When To Seek Medical Advice
If you have any symptoms of chlamydia, visit your GP, community contraceptive service or local genitourinary medicine clinic as soon as possible.
You should also get tested if you dont have any symptoms but are concerned you could have a sexually transmitted infection .
If youre a woman, sexually active and under 25 in England, its recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year, and when you have sex with new or casual partners.
If youre a man, sexually active and under 25 in England, its recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year if you are not using condoms with new or casual partners.
Read more about chlamydia diagnosis.
Signs And Symptoms Of Chlamydia In Men
Most cases of chlamydia in men have no symptoms. Current estimates indicate that only 10% of men develop symptoms of chlamydiathese symptoms do not show up immediately when they do occur. It usually takes around 510 days after exposure to chlamydia for symptoms to begin. When symptoms or other health problems develop, chlamydia is referred to as a sexually transmitted disease .
The symptoms discussed here refer to those that cis-gendered men may experience. If you are a transgender man, depending on your anatomy, the symptoms related to you may be described here or in our related article on women and chlamydia. The body parts discussed here are the urethra, epididymis, prostate, lymph nodes, rectum, and throat.
What Happens If Chlamydia Is Left Untreated For Too Long
When left untreated, chlamydia can increase your risk for other serious health problems, including HIV/AIDs and infertility.
Chlamydia can weaken your immune system to make you more vulnerable to other infections and diseases, including other STDs. According to the NIH, n females, untreated chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. In males, it may lead to infertility and infection of the epididymis. Untreated chlamydia may also cause arthritis, reports the NIH.
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Chlamydia In The Throat
Oral Chlamydia: Not a Sore Throat
Lets clear one thing up it ispossible to get chlamydia in the throat. This is usually only possible if someone is giving oral sex to another person already infected with chlamydia. Oral chlamydia is not as common as genital chlamydia, but it is possible.
When chlamydia occurs in the throat, it is considered a mouth infection. If there are symptoms , they make it look a lot like tonsilitis. The infection causes white spots to appear in the back of the throat and can make it painful to swallow.
What Are The Treatments For Chlamydia
Antibiotics will cure the infection. You may get a one-time dose of the antibiotics, or you may need to take medicine every day for 7 days. Antibiotics cannot repair any permanent damage that the disease has caused.
To prevent spreading the disease to your partner, you should not have sex until the infection has cleared up. If you got a one-time dose of antibiotics, you should wait 7 days after taking the medicine to have sex again. If you have to take medicine every day for 7 days, you should not have sex again until you have finished taking all of the doses of your medicine.
It is common to get a repeat infection, so you should get tested again about three months after treatment.
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Wait I Can Get Gonorrhea In My Throat
Yes, and also in your butt. You can also get chlamydia in your throat and butt, but throat chlamydia just doesnt have the same ring to it. The CDC has a helpful list of all the places on your body you might get an initial infection of various STIs, but the big takeaway is simple: Even people who always use condoms can get STIs, pretty much every STI can be transmitted by unprotected oral sex, and STIs can show symptoms on parts of your body you wouldnt expect.
Why is this important? Well, a lot of people assume STIs are grossthanks, societyand part of that stigma is a misconception that all STIs produce gnarly and horrific symptoms. In reality, this is pretty rare! Herpes, for instance, is asymptomatic in almost everyone who has it, and gonorrhea and chlamydia can also infiltrate your bodys defenses without making much fuss. They can even go away on their own, but the problem is that they dont always do so.
That means that you should not wait for an outbreak of oozing sores before getting tested for STIs. If youre sexually activeand were talking about any kind of sexyou need to get tested two to three times a year.
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How Is Chlamydia Diagnosed And Treated
Chlamydia can be diagnosed with a STD lab test. The NIH reports that males who want to be tested for chlamydia are asked to provide a urine sample, and females are given a long cotton swab they use to collect a sample from their vaginal areas. However, these diagnostic methods are usually only effective at diagnosing genital chlamydia not oral chlamydia. Oral chlamydia can usually be diagnosed with a throat swab test in both males and females.
Oral and genital chlamydia can be effectively treated using antibiotics. Patients may be asked to refrain from engaging in any sexual activity for at least seven days until the infection has been cleared, according to the NIH. If you are diagnosed with chlamydia, your doctor may recommend taking all your antibiotic medication until the medication is gone, even if your symptoms have fully cleared.
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How Do You Get It
Throat chlamydia is contracted by giving oral sex to a person who is infected with chlamydia. You cannot get oral chlamydia from kissing someone else who has chlamydia in their throat.
By the same token, if you receive oral sex from a person with oral chlamydia, you are at high risk of developing genital chlamydia.
How Long Does It Take Throat Chlamydia To Go Away
Once a person begins treatment for throat chlamydia, the symptoms will generally being to ease over a period of several days. If you are diagnosed with chlamydia but your sexual partner has not been, it is important to take precautions to avoid spreading the infection. Generally, chlamydia will go away in about 5-7 days with antibiotic treatment, but if the symptoms persist after a week it is important for a person to follow up with their doctor to be retested.
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Throat And Other Symptoms
Oral chlamydia infections affect the cells lining the throat. The most common symptom is a sore throat, or pharyngitis, lasting several days. This discomfort can be continuous or come and go, and swallowing may increase the discomfort. A sore throat caused by chlamydia may be accompanied by low-grade fever and swollen lymph nodes in the neck. However, most people with an oral chlamydia infection experience no symptoms, leading many to be unaware that they are infected.
- Oral chlamydia infections affect the cells lining the throat.
- The most common symptom is a sore throat, or pharyngitis, lasting several days.
How Common Is Mouth Chlamydia
It is difficult to be sure how commonly chlamydia is found in the throat, as study results are varied. In fact, most people with oral chlamydia do not have a sore throat and are unaware of the infection unless they test positive.
Its not always tested for the throat is not routinely sampled for chlamydia when you go for an STI screen. This is because current chlamydia tests may produce false positive results and cause anxiety. In addition, the chance of having oral chlamydia is extremely low .
When are people at risk? in a clinic, you may be offered a throat swab for chlamydia if there are other risk factors such as:
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Who To Test For Chlamydia
Anyone with the following genital symptoms should not have sex until they see a healthcare provider:
- A burning sensation when peeing
- Unusual sores, or a rash
Because chlamydia usually has no symptoms, screening is necessary to identify most infections. Screening programs can reduce rates of adverse sequelae in women.31,41 CDC recommends yearly chlamydia screening of all sexually active women younger than 25. CDC also recommends screening for older women with risk factors, such as new or multiple partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted infection.40 Screen and treat those who are pregnant as noted in How does chlamydia affect a pregnant person and their baby? Women who are sexually active should discuss their risk factors with a healthcare provider to determine if more frequent screening is necessary.
Routine screening is not necessary for men. However, consider screening sexually active young men in clinical settings with a high prevalence of chlamydia. This can include adolescent clinics, correctional facilities, and STD clinics. Consider this when resources permit and do not hinder screening efforts in women.40
At the initial HIV care visit, providers should test all sexually active people for chlamydia. Test at least each year during HIV care. A patients healthcare provider might determine more frequent screening is necessary, based on the patients risk factors.42
Can Pharyngeal Chlamydia Be Prevented
The best protection against oral chlamydia is by avoiding unprotected sex. Using a complete barrier method reduces your risk of acquiring pharyngeal chlamydia during oral sexthis includes using a polyurethane or latex condom or a dental dam. Partial barriers or contraceptive methods such as birth control pills and spermicidal lube do not decrease your risk of getting pharyngeal chlamydia, or other STIs, from your sex partner.
You are not likely to get oral chlamydia from mouth-to-mouth contact, including kissing or sharing a cup. However, a recent study suggested that gonorrhea, another STI, may potentially be transmitted by kissing. While the study did not find this to be the case with chlamydia, more research will help scientists learn more about the role of saliva in the transmission of STIs .
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How Can Oral Chlamydia Be Prevented
Use condoms during all forms of sex, including oral sex, to regularly engage in safe sex and reduce your risk of acquiring STIs like chlamydia from a sex partner. Its crucial to frequently test for STIs, especially if you think you may have had contact with someone who is infected. Routine STI testing can be an effective approach to identify an oral chlamydial infection early onbefore it has spread to others or negatively impacted your healtheven if it may not directly prevent you from developing oral chlamydia. If you suspect you may have chlamydia or if you test positive, be careful to contact your healthcare practitioner as soon as you can because untreated chlamydia raises the risk of long-term health consequences.
Can You Tell If You Have It From Pictures
A simple google search of âoral chlamydiaâ or âthroat chlamydiaâ will bring up pictures of spots towards the back of the throat and bumps on the tongue.
However, these symptoms are also similar to other conditions such as oral thrush, a streptococcus infection, tonsillitis and mononucleosis.
It can therefore be difficult to tell if you have oral chlamydia from pictures. You should get tested for chlamydia if you think you have it.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Oral Chlamydia
Chlamydia is commonly referred to as the silent infection, the reason for this being pretty self-explanatory – most people infected with the disease are asymptomatic and experience little to no symptoms.
In saying that, when chlamydia in the mouth and throat do show symptoms, they may include:
- A sore throat that is not being treated effectively with throat medicine
- A cough that is not being treated effectively with cough medicine
- Feeling feverish
- Dryness and itchiness in the mouth and throat
Chlamydia Is Really Common
Chlamydia is a SUPER common bacterial infection that you can get from sexual contact with another person. Close to 3 million Americans get it every year, most commonly among 14-24-year-olds.
Chlamydia can be easily cleared up with antibiotics. But if you dont treat chlamydia, it may lead to major health problems in the future. Thats why STD testing is so important the sooner you know you have chlamydia, the faster you can cure it. You can prevent chlamydia by using condoms every time you have sex.
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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Pharyngeal Chlamydia
In the majority of cases, pharyngeal chlamydia is asymptomatic. If it does cause symptoms, they usually include sore throat or an uncomfortable feeling in the throat. However, the CDC does not consider pharyngeal chlamydia to be an important cause of pharyngitis . More likely causes include viral infections, strep throat, allergies, reflux, and others .
Signs And Symptoms Of Chlamydia
Chlamydia is known as one of the silent diseases which can produce no symptoms for a long period of time. Approximately 7095 percent of women and 50 percent of men with chlamydia do not observe chlamydia symptoms at all. The symptoms can also be mild and almost unnoticeable.
Another reason why symptoms are not the best way to determine the infection is that it is often confused with gonorrhea as the symptoms are very much alike. Asymptomatic nature of chlamydia makes it difficult to estimate how long a person remains infectious and this period is commonly believed to last until full recovery.
Chlamydia symptoms show up between 1 and 3 weeks after the contraction.
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What Are The Most Common Oral Chlamydia Symptoms
Pop quiz time: whats the difference between throat chlamydia and chlamydia in the genitals? If youre not sure, dont feel bad. Many of us dont even realize that there are multiple types of this sexually transmitted infection.
To further complicate matters, both genital and throat chlamydia can be difficult to detect without proper screening. Both forms, in addition to rectal chlamydia, may never show any visible symptoms. You see, chlamydia is typically an asymptomatic infection.
If chlamydia in the throat does show easily detectable symptoms, they are often as simple as asore throat and possibly a low grade fever and/or swollen lymph nodes. All of these are easily mistaken for something else if a doctor isnt specifically looking for chlamydia.
There are two sides to this coin. Since symptoms are mild, and so many different things can cause a sore throat and fever, the infection is often dismissed and goes untreated. This may make chlamydia seem like no big deal. The truth is, neglecting regular screenings can cause the infection to get worse even if there have never been any symptoms in the first place.
Oral chlamydia symptoms in women:
Oral chlamydia symptoms in men:
- Low-grade fever
- Swollen lymph nodes
If you dont get screened for oral chlamydia and you have an infection, it can get worse. If left undetected and untreated, chlamydia can lead to serious consequences, including pelvic inflammatory disease , infertility and chronic pelvic pain.
Looking For Medical Help
Ask your doctor if testing for chlamydia in the throat is advised if you have a painful throat that doesnt seem to get better or you observe white patches in the back of your throat. A throat swab is frequently taken as part of the pharyngeal chlamydia test, and it is then examined for signs of this bacterial infection. Its critical that you be tested right away if you have unprotected intercourse with an infected person. In actuality, your symptoms can resemble strep throat. Talk to your doctor about getting tested for an STD if youve already taken a strep test and your symptoms are still present.
Your doctor may suggest antibiotics to treat the sexually transmitted infection if chlamydia is found. Chlamydia in the throat or genital region may be treated with the same type of medications.
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Female Complications Of Untreated Chlamydia
Some women develop PID, an infection that can damage the uterus, cervix, and ovaries. PID is a painful disease that often requires hospital treatment.
Infertility is also possible if chlamydia is left untreated because the fallopian tubes may become scarred.
During pregnancy, the infection can to babies during birth, which can cause eye infections and pneumonia in newborns.
How Can You Catch Chlamydia In The Mouth
Usually you get chlamydia in the throat by engaging in oral sex with a partner that has chlamydia. Chances are, like 80 percent of Americans, youve engaged in oral sex. Believe it or not, this is exactly why you should get an oral chlamydia test. Although chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, you probably wont know if you have oral chlamydia without specifically testing for it.
The area where you become infected is often linked to your sexual activity. For example, it is possible to catch oral chlamydia through performing oral sex on a partner who is carrying a genital infection. In the reverse example, if you are infected with throat chlamydia, you can spread the infection to your partners genitals.
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Complications Of Oral Chlamydia
Chlamydia of the throat does not lead to complications in that area. The biggest concern with oral chlamydia is that people without symptoms are more likely to continue having sex and spreading the infection to other people.
Long-standing chlamydia infection most commonly leads to pelvic inflammatory disease , an infection and inflammation of the uterus and fallopian tubes. People with PID often have difficulties getting pregnant or are at risk of ectopic pregnancy.
Chlamydia infection can also cause an inflammatory reaction throughout the body that causes joint pain or conjunctivitis, an inflammation or infection in the eye.
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