Who Should Be Tested For Chlamydia
You should go to your health provider for a test if you have symptoms of chlamydia, or if you have a partner who has a sexually transmitted disease. Pregnant women should get a test when they go to their first prenatal visit.
People at higher risk should get checked for chlamydia every year:
- Sexually active women 25 and younger
- Older women who have new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted disease
- Men who have sex with men
How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage
Symptoms usually appear within one to three weeks after being infected and may be very mild. If not treated, chlamydia can lead to damage to the reproductive system. In women, chlamydial infection can spread to the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease , according to the CDC.
How Do I Recognize The Signs
Chlamydia, like most STIs, is often asymptomatic that means most people wont experience any signs of the infection. If the signs do appear, both women and men will be equally affected. Even though these signs can affect different areas in the body, both sexes will experience them in a similar way.
Here are the most typical signs for women:
- Pain during menstruation
- Fever with pain in the abdomen
- Excessive vaginal discharge often with a bad odor
- Pain during intercourse
- Burning and itching around or in the vagina
- Bleeding when not on a period
Even though women are more prone to chlamydia, men can still get infected.
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Can Chlamydia Kill You
As already mentioned before, this infection won`t cause any issues if treated right away. However, if it`s left untreated, it may lead to severe problems, especially when talking about women:
- It the infection spreads, it may cause PID. This severe medical condition might make it difficult or even impossible for a woman to conceive.
- Expecting mothers who experience this infection frequently pass it to their own future babies during delivery. If the condition gets in the eyes of the child, it may lead to blindness. Babies can have other issues, such as pneumonia, which can become deadly in a infant.
- Having this particular infection makes anyone a lot more likely in getting HIV from other persons who are infected with HIV. This virus causes AIDS.
Does Chlamydia Have A Smell
Trichomoniasis a sexually transmitted infection also can lead to vaginal odor.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections usually dont cause vaginal odors.
Neither do yeast infections.
Generally, if you have vaginal odor without other vaginal symptoms, its unlikely that your vaginal odor is abnormal..
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What Happens To Those Who Dont Get Treated
Since more than 50% of the infected dont experience any signs of chlamydia, many people unknowingly pass their infection onto their partner and leave it to manifest in their system for years.
Even though chlamydia is not a life-threatening infection, if left untreated, it can cause serious health problems. For women, untreated chlamydia can move up into the fallopian tubes and womb and cause pelvic inflammatory disease . If it travels to the uterus as well, it can lead to endometritis.
In time, these diseases will become a serious problem and can cause:
- Infertility
- Increased risk of developing HIV
- Joint pain
Any prolonged damage to the reproductive tissues can cause irreversible damage, and once it gets to this stage, chlamydia can be a serious burden, and infertility can no longer be treated.
In men, the infection can affect the testes and spread to the reproductive tract. When it gets to this area, the infection can cause serious inflammation, swelling, fever, and pain. However, if left untreated, it can have the same consequences as in women, and that is infertility.
Thats why its crucial to get on-time treatment and regularly get tested for chlamydia even if you dont notice any signs or symptoms.
How Do I Test For Chlamydia
You can get tested for chlamydia even if you dont have any symptoms.
Getting tested for chlamydia is easy and doesnt hurt. A healthcare professional will ask for a urine sample and/or take a swab from the area that might be infected. This is usually the lower part of the womb or the vagina for women, and the tip of the penis for men. If youve had anal or oral sex, you may have a swab taken from your anus or throat.
In some countries you can get a self-testing kit to do at home.
If you test positive for chlamydia, its important to tell any recent sexual partner/s so they can also get tested, and treated if necessary. If you need advice about how to do this, speak to your healthcare professional. You should also test for other STIs.
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Who Should Get Tested For Chlamydia
Pregnant women should be screened for chlamydia according to the above guidelines, with a second test during the third trimester of pregnancy. If a pregnant woman tests positive for chlamydia, she should be tested again three to four weeks after treatment to ensure that it was effective, plus once more within three months.
Men who have sex with men should also get screened for chlamydia yearly, with any potential areas of contact urethra, rectum, or throat included in these tests, regardless of whether condoms were used. Men in this group with multiple sex partners, or whose partner has multiple partners, should get tested every three to six months instead.
The CDC recommends screening all men for chlamydia at certain high-risk facilities, such as prisons and jails and STD clinics.
People with HIV should be tested for chlamydia at their first HIV evaluation, and at least once a year after that if theyre sexually active, depending on their sexual practices.
How Do I Know If My Husband Is Infertile
Although in most cases there wont be any visible symptoms apart from the absence of pregnancy, here are some signs that a man is infertile:Problems with ejaculation. Issues keeping an erection. Pain, swelling or a lump in the testicles. Inability to smell. Low sperm count. Small testicles. Abnormal breast growth.More items
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Young Sexually Active Women Are Most Susceptible
Women between ages 15 and 24 are most likely to be newly infected with chlamydia, according to the CDC, but anyone who is sexually active male or female can be infected. Men who have oral or anal sex with men are also at risk, notes the CDC. The CDC recommends regular chlamydia screenings for people at an increased risk of contracting it.
You should be screened annually for chlamydia if you are:
- A sexually active woman under age 25
- A woman age 25 or older who has multiple sexual partners
- A woman whose sexual partner may have multiple sexual partners
- Pregnant and under age 25 or pregnant and age 25 or older with an increased risk
- A man who has sex with men
- At an increased risk for other health reasons
I would emphasize that young women should be screened if they engage in any sexual behavior that puts them at risk because often has no symptoms, and early treatment is important to avoid long-term damage and infertility, Dr. Schaffir says.
Screening for chlamydia is painless: It usually involves testing a urine sample or a specimen swabbed from the vagina or penis. Some lab tests for chlamydia can use specimens from the throat or rectum.
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Your Chlamydia Was Poorly Treated Or Left Untreated
Its possible to have chlamydia infection with no symptoms of the disease. In some women and men, it could take weeks for chlamydia signs to appear. If you just started having symptoms, purchase chlamydia kit to know if its chlamydia or not.
Poorly treated chlamydia, either due to wrong antibiotics or not completing your doctors prescribed medications, may cause chlamydia to persist with resistance.
If you have chlamydia symptoms months after treatment, it is advisable to let your doctor know ASAP.
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How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
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How Chlamydia’s Passed On
Chlamydia is usually passed from one person to another through sexual contact.
You can get the infection if you come into contact with the semen or vaginal fluids of someone who has chlamydia.
Chlamydia is most commonly spread through:
- vaginal or anal sex without a condom
- 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 infected semen or vaginal fluid comes into contact with the eye it can cause conjunctivitis (infection or irritation of the eye.
If youre pregnant its possible to pass chlamydia to the baby .
Its not clear if chlamydia can be spread by transferring infected semen or vaginal fluid to another persons genitals on the fingers or through rubbing vulvas together.
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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How Is Chlamydia Diagnosed
The most common test for chlamydia is called a nucleic acid amplification test . Your provider takes a sample of fluid by doing a vaginal/cervical swab or collecting a urine sample. Then, they send the sample off to a lab to check for the bacteria that causes chlamydia. Your provider may do the test in an office, or they may ask you to do an at-home chlamydia test. Follow your providers instructions carefully to ensure you get accurate test results.
Because most chlamydia cases are asymptomatic, its important to get screened for chlamydia even if you dont notice any signs of infection. The CDC recommends that sexually active cisgender women who are high-risk for chlamydia get screened regularly. Women, more so than men, experience the most severe complications from chlamydia. Transgender men and nonbinary individuals with vaginas should be screened regularly, too, as they can experience the same complications of chlamydia.
Youre considered high-risk if you:
- Are under 25.
- Have had chlamydia infections previously.
Cisgender men, or trans and nonbinary individuals with penises, should be screened for chlamydia if:
- They live in a setting where chlamydia spreads frequently, like correctional facilities, adolescent clinics and sexual health clinics.
- They have sex with other men.
Home Remedies For Chlamydia Symptoms
You may still experience painful or uncomfortable symptoms while youre taking chlamydia antibiotics.
Here are some home remedies for reducing your pain and other symptoms while youre waiting for the antibiotics to work:
- pain medications, such as ibuprofen to reduce pain
- cold pack to help limit swelling and inflammation
- goldenseal to reduce inflammation and potentially make symptoms less severe
- echinacea to bolster your immune system against the infection and reduce your symptoms
- turmeric containing an ingredient called curcumin to reduce inflammation and make symptoms less severe
No studies support the effectiveness of these supplements specifically for chlamydia, so take them with caution.
And theres no substitute for antibiotics when treating chlamydia. Only try these remedies if youre already taking antibiotics or if you plan to go to the doctor.
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How Do You Know When Chlamydia Is Gone
The only way to be fully sure that your chlamydia has cleared is to get re-tested following treatment. The infection should be cleared 7 days after you have started your course of antibiotics.
Finishing the entire course of antibiotics is very important or you could be at risk infecting your partner and/or becoming reinfected.
The antibiotics that are used to treat chlamydia are generally very effective. Research shows that doxycycline is practically 100 percent effective in eliminating chlamydia, with slightly lower curation rates for azithromycin.
The most common reasons why chlamydia treatment can fail is not taking the full course of antibiotics, and not abstaining from sex during the recommended time. Its very important to finish your course of antibiotics as prescribed by your doctor, even if youre no longer experiencing symptoms before you finish the medication.
It is equally important that both you and your partner are treated for chlamydia before you have sex again to lower the risk of re-infection, as well as waiting the recommended time period.
How Will I Know If The Chlamydia Has Affected My Fertility
Chlamydia is just one of many factors that can affect your fertility. Most people whove had chlamydia wont become infertile or have an ectopic pregnancy . If youve had chlamydia you wont normally be offered any routine tests to see if youre fertile unless you or a partner are having difficulty getting pregnant. If youre concerned, talk to your doctor or practice nurse.
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How Long Does Chlamydia Take To Show Up
Although chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases , many people have no idea that theyre infected.
Like gonorrhea and HPV, chlamydia can occur without any symptoms, and even if you have symptoms, they may not happen for some time.
This makes it hard to figure out whats going on and when to see a doctor.
To help you stay healthy, in this article, Ill explain how long chlamydia can take to show up, the symptoms to look for, how to get tested, common treatments, and when to see a healthcare provider.
Potential Risks Involved In Untreated Chlamydia
18 Oct 2021
- Medically reviewed by Dr Andrea Pinto Lopez, M.D.
How long can you have chlamydia before it causes damage? In this article we tell you everything you need to know about the potential risks involved in untreated chlamydia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 2.8 million people are infected each year.
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Exact Answer: Up To 7 Days
Chlamydia is a fairly common disease in the category of Sexually Transmitted Infections , and the cause of the disease is a bacterium named Chlamydia Trachomatis. It can be passed through vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse.
However, it is not necessary that chlamydia would only be passed through when there is complete intercourse, it can also be passed if the genitals touch as it is a contagious disease.
Moreover, a person can also get infected with Chlamydia if they come in contact with infected semen, or get it in their eye. It cannot pass through general touches like hugging or shaking hands.
Why Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage
Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterial disease that gets transmitted easily to the private parts and takes only 1 or 3 weeks to show its symptoms. In most cases, the infected person is asymptomatic that means no resemblance of symptoms. As it is a sexually transmitted disease it affects the private parts and if they are left untreated it leads to severe conditions in both men and women.
The disease can spread from genitals to the main reproductive systems including fallopian tubes, uterus causing swelling. When the infection is severe it leads to Cervicitis, Urethritis, and Proctitis. These conditions are common in both men and women.
There are even other certain consequences when chlamydia is left untreated which include Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Tubal factor infertility, Ectopic pregnancies, and chronic pelvic pain. Sometimes the effect of this disease can result in women not getting pregnant. Though Chlamydia is an STD it gets cured by treating it with antibiotics which are called antibiotic therapy.
Azithromycin, Doxycycline is the most commonly prescribed antibiotics to the infected ones by doctors. In the initial stages of chlamydia one dose of 1g followed by 500mg Azithromycin is prescribed to take once a day for two days. And the Doxycycline is directed to take every day for a week. To get cured it takes only one week by following directions of the doctors and avoiding sex for that period.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia
Chlamydia doesn’t usually cause any symptoms. So you may not realize that you have it. People with chlamydia who have no symptoms can still pass the disease to others. If you do have symptoms, they may not appear until several weeks after you have sex with an infected partner.
Symptoms in women include:
If the infection spreads, you might get lower abdominal pain, pain during sex, nausea, or fever.
Symptoms in men include:
- A burning sensation when urinating
- Burning or itching around the opening of your penis
- Pain and swelling in one or both testicles
If the chlamydia infects the rectum , it can cause rectal pain, discharge, and/or bleeding.
How Long Does It Take Before Chlamydia Becomes Contagious
After the incubation period ends, the bacteria is usually ready to get transmitted, but it can also be transmitted immediately after a person gets infected. The longer the bacteria remain in the system, the more it will manifest, and it will be much easier for it to be transmitted. So, the moment the incubation period is complete, chlamydia often becomes contagious.
But, if an individual seeks treatment and takes the proper antibiotics, like doxycycline, the infection wont be a problem anymore. To be precise, seven days after the treatment has started, the bacteria will be managed, and the infection will no longer be contagious.
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