engage in sex with other men, you should undergo annual STD tests. If you are a sexually active older woman with multiple partners or a new partner or you are 25 years old or younger that engages in numerous sexual activities, STD tests should be done annually to prevent being infected with gonorrhea.

If you are pregnant and also happen to be infected with gonorrhea, your baby will become infected as well upon birth. This will create serious health complications to the baby. Treating gonorrhea before giving birth will lessen the health complications to the baby.

Signs and symptoms

Most men do not show symptoms, but should there be, it will have the following:

  • Swollen or painful testicles
  • A burning sensation during urination
  • Green, white or yellow discharges from the penis

A lot of women do not display symptoms and if they do, it could often be mistaken for a vaginal or bladder infection. This poses a serious health threat which could possibly lead to widespread infection especially when a woman has multiple partners. The symptoms, if ever it occurs may include:

  • Pain felt in bowel movements
  • Vaginal discharges
  • Bleeding
  • Itching in the anal area
  • Soreness

A doctor needs to be consulted when you have these symptoms or if your partner is showing symptoms such as bleeding between menstrual periods, an odd sore, pain felt during urination and foul-smelling discharges.

Treatment and cure

The right treatment can cure gonorrhea. The key to eliminating the infection from your body is to strictly adhere to the prescribed medications which should never be shared with anybody. The medication will do away with the infection, but it will not be able to cure the permanent damage that has been done by the disease.

Some strains of gonorrhea are becoming harder to treat as they have developed resistance to antibiotics. Should your symptoms continue after a few days of treatment, you have to go back to your health care provider and submit to further tests and consultation.

Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Gonorrhea

Most often called in the slang language as the ‘drip’ or the ‘clap’, sexual intercourse with an infected person is the mode of transmittal for gonorrhea. Gonorrhea-infected body fluids may also be transmitted by a mother to a child during childbirth. Gonorrhea can infect both men and women. People with multiple sex partners are the ones that usually contract the infection as it is highly contagious.

How is gonorrhea caused?

The bacteria known as Neisseria gonorrhoeae can multiply and grow quickly in the mucous membranes of the body which is the chief cause of gonorrhea. The moist and warm parts of the reproductive organs which include the fallopian tubes, the cervix, and the womb in women are the places that the bacteria like to stay and grow. In both men and women, the urethra is also the common organ that the bacteria inhabit. The anus, mouth, and throat can also be areas that can make the bacteria thrive.

Is gonorrhea a common infection?

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases that usually infect about 700,000 Americans a year with teenagers topping the list of reported infected people.

What are the signs and symptoms of gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea can be tricky as a lot of people do not show signs and symptoms which are the main reasons for its widespread contagion. If ever symptoms appear, it usually happens from two to ten days after infection though there are cases where it took 30 days which could include:

In women

  • If oral sex was involved, the glands in the throat will be swollen.
  • White, green or yellow discharges from the vagina.
  • Due to oral sex, there will a burning sensation in the throat.
  • Pain in the pelvic or lower abdominal areas.
  • Vulvitis which is swelling of the vulva
  • A burning pain during urination
  • Spotting after sexual intercourse
  • Itchy and red eyes
  • Bleeding between menstruation

The symptoms in some women are very mild that it is hardly noticeable.

The gonorrhea discharges that occur in most women are often mistakenly thought as yeast infections which they often try to self-medicate by using over-the-counter drugs for yeast infections. It is recommended to consult a doctor when discharges occur as it is a sign for a lot of other health problems.

In men

  • Due to oral sex, glands in the throat will be swollen
  • White, yellow or green discharges from the penis
  • Swollen or painful testicles
  • Burning sensation during urination
  • Due to oral sex there will be a burning sensation in the throat

These symptoms usually occur in men after a period between two to 14 days after exposure.

Is gonorrhea treatable and if it is what would be the treatment?

Gonorrhea is treatable and can be cured by either an injectable or oral antibiotic. Your sexual partner/s should also be treated as well so reinfection and spread of the infection will be stopped.

It is also advised that the number of antibiotics prescribed should be followed even when you are beginning to feel better. It is also recommended never to self-medicate as it might even cause more health complications.