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.

Important Information Regarding Chlamydia

Chlamydia is seen as a very common sexually transmitted disease (STD) that may or may not show signs and symptoms once an individual is infected. Men and women will feel the same symptoms such as pain during urination, and discharges from the vagina or penis if ever it is manifested.

Chlamydia signs and symptoms will not be manifested in almost 25 to 30% of women and men infected with the disease. Yet, should symptoms be felt, there will be a difference between men and women.

The symptoms in men are:

  • Pain and discharges from the rectal area
  • Stinging pain during urination
  • Pain and tenderness in the testicles
  • Penile discharges

The symptoms in women are:

  • Pain with discharges from the rectum
  • Vaginal discharges
  • Burning pain during urination
  • Painful sensation during sexual intercourse

Chlamydia trachomatis is the bacteria that cause the Chlamydia infection. The greatest risk groups to acquire this very common sexually transmitted infection are the ones who are active sexually with different sexual partners.

It is quite rare for infants to become infected when an infected mother gives a vaginal birth. But, if infection occurs, the infant may be affected by pneumonia and eye infection which is Chlamydia-related.

If symptoms are present it will be the basis for the initial diagnosis. The diagnosis will be fully formed when the necessary discharges are cultured and analyzed.

To fight off the infection, the mode of treatment usually uses antibiotics such as erythromycin, tetracycline, and azithromycin. After four weeks, a follow-up evaluation is necessary to find out if the infection has been eradicated from the body. To contain the spread of the infection, the infected person is requested to inform about the condition to his or her sexual partners. This is also one way of making the other partners submit to an STD testing.

If the treatment is done right away, good results are expected which also does away with any complications that will last a lifetime. On the other hand, delayed or improper treatment will cause additional complications. Chlamydia, if untreated in a woman will cause infection in the fallopian tubes or uterus leading to PID or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease with complications of possible ectopic pregnancy or infertility.

The Chlamydia infection can be prevented if people who are sexually active practice safe sex. Properly using protective barriers such as a condom or having a monogamous relationship where both partners are not infected will prevent this infection. It is also recommended that a yearly Chlamydia infection screening be a requirement for sexually active women. The reason for this is not only for health reasons but also one way of preventing and containing the spread of the infection. Statistics has shown that people infected with Chlamydia seem to be increasing yearly even with the sexual health education programs implemented by the different health organizations.

For this purpose, people are encouraged to take an active role in their individual health by learning everything about sexually transmitted diseases.

Chlamydia Symptoms and Treatment

The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis causes Chlamydia infection which is spread through sexual intercourse.

Men and women can be infected with Chlamydia without showing any symptoms. This leads to being infected or transmitting the infection to a sexual partner without being aware of it. This also causes Chlamydia to remain untreated for a long time which could lead to serious health complications.

You have a bigger chance of becoming infected with Chlamydia if you:

  • Use alcohol or drugs before having sexual intercourse
  • Unsafe sex practices such as not using a female or male condom during sex
  • Multiple sexual partners

Symptoms

 

The symptoms that are produced in men may have the same as that of an infection from gonorrhea and may include:

  • Pain or discharges from the rectal area
  • Pain or burning sensation when urinating
  • Pain, swelling or tenderness in the testicles
  • Discharges from the rectum or penis

Symptoms in women include:

  • Bleeding after sexual intercourse or discharges from the vagina
  • Burning sensation when urinating
  • Symptoms of inflammation of the liver identical to hepatitis, PID or pelvic inflammatory disease or inflammation of the fallopian tubes or salpingitis
  • Pain during sexual intercourse
  • Discharges or pain from the rectum

Tests

When you consult a medical professional for possible Chlamydia infection, he or she will give you a PCR test or get a specimen.

  • Other than Chlamydia, the doctor will also check for other types of STDs such as syphilis or gonorrhea.
  • In men, the specimen will be collected from the rectum or penis while a swab from the pelvic area will be taken from the women.
  • You will be advised to return after 1 to 2 days to know the results.

Women who are asymptomatic should submit to a Chlamydia test if they:

  • Have more than one sexual partner or a new partner
  • Are sexually active and are younger than or 25 years old which will be advised to have the test performed every year.

Urine samples are also the basis of most STD tests.

When you are getting an STD test, the doctor may also have you tested for herpes, syphilis, trichomoniasis, HIV, and hepatitis.

Treatment

 

The usual mode of treatment for Chlamydia is antibiotics.

A sexual history for the past 6 months will have to be provided by the infected person so sexual partners can also be treated to avoid passing the infection to other uninfected partners. A person can be re-infected with Chlamydia many times.

After 4 weeks, the infected individual has to go back to the doctor for a check-up to see if he or she has been cured of the infection.

Health forecast

 

When medicines are taken as directed, you and your partner will benefit greatly from a treatment using antibiotics.

Chlamydia can cause infertility when it reaches the uterus and cause scarring. This can be prevented by:

  • Practicing safe sex by wearing a condom in every sexual activity
  • Finishing the antibiotic treatment prescribed by the doctor
  • Get an STD test when you manifest symptoms

Discuss your options openly with your medical professional

Chlamydia Infection: The Silent STD

One of the most common bacterial STD or sexually transmitted diseases reported is Chlamydia. It affects more women than men. The bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis causes Chlamydia which can infect the rectum and urethra in men and women. In women, Chlamydia could infect the cervix. Sometimes other parts of the body can also be infected such as the eyes and throat. It is asymptomatic which means that it shows no symptoms, particularly in women. This causes serious health problems lasting a lifetime when left untreated. This also causes the spread of the infection as infected individuals unwittingly infect other uninfected sexual partner/s.

Signs and symptoms

Between the period of a week to 3 weeks after infection, Chlamydia symptoms may or may not appear which has given it the name of being a ‘silent’ infection. But if ever symptoms appear it may include:

In women

  • Irregular menstrual periods
  • The inflamed cervix brings about abnormal discharges from the vagina
  • Bleeding after sexual intercourse or pain during sex
  • Frequent urination with a burning sensation
  • Pain in the lower abdominal area

 

In men

  • Even when they are asymptomatic, men notice more symptoms than women
  • Stained underwear brought about by watery and cloudy or white discharges from the penis
  • Swelling and pain in the testicles
  • Pain or burning during urination

 

A Chlamydia infection in the anus will rarely show symptoms in both men and women.

Transmission

The modes of Chlamydia transmission include:

  • Infection from the genitals to fingers to eyes may be one way of transferring the infection although this happens very rarely.
  • Unprotected sex with an infected person through oral, anal, and vaginal contact.
  • A vaginal birth from an infected mother to an uninfected baby.

Testing places

There are numerous testing places that can help you if you feel that you have been infected with Chlamydia.

  • Some countries have chemists and pharmacies that could offer self-help testing kits which allow an infected person to get his or her sample to be analyzed by the pharmacy.
  • Visit your own medical professional who can refer you to a testing center if their facilities do not carry testing procedures.
  • Sexual health clinics that are purposely set up to help people infected with STD.

Treatment

Once the infection has been diagnosed, Chlamydia is easy to cure. A regimen of antibiotics is usually prescribed and taking them correctly will be effective in healing the infection.

If you happen to be allergic to the antibiotics prescribed or if you are pregnant, the doctor has to be informed right away so another mode of treatment can be done. Starting the course of prescribed antibiotics has to be maintained as interruptions may have to make you start from the beginning.

The doctor will be asking about any sexual contact that you had for the last 6 months. This is to give a chance to inform your sexual partner/s about the infection and the need for them to be tested and treated.

A check-up has to be done after the treatments have been completed to ensure that infection has been cured. Sexual relations can only be resumed once a negative result has been seen after the check-up.

Chlamydia Symptoms in Men and Women

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that is particularly common among American women and men under 25 years of age which is transmitted through sexual intercourse. The body parts that it can infect are the throat, penis, eye, vagina, anus, urethra, and cervix. It is more common than syphilis and gonorrhea which affects around three million of the American population each year.

Chlamydia is an asymptomatic STD that infected people are unaware of when they have it – particularly women. 5 to 10 days after exposure, these are the symptoms, should they happen:

Women

A strong-smelling yellow colored discharge from the cervix

Pain in the abdominal area

Vaginal bleeding after sexual intercourse

Abnormal discharges from the vagina

Swelling around the anus or inside the vagina

Bleeding between periods

Frequency of urination

Slight fever

Burning sensation or pain when urinating

Painful sexual intercourse

Men

Swelling around the anal area

Burning or pain during urination

Tender or swollen testicles

Milky or pus or watery discharges from the penis

One of the common symptoms of Chlamydia in both men and women is a bleeding and itchy anus which could lead to diarrhea and discharges. Discharges accompanied by itching and redness are the symptoms if Chlamydia has infected the eyes. Soreness of the throat will be experienced if Chlamydia has infected the throat.

The symptoms in men are milder and could only happen during the morning. This is the main factor for the widespread infection of Chlamydia. A consultation and check-up need to be arranged as early as possible with a healthcare professional should your partner or you experience the symptoms that have been listed. It is even more important to have treatment if you happen to be pregnant.

Health complications

Because of the asymptomatic nature of Chlamydia it can take a long time before an infected person gets tested and treated. This has led to serious health complications especially for women who may acquire pelvic inflammatory disease or PID which could lead to infertility.

Epididymitis is the serious health condition that men will acquire if Chlamydia is left untreated. It could cause infertility and sometimes lead to reactive arthritis which can develop disabling pain and swelling in the joints.

Chlamydia tests

The first symptom that a health care professional can see which could lead to a diagnosis of Chlamydia would be the discharges coming from the cervix. Other cell specimens that can positively identify Chlamydia would be taken from the anus, penis, and urethra. A urine test can also be another basis for diagnosing Chlamydia.

Treatment

 

Once diagnosed, it is fairly easy to treat Chlamydia. There are single dose antibiotics that can clear up Chlamydia, but there are also treatment programs that will last for seven days. Your health care professional will know what will work best for your case.

Before resuming any sexual activity, both you and your partner needs to get an STD test. This is to avoid getting infected or re-infected. You will also be advised to return in 3 to 4 months for Chlamydia re-testing.