Signs and Treatment of Chlamydia Infection

 

Signs of chlamydia infection

 

Signs  of chlamydia infection in Women

Women with Chlamydia often present with pelvic pain and lower back pain. The pain is generally constant and described as a dull ache. Increased pain during sexual intercourse is a common symptom. Some women will experience spotting or bleeding between periods. Rectal pain and discharge are present if Chlamydia infection in the cervix spreads to the rectum. Women are more likely to experience systemic symptoms, such as nausea, fever and chills, as well.

 

Signs of chlamydia infection in Men

Men will often experience tenderness in the testicles, which will feel sore when touched. Sometimes the testicles will become swollen as well. General pain around the opening of the penis, not associated with urination, can also be present. Uncommonly, men will experience aching joints.

 

Long-Term Signs of chlamydia infection

Many people do not have acute symptoms of Chlamydia infection, but they may experience long-term signs if the Chlamydia goes untreated. In women, repeated episodes of ectopic pregnancy, infertility and chronic pelvic pain may be signs of a long-term Chlamydial infection. Men may experience ejaculation with less semen or no semen at all. This is due to Chlamydia's scarring the epididymis. Both men and women can develop Reiter's syndrome, which presents with arthritis, conjunctivitis and skin lesions. Reiter's syndrome is a very rare sign of Chlamydia.

 

How Dangerous is Chlamydia?

 

A large number of chlamydia patients do not know how chlamydia infection can affect them. Actually chlamydia infection is a dangerous disease which can even ruin your lives. 

 

According to statistics, most women, about 75% of those infected, have no symptoms and therefore don't even know they've been infected with chlamydia. If symptoms do occur they may be confused with a urinary tract infection or vaginal yeast infection. Burning on urination or vaginal discharge are among the more common symptoms, but when the infection reaches higher into the cervix or fallopian tubes, abdominal pain may occur, along with fever, nausea, back pain, pain with intercourse, or abnormal menstrual bleeding. It's important to see your physician if you experience these symptoms.

 

Because many women have no warning symptoms, and because the infection is sometimes mistaken for something else, damage may occur even before a women knows she's infected. Up to 40% of untreated women eventually develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which may cause chronic pelvic pain, infertility, or blockage of the fallopian tubes.

 

Another scary fact: if you already have chlamydia and are then exposed to HIV, you're 4-5 times as likely to become infected with HIV than if you don't have chlamydia. STDs run in pairs. A person infected with one sexually transmitted disease is at high risk of having contracted a second as well.

 

Premature birth is a possible complication for pregnant women infected with chlamydia. Infected mothers may pass the disease to their babies, who may suffer from infection in their eyes or lungs, even pneumonia.

 

Usually the damage is not life-threatening. However, if the fallopian tubes become sufficiently scarred, an ectopic pregnancy (tubal pregnancy) may occur. If this isn't detected in time, the tube may burst, causing internal bleeding, which may be fatal.

 

As for men, up to half of infected men don't have symptoms and therefore can pass the disease on without even knowing it. Those who do have symptoms usually exhibit burning on urination, and so may confuse this STD with a urinary tract infection. Occasionally the infection spreads up through the urethra and bladder to the epididymis, causing pain behind the testicles, sometimes fever, and occasionally sterility.

 

If you have any of the above symptoms see your doctor promptly before irreversible damage sets in. If you don't have symptoms but worry you may have been exposed, see your doctor as well. Any sexually active person (anyone having sex) should be tested yearly for chlamydia, especially those 25 years of age and younger (except for those in a long-term totally monogamous relationship who have never been at risk for contracting chlamydia). All pregnant women should be tested as well.

 

Antibiotic treatment is effective but may not be able to reverse scarring from a prolonged infection, so don't put off seeing a doctor for this potentially serious infection. Herbal medicines, as a new treatment of chlamydia, becomes popular in recent years, because it will not cause resistance and have a more stable efficacy.