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Chlamydia FAQs
Chlamydia is the most common STI but it's not trivial. Untreated it can cause infertility.
What is it?
Chlmaydia is the most common STIs in the UK and is passed from person to person through sex. It often has no symptoms, especially in men, so you can easily get it without knowing.
What are the main symptoms?
When symptoms do occur in men it can cause;
- Discharge from the tip of the penis.
- Pain when passing urine.
- Burning and itching in the genital area.
- Infection of the back passage (rectum) may produce a discharge from the anus and inflammation of the rectum (proctitis).
- Symptoms may be very mild or last only a few days.
What causes it?
It is caused by a bacteria called Chlamydia trachomatis. It is most often caught by having sex with someone who is already infected but can also be caught through oral sex.
How do I prevent it?
Wearing a condom is very effective. Because Chlamydia often has no symptoms it is important to have regular check ups. You can get tested at a GUM clinic or your GP centre.
How is it diagnosed?
Getting tested for chlamydia is simple and painless. You can either be tested by a urine test or by swab round the end of the urethra (the hole which you pee out of). It is slightly uncomfortable but completely pain free.
How is it treated?
It is usually treated by one of two antibiotics
- azithromycin (single dose)
- doxycycline (a longer course, usually two capsules a day for a week)
What happens if I don't get treatment?
Left untreated, chlamydial infection can lead to:
- epididymitis, which can compromise fertility
- joint inflammation
- and if you pass chlamydia on to a woman, it greatly increases her risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a potentially serious condition that can cause infertility, pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancy (where a foetus develops outside of the womb).
What's the outlook?
If you get treatment, very good.
We don't currently post comments online but are always keen to hear your feedback.
Date published
08/04/14
Date of last review
08/04/14
Date of next review
07/04/17
References
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The Men’s Health Forum need your support It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking. In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to. It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for. We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing. Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.
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