Chlamydia
What is it?Symptoms & Effects
Screening & Treatment
Protection
More...
What is it?
You might not have heard the word "chlamydia" before, but you better learn it – it is the most common STDs in the U.S. today. Chlamydia is passed from one person to another during all types of sex (vaginal, anal, or oral).
Chlamydia is really scary because it often has no symptoms but can cause real damage.
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Symptoms & Effects
Symptoms that show up may happen one to three weeks after having sex. For guys, symptoms may include pain and burning when taking a leak and a watery or milky discharge from the penis. Guys may also have some itching around the tip of their penis.
When symptoms do show up for women, they include:
You might not have heard the word "chlamydia" before, but you better learn it – it is the most common STDs in the U.S. today. Chlamydia is passed from one person to another during all types of sex (vaginal, anal, or oral).
Chlamydia is really scary because it often has no symptoms but can cause real damage.
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Symptoms & Effects
Symptoms that show up may happen one to three weeks after having sex. For guys, symptoms may include pain and burning when taking a leak and a watery or milky discharge from the penis. Guys may also have some itching around the tip of their penis.
When symptoms do show up for women, they include:
- An abnormal (watery, thick, smelly) discharge from the vagina
- Pain in the pelvic area, lower back, or stomach possibly with a fever or nausea
- Burning or pain when they pee or urinate.
- Bleeding from the vagina between periods or after sex
- Increased frequency in having to pee
Chlamydia is dangerous if you don't treat it because the infection can spread and cause painful and permanent damage to the female sex organs. In fact, it can make it so that your partner can't ever have kids.
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Screening & Treatment
The good news is that chlamydia is easily treated with a single prescription of antibiotics And often clinics just give you the antibiotic right there if you are infected. And more good news for guys .... There is now a new test for chlamydia that is easy and doesn't involve anything harder than peeing in a cup at your doctor's office, a community clinic, or Planned Parenthood. If you have more than one sexual partner, you should be checked every few months, and you should have these check-ups even if you do not have symptoms.
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Protection
You can protect yourself from chlamydia (or any other STD) by the following:
Protection
You can protect yourself from chlamydia (or any other STD) by the following:
- You can be 100% safe if you abstain from sex.
- Talk honestly with your partner before things get hot and heavy.
- Be in a long-term, mutually exclusive relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to be uninfected.
- Don't have sex with a person if you notice any signs of infection or if the person has been exposed to Chlamydia.
- Always use condoms or rubbers to reduce the risk of transmission.
- Limit your number of sex partners. The more people you have sex with, the higher your risk of getting any STD.