What Problems Can Happen
If it’s not treated, chlamydia can lead to:
- in girls: pelvic inflammatory disease , which can damage the reproductive system, making it hard or impossible for a woman to get pregnant later on
- in guys: swelling in the testicles and tubes at the back of the testicles, possibly preventing a man from fathering kids later on
- joint problems
What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Vaginal Discharge
Vaginal discharge may range in color from clear to gray, yellow, greenish, or milky-white and may have an unpleasant smell. The symptoms and character of vaginal discharge depend upon the specific condition that is the cause of the discharge.
Why Does Reoccurrence Happen
There are a few reasons why you might contract chlamydia a second time:
- The initial infection wasnt cured because the course of antibiotics wasnt completed as directed.
- A sexual partner transmitted chlamydia to you.
- You used a sex toy that was contaminated with chlamydia.
A 2014 study suggests that chlamydia can live in the gastrointestinal tract and reinfect the genitals, causing chlamydia symptoms to reappear after the genital infection went away.
However, this study only looked at animal models of chlamydia. Research on human participants is needed.
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Can Gonorrhea Come Back By Itself
If you followed your antibiotic treatment correctly, gonorrhea shouldnt come back by itself. But if you didnt finish your treatment, you may not have eliminated the bacteria completely, which can cause the symptoms to come back. According to the CDC, there are also reports of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea which can be harder to eliminate with standard antibiotics.
How To Treat Gonorrhea And Chlamydia At Home: Get Tested

Taking antibiotics is the only way to treat gonorrhea and chlamydia, and these antibiotics must be prescribed by a physician. This means you cannot treat these STDs at home. But there is something you can do at home: get tested. The results of this at-home test will determine whether or not you need to contact a medical professional to discuss treatment options.
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How Accurate Are At
Lab-based tests provide standard, high-quality results, as long as the sample was well-collected. Most at-home tests are also processed at certified laboratories. So, as long as your sample was collected and preserved correctly until it was processed and then analysed at a CLIA-certified laboratory, your test results should be comparable to what you would receive otherwise.
What Happens If You Have Chlamydia For 4 Months
People who have chlamydia for long periods without treatment risk becoming infertile or developing arthritis. For women, chlamydia can spread into the uterus and fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to ectopic pregnancies, chronic pelvic pain and infertility.
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Preventing Chlamydia And Recurrences
How Can You Protect Yourself From Getting Chlamydia
The only method that is 100% effective in preventing STDs is abstinence, but if youre sexually active, the best way to avoid chlamydia is to be mutually monogamous with someone who has testednegative for chlamydia. Condoms give good protection against chlamydia during vaginal sex and during oral sex on a male. Its important for both partners to get tested because its easy to get re-infected if one partner still has it. If you test positive for chlamydia, get tested again three months later to make sure you dont have it again. If youre sexually active and under 25, you should get tested for chlamydia every year better safe than sorry.
For protection against chlamydia during oral sex on a female, you can use a dental dam as a barrier between the mouth and vulva. A dental dam is a thin square of latex that is placed over a womans vulva before her partner performs oral sex on her and acts as a barrier between the vulva and the mouth. They are sold in some stores, but you can make your own dental dam using a latex glove or a male condom. For protection against Chlamydia during any type of anal sex , you can use a female condom.
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What Are The Potential Causes Of Chlamydia
Chlamydia gets spread due to sexual contact and it is overly infectious. The name of the infection is suggested after the bacterium that acts like major cause for its production, it is Chlamydia trachomatis.
The strange fact is that, most of the males or females that have these bacteria in their body, does not report any specific symptom and it never let them know if they are affected with the disease Chlamydia. This virus usually gets transmitted via oral, anal or vaginal sex.
It is also possible to find Chlamydia symptoms in newborn child as they get transmitted from a Chlamydia positive mother. Reports say that almost 2/3rd newborn babies get infected with Chlamydia from infected mothers.
The most common problems faced by newborns due to Chlamydia infection appears in form of eye issues, respiratory troubles etc. whereas in adults, this diseases causes problems like genital infections.
How Common Is Chlamydia
Chlamydia is among the most common STDs in the world. In the U.S. alone, over 1.5 million infections are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each year.
In Europe, chlamydia infection is the leading STD. Its the cause of acute morbidity and long-term reproductive health problems, especially in young people. The number of affected people in Europe is constantly increasing, and there are now more than 250,000 new cases each year.
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Can You Get The Same Std Twice
It depends. Some STDs are viral infections that you can only get once. According to the World Health Organization, these include:
- Hepatitis B
- Herpes
- HIV
You can only get each HPV strain once, but since there are multiple HPV strains that affect human beings, you could end up getting HPV multiple times.
You can get bacterial and parasitic STDs multiple times, even if youve already been treated for them in the past. These STDs include:
- Gonorrhea
How Do I Know If I Have Chlamydia

Most people who have chlamydia have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they may not appear until several weeks after you have sex with an infected partner. Even when chlamydia causes no symptoms, it can damage your reproductive system.
Women with symptoms may notice
- An abnormal vaginal discharge
- A burning sensation when urinating.
Symptoms in men can include
- A discharge from their penis
- A burning sensation when urinating
- Pain and swelling in one or both testicles .
Men and women can also get infected with chlamydia in their rectum. This happens either by having receptive anal sex, or by spread from another infected site . While these infections often cause no symptoms, they can cause
- Rectal pain
- Discharge
- Bleeding.
You should be examined by your doctor if you notice any of these symptoms or if your partner has an STD or symptoms of an STD. STD symptoms can include an unusual sore, a smelly discharge, burning when urinating, or bleeding between periods.
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Chlamydia Can Live In Your Gut And Reinfect You After Youre Cured
Doctors have known that chlamydia can reappear, but until now theyve been stumped as to how exactly it happens
Chlamydia is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. Thankfully, its also curable. But new research suggests that for some people, curing chlamydia doesnt prevent reinfection, even if theyre not exposed to it again. Apparently the disease can live inside your gut, and reinfect you out of the blue.
Apparently doctors have known that chlamydia can reappear in cured patients for about 80 years, but theyve been stumped as to how exactly it happens. This study points out that, in many animals, chlamydia has been found to live in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, if gastrointestinal infection occurs in most hosts, the authors write, then it is very likely that gastrointestinal infection occurs in humans as well.
The study in question doesnt actually test this theory on any human beings. Instead it looks at data in animal models about reinfection, and the failure of certain drugs to treat chlamydia when it lives in the gut. From there, they propose that women who are infected with chlamydia could see the same kind of issues: the drugs theyre given might cure the disease genitally, but not gastrointestinally, leaving the bug to live inside waiting for the right time to strike.
How Long Does It Take For Chlamydia To Show Up On A Test
How long it takes for the results to show up depends on the test performed and on your specific health as an individual. Urine tests take about 2 to 5 days to show a positive or negative result, positive meaning it was found and negative meaning it wasnt. If the blood is analyzed on site, blood tests can come back with results in a few minutes. However, if sent off to a lab, they can take a week or more. To show a positive or negative, swab results take about 2 to 3 days.
Your doctor will likely prescribe one of the following to help treat the infection:
- Azithromycin This antibiotic is usually taken in one big dose and is also referred to as Z-Pal.
- Doxycycline This antibiotic is usually taken twice a day for a week.
- Erythromycin This antibiotic is normally taken frice a day for a week.
- Levofloxacin This antibiotic is taken once a day for a week.
- Ofloxacin This antibiotic is given in doses that are taken twice daily for a week.
If you or someone you know needs to be tested for chlamydia, come to Express Healthcare today! Our kind and compassionate health care professionals are experienced in testing for chlamydia and other STIs and provide confidential, discreet results, so you can feel comfortable knowing that your test results are private. Contact our office today to talk with a member of our specialist team. Go online or simply give us a to book an appointment with us today!
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Can Having Chlamydia For A Year Cause Infertility
Chlamydia can also cause fallopian tube infection without any symptoms. PID and silent infection in the upper genital tract may cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, which can lead to infertility. Most women infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea have no symptoms.
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What Happens If You Dont Seek Treatment
If you take your antibiotics as directed, chlamydia is likely to go away. But if its left untreated, it can cause a few complications.
For example, if you have a vulva, you could develop pelvic inflammatory disease . PID is a painful infection that could damage your uterus, cervix, and ovaries.
Untreated chlamydia can also lead to scarred fallopian tubes, which can cause infertility.
If youre pregnant, untreated chlamydia can be transmitted to the baby during vaginal delivery. Chlamydia can cause eye infections and pneumonia in newborns.
Untreated chlamydia can lead to epididymitis, which is when the epididymis becomes inflamed, causing pain.
Chlamydia can also spread to the prostate gland, which can lead to painful sex, lower back pain, and a fever.
Fortunately, treatment for chlamydia is relatively straightforward. And if its treated quickly, youre unlikely to experience any long-term complications.
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How Do You Get An Sti Test
You can get an STI test by making an appointment online at any Planned Parenthood location. All of our locations offer STI testing, whether or not you have symptoms.
We offer free STI testing for those who are eligible, as some restrictions may apply. If youre interested in free STI testing, please make an appointment online today or give us a call at 314-531-7526 or 417-883-3800 for more information.
Donna White is a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.
You Can Get Chlamydia More Than Once
With some diseases, having one infection makes you immune to future infections. That’s not the case with chlamydia. If you engage in sexual activity with a person who has a chlamydia infection, you can get it again, even if you’ve just completed treatment for it.
“Both partners should be treated before reinitiating sexual intercourse to prevent relapse,” Schaffir says.
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What If My Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Test Result Is Not Normal
Test results are only one part of a larger picture that takes into account your medical history and current health. Sometimes a GC Chlamydia STD test needs to be repeated to check the first result. Talk to your health care provider about your result and ask questions.
If your test result is positive, ask your health care provider:
- If you need additional tests
- Any questions you have about your treatment
- When you need to be tested again
- When it is safe to have sex again
- How to protect yourself against reinfection
If you have a positive urine chlamydia and gonorrhea lab test result, you should tell your sexual partner. Follow your health care providers advice about when it is safe to start having sex again. Use latex or polyurethane condoms every time you have sex to prevent another infection.
Questions regarding online blood testing or how to order a lab test? Speak with One of Our Representatives: 1-877-283-7882 |
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How Soon Can You Retest After Chlamydia Treatment

igmg87 over a year ago
I was diagnosed with Chlamydia a week ago, I had not had sex with anyone for over a month prior to that. Doctor prescribed me Azithromycin 500mg 2 tablets as a one time dose. My doctor told me I needed to retest after 3 months to make sure that I didnt have it or have been reinfected. Im very paranoid because Ive never had an std, & I dont want to have sex with anyone unless I test first & its negative. Can I retest a week after I finish the antibiotic treatment or will it still show positive? I dont want to get back with my ex boyfriend unless both of our results are negative. I still plan on retesting in 3 months
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Biomajor10over a year ago
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Making The Diagnosis For Chlamydia
Once you go to visit the doctor, he will use cotton swab to collect Chlamydia bacteria samples from different parts of your body like urethra, rectum or cervix. The diagnosis may also demand 1st urine sample from first urination of the day.
All the samples are processed in a lab setup and careful reports are compiled. Here is one important thing to know that in case if you find your reports Chlamydia positive then never forget to let your partner know about this disease and get them tested too. There are more chances that the bacteria might have taken its path to your partners body via last intercourse.