Not worried about Gonorrhea?
Or maybe you are, but you’re not sure if you have it or not?
The first step in dismissing worries about any disease is knowing the facts about how you can get it and what the symptoms are.
Gonorrhea is passed from person to person by sexual contact, including vaginal, oral, or anal sex. Symptoms can include pain when using the bathroom or a discharge from the penis or vagina.
Gonorrhea is the second most common bacterial STD (chlamydia is the first). Most people who are infected with gonorrhea can’t tell they have it because they don’t have symptoms. However, even without symptoms an infected person can pass on this disease to every person they have sex with.
So that means that having sex with someone who doesn’t have any symptoms isn’t enough to keep you from getting gonorrhea. Even if your partner says that they don’t have gonorrhea, they may have it and just not know it. Getting tested is the only way to know for sure.
This can be treated with antibiotics. However, if you don’t know you have it you won’t be going to the doctor. If left untreated it can lead to PID (pelvic inflammatory disease). PID is a serious issue, as it can cause abdominal pain, and also lead to future problems related to pregnancy and infertility. If you have untreated gonorrhea and have an in-clinic (surgical) abortion, it is possible that the infection could be moved to the upper reproductive tract causing PID.
If you’ve had sex with someone new, get checked out. At North Care Women’s Clinic we offer testing and treatment for gonorrhea.
Know the facts about the risks and complications of gonorrhea. Questions? Call us at 215.855.2424 and schedule a confidential appointment, our nurses would be happy to get you the answers you need.
Sources:
The Medical Institute for Sexual Health
Stevenson, M. M., and K. W. Radcliffe. “Preventing pelvic infection after abortion.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine Web site. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8547409?dopt=AbstractPlus. Accessed August 4, 2013.
