Chlamydia In Women: A Complete Guide
To help women protect themselves against this common type of sexually transmitted disease , Flo has prepared a guide that explains the basics of chlamydia.
STDs are infections that are transmitted from one person to another via sexual contact. Today, there are over 20 types of STDs and chlamydia is one of them.
Whether you suspect that you might have it or want to educate yourself, let this guide help you find all the answers you were looking for.
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Why Is Treatment Of Chlamydia Important
When treated early, chlamydia does not cause any long-term complications. Left untreated, serious and permanent damage can occur.
It may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease . This is when female reproductive organs, found in your pelvis, become inflamed. PID may cause ectopic pregnancies , infertility or chronic pelvic pain.
If not treated, chlamydia can spread to testicles, leading to pain and swelling. Chlamydia may occasionally cause infertility in men. Sometimes chlamydia may trigger a condition called Reiter’s disease which causes inflammation of your eyes, skin and joints.
Chlamydia can be passed from mother to baby during birth. The baby may subsequently develop eye and/or ear infections or pneumonia.
What Are Typical Symptoms Of Chlamydia
These are genitourinary symptoms. Men can experience pain, discomfort, or swelling of the testicles, a burning sensation when passing urine, or a genitourinary discharge. Half of infected men have no symptoms. Symptoms for women are a vaginal discharge, bleeding after sexual intercourse, or between periods, a burning sensation when passing urine, and pelvis or lower abdominal pain. Three quarters of infected women have no symptoms.
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When Do Periods Begin And End
Periods start during puberty, which is when a girls body begins to change, typically between the ages of 8 and 15 years old. Its important to remember that periods look different for everyone so the side effects, ages at which it starts and ends, and how long each menstrual cycle lasts vary from person to person. However, as a rule of thumb, if a girls period has not started by the age of 16, she should be evaluated by a physician to assess the cause of the delay.
Periods end when women enter menopause which generally falls between the ages of 45 and 55 years old.
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What Does A Chlamydia Test Involve
- You may be asked to provide a urine sample. Before having this test, youre advised not to pass urine for 12 hours.
- A doctor or nurse may take a swab from the entrance of the urethra .
- If you have symptoms of conjunctivitis swabs will be used to collect a sample of discharge from your eye.
A swab looks a bit like a cotton bud but is smaller and rounded. It sometimes has a small plastic loop on the end rather than a cotton tip. Its wiped over the parts of the body that could be infected. This only takes a few seconds and isnt painful, though it may be uncomfortable for a moment.
Cervical screening and routine blood tests dont detect chlamydia.
If youre not sure whether youve been tested for chlamydia, just ask.
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What Is A Chlamydia Infection
Chlamydia is among the most common STDs in the world. Many people have it its estimated that 1 in 20 sexually active young women aged 14-24 has chlamydia.
The main cause for chlamydia is the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis that affects both men and women. The chlamydia infection is easily spread because it often has no symptoms and you can unknowingly pass it to your sexual partner.
Although you dont have outward symptoms in the early stages, its important to be careful. If you dont treat it on time, chlamydia can cause infertility or a risky pregnancy.
How Chlamydia’s Passed On
Chlamydia is usually passed from one person to another through sexual contact.
Chlamydia is most commonly spread through:
- sharing sex toys that arent washed or covered with a new condom each time theyre used.
It can be spread by giving or receiving oral sex with someone who has chlamydia. The risk can be lowered by using a condom or a dam to cover the genitals.
If youre pregnant its possible to pass chlamydia to the baby .
You cant get chlamydia from kissing, hugging, sharing baths or towels, swimming pools, toilet seats or from sharing cups, plates or cutlery.
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Can You Get An Std While On Your Period
There is absolutely no shame in being sexually active whilst on your period, but there are still important factors to consider in terms of sexual health. You can still catch an STD whilst on your period and, if anything, you are more at risk of doing so due how your cervix changes during your menstrual cycle.
Whilst on your period, your cervix expands slightly to allow for the shedding of the egg cells, and passing of period blood. This means that your uterus is more exposed to infectious diseases and bacteria, and therefore more prone to contracting STDs.
Another reason why you are more likely to catch an STD on your period is because your pH levels are reduced and therefore your protective bacteria is not as strong. As a result, you uterus is more exposed and at risk to sexually transmitted diseases and infections
It is also interesting to note that males are more likely to contract a STD from a girl who is infected if he has sex with her whilst she is on her period. The reason being that STDs spread via bodily fluids so, in this case, the period blood can act as a bridge for the bacteria and infection to spread.
How Do You Get Chlamydia
Chlamydia is a bacterial infection. The bacteria are usually spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids .
You can get chlamydia through:
- sharing sex toys that are not washed or covered with a new condom each time theyre used
It can also be passed by a pregnant woman to her baby.
Chlamydia cannot be passed on through casual contact, such as kissing and hugging, or from sharing baths, towels, swimming pools, toilet seats or cutlery.
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Do I Need To Have A Test To Check That The Chlamydia Has Gone
If you take the treatment according to the instructions, you wont usually need a test to check the chlamydia has gone.
If youre aged under 25, you should be offered a repeat test 3 months after finishing the treatment. This is because youre at a higher risk of getting chlamydia again.
Whatever your age, you may need a repeat test or more treatment if:
- you think youve come into contact with chlamydia again
- you had sex without a condom with a partner before the treatment for both of you was finished
- you didnt complete the treatment or didnt take it according to the instructions
- the signs and symptoms dont go away
- your test was negative but you develop signs or symptoms of chlamydia
- youre pregnant.
A repeat test can be done 56 weeks after the first test.
If the chlamydia was in your rectum , you may need another test around 3 weeks after finishing the treatment. Your doctor, nurse or clinic will let you know if you need another test.
You can go back to the doctor, nurse or clinic if you have any questions or need advice on how to protect yourself from infection in the future.
Sexually Transmitted Infections Are Common
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the incidence of STIs is at an all-time high. There are 20 million new STI cases in the United States each year. Half of those new cases are in sexually active people between the ages of 15-24, even though that age group only makes up one-quarter of the population.
You have probably heard about chlamydia and gonorrhea, but did you know that there are other STIs that are much more common? In fact, human papillomavirus is the most common STI, with over 79 million infected Americans, most of them in their teens or early twenties.
The second most common STI is genital herpes, followed by trichomoniasis. Among the STIs required to be reported to the CDC, chlamydia is the most commonly reported, and gonorrhea is the second most reported. The CDC does not require that HPV, genital herpes, or trichomoniases cases be reported, but some states might still require reporting.
It is essential to understand that any sexually active person can contract an STI. It is impossible to really know another persons sexual history, so even if you have been committed to one partner, STI screening is crucial for your health. It can help you detect an STI before it leads to PID or other life-threatening health problems.
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What Happens To Your Period When You Have An Std
According to Dr Alexandra Alvergne, Professor of Anthropology at Oxford University, if left undetected an STD can double the likelihood of negative period symptoms including headaches, cramps and sadness. He even went so far as to say that from his research he concluded that increased negative period symptoms could in some cases be an indicator of untreated STDs.
Another common side effect that STDs can have on your period is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease . If left untreated, STDs can cause PID which can itself cause long term damage to your uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes often resulting in bleeding between periods. The long term complications of PID includes:
- Scarring in fallopian tubes
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Chronic pelvic pain
If PID is not treated effectively with antibiotics, it can spread to the bloodstream and become life-threatening so it could not be more important to get tested at a private STD clinic even if you are on your period.
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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Chlamydia Test For Women
To diagnose the infection, your doctor can use a few different chlamydia tests. Your doctor will likely ask you about your symptoms and why you think you have the infection. When this happens, its important to be as honest as possible.
Although many physicians do it, a chlamydia test is not automatically done at the time that a Pap test is done.
For this reason, its important for women, especially sexually active women aged 25 and under, to ask their health care provider whether theyre getting tested for chlamydia every year.
If you think you may have been exposed to an STD, youll have to ask for a screening.
Fortunately, chlamydia is easy to treat. If you suspect that you have it, youll need to:
- See your health care provider immediately before the infection does damage to your reproductive organs.
- Listen to your doctor and take all of your medicine. Even if your symptoms go away, you should finish your pills.
- Tell your sexual partner. They should know about the infection so that they too can be tested and treated.
- Avoid having sexual intercourse until you and your partner have been cured.
Since chlamydia is a bacteria, your doctor will prescribe you antibiotics.
How Long Does It Take For Gonorrhea To Show Up
Gonorrhea Incubation Period: the incubation period ranges from 1 to 14 days. Men who show symptoms, start noticing them two to five days post exposure. Women, on the other hand, develop them in the first 10 days following infection.
Gonorrhea Window Period: it is between 2 to 6 days.
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Who Should Be Tested For Chlamydia
Any sexually active person can be infected with chlamydia. Anyone with genital symptoms such as discharge, burning during urination, unusual sores, or rash should refrain from having sex until they are able to see a health care provider about their symptoms.
Because chlamydia is usually asymptomatic, screening is necessary to identify most infections. Screening programs have been demonstrated to reduce rates of adverse sequelae in women.31,41 CDC recommends yearly chlamydia screening of all sexually active women younger than 25, as well as older women with risk factors such as new or multiple partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted infection.40 Rectal chlamydia testing can be considered for females based on sexual behaviors and exposure. 40 Pregnant women under 25 or older pregnant women at increased risk for chlamydia should be screened during their first prenatal visit and again during their third trimester.40 Women diagnosed with chlamydial infection should be retested approximately 3 months after treatment.40 Any woman who is sexually active should discuss her risk factors with a health care provider who can then determine if more frequent screening is necessary.
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Genital And Reproductive Health
Amenorrhea
Amenorrhea is the medical term referring to the state of a woman who has missed at least three periods. The name of this disorder comes from Greek, in which a means without and menorrhea means menstrual flow. It is easy to write-off missed periods as a convenience, but amenorrhea indicates your body has a problem that is preventing it from functioning normally. Athletes participating in physically demanding sports often have low estrogen levels, no matter how well balanced their diets are. Low levels of this hormone promote bone density loss, and by the time these athletes lose their period, their bones have suffered significantly. Amenorrhea can have a negative impact on reproductive, endocrine, and muscular-skeletal systems, so you should see a doctor if you go longer than 12 weeks without a period and need help to start menstruating again. Starting or ending contraception disrupts the bodys normal hormone levels, and it may take up to six months for your period to return to normal. Pregnancy is the most common reason women stop menstruating, but if youre definitely not pregnant, here are some possible causes of amenorrhea:
- low body weight
If these changes dont improve symptoms, you may consider medication. Medicine that may help:
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What Factors Affect Menstrual Cycle
Table 2 shows the factors affecting the menstrual cycle of premenopausal women. In the univariate analysis, age, smoking status, pack-year, body weight, alcohol, perceived level of stress, marital status, educational level, and modifiable risk factor scores were associated with irregular menstruation .
Can I Get Std Tested While On My Period
by SaraPublished on October 24, 2018Updated on June 15, 2020
Can I get STD tested while on my period? is a pertinent question. If youre wondering the same thing, youre not alone. There are a few reasons why you might think being on your period could affect your STD test results. There are a few reasons you might just not want to get tested while youre on your period. Whatever the reason for your concern, were here to address it.
Can you get tested for STDs while on your period? In short, yes. In most cases, being on your period will not affect your test results or experience. However, there are some instances in which you might want to rethink getting tested for STDs while on your period.
Most tests, including the tests offered by Priority STD, will require a blood sample and/or a urine sample for testing. For tests that require a blood sample, blood is taken from your arm as with any other blood sample test. Being on your period shouldnt affect the blood being drawn or interfere with your test results. For tests that require a urine sample, the same is true.
If you know that youre going to be receiving a swab test and youd be more comfortable waiting to get tested, you can always reschedule your appointment until after you are done menstruating. Remember that sooner is often better when it comes to getting tested for STDs. You have choices you can schedule your testing at a testing location that doesnt use swab tests. Then your period wont be a factor.
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How Is It Treated
Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. It is important that you take all the pills you are given. You may be given pills for seven to 10 days or you may be given pills for just one day.
- if you could be pregnant please tell the nurse or doctor so you are given the correct antibiotics
- tell the nurse or doctor if you are allergic to any antibiotics
- it is best to have another test 3 months after treatment to check you have not got chlamydia again.
How Long Does Chlamydia Last
With adequate treatment, chlamydia can be cleared entirely within one or two weeks, depending on the recommended treatment option. Chlamydia is caused by the bacterial chlamydia trachomatis.
It is usually passed when fluid is exchanged during sexual activities. This infection, typically common among people aged 25 and under, can be completely cured with antibiotics.
To thoroughly heal chlamydia, you must use your antibiotics precisely as your medical specialist prescribes without skipping a dose. This will ensure that the medication is as effective as it is expected to be.
Antibiotics remedy chlamydia by stopping the growth of the bacteria responsible for the infection and limiting its spread in the body. The CDC recommends using doxycycline or azithromycin to treat chlamydia.
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