Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that initially affects the reproductive organs in men and women, but can also infect the anus (rectal gonococcus) or mouth (gonococcal pharyngitis); a person may have gonorrhea, but not experience any ailments. However, recognizing the symptoms remains the best way to arrive at a diagnosis; the most common ones are painful urination, secretions from the genitals and inflammation. Symptoms can appear within 2-5 days of infection or even after 30 days. If you are a healthy carrier of the disease, you should periodically undergo screening tests at your doctor's office, especially if you are sexually active.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Knowing the Risk Factors
Step 1. Keep in mind that gonorrhea affects men and women alike
50% of women generally do not manifest any symptoms; otherwise, 9 out of 10 men have disorders related to the disease. Painful urination, discharge from the genitals and general pain in the abdominal / pelvic area are the most noticeable affecting both sexes.
Step 2. Learn how the infection spreads
You can get sick through vaginal, anal or even oral intercourse with an infected person; it is essential that there is direct contact. A pregnant woman who has gonorrhea can also pass the disease on to her newborn during childbirth.
Take precautionary measures to avoid contagion. You can prevent gonorrhea by using condoms, dental dams, or by limiting the number of sexual partners
Step 3. Know the consequences if you don't treat the infection
This pathology can have numerous complications. In women, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which develops when the infection reaches the uterus and fallopian tubes. If left untreated, this complication can lead to chronic pelvic pain and tubal pregnancies; it can also damage reproductive organs and make pregnancy more difficult. Women with gonorrhea are also more susceptible to HIV. In men, this infection causes permanent pain when urinating.
Step 4. See your doctor
Gonorrhea cannot be cured with home remedies; if you are sexually active or worry that you have contracted the infection, you should see your doctor immediately.
Part 2 of 3: Look for the Symptoms
Step 1. Be careful if you experience a burning sensation while urinating
Pain / burning when urinating is the most common symptom of gonorrhea in both men and women. This sensation may go away on its own, but in men it is often painful enough to get them to go to the doctor.
Step 2. Check for any unusual secretions
In both sexes, the infection causes dense, yellowish / greyish-looking genital discharge that is produced by the bacteria themselves; in women they can also be accompanied by bleeding between two menstrual flows; it is essentially the way the body tries to expel foreign pathogens.
If you have unusual vaginal discharge, do not hesitate to visit the gynecologist
Step 3. Check for pain in the pelvis and lower abdomen
In this case, you may be suffering from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) - a typical symptom of gonorrhea in women. If you have PID, you probably also have a fever of 38 ° C or higher. In the United States alone, 750,000 cases of PID are diagnosed each year, 10% of which causes infertility.
Step 4. Check for pain or swelling in the genitals
For both sexes, gonorrhea can cause general inflammation of the genitals.
- Women may experience swelling, redness, or tenderness in the vulva (the opening of the vagina).
- In men, the testicles can swell and the prostate can become inflamed.
Step 5. Pay attention if you feel pain when you evacuate
Women and men who engage in anal sex and who have contracted the infection may have rectal discharge and pain when passing stool; in addition, they may have frequent and persistent diarrhea. If you have these symptoms, you need to go to the doctor right away.
Step 6. See if you have difficulty swallowing
Gonococcal pharyngitis causes a sore throat, discomfort when ingesting food, general redness, and white / yellow discharge. Symptoms are similar for both sexes; People with this type of infection rarely spread the disease to others, but it is possible to spread it through direct contact with the back of the mouth. Kissing does not usually cause the spread of the disease which can instead be transmitted through contact between the pharynx and certain parts of the body or objects.
Most people who have contracted this type of gonorrhea often confuse it with strep throat or the common cold and only after a medical examination do they find that they have oral gonorrhea
Part 3 of 3: Get a Doctor Visit
Step 1. Get tested at the doctor's office
If you are a woman and you have reasons that lead you to think that you are at risk for gonorrhea, see a gynecologist. Many women who have contracted the infection have no complaints or complain of non-specific symptoms, which could be mistaken for those of another disease.
Gonorrhea requires medical attention. If you neglect it, other serious health problems could arise, including chronic pain and infertility for both genders. Eventually, if left untreated, the infection spreads to the bloodstream, joints and can become fatal
Step 2. Make the necessary investigations
Doctors take a urine sample or swab the throat, cervix, vagina, rectum, or urethra - depending on where the infection is suspected. There are several tests that you can undergo, but all are aimed at looking for the presence of the Neisser gonococcus bacterium.
If you have to do a urinalysis, make sure you do not pee for at least two hours before taking the sample; you must prevent the bacterium from escaping from the body before undergoing the test. Most exams take a couple of days to complete
Step 3. Talk to your doctor about possible complications
In some cases, gonorrhea can have long-term effects. Women can suffer from cervicitis, tubo-ovarian abscesses or even ectopic (extrauterine) pregnancies. Men may experience continuous pain along the epididymis (the duct that connects the testicles to the vas deferens) for up to six weeks after the infection begins.
Step 4. Take the medications
The traditional treatment for gonorrhea consists of an injection of 250 mg of ceftriaxone in combination with 1 g of azithromycin to be taken orally. If ceftriazone is not available, alternatively a single dose of 400 mg of cefixime to always be taken with 1 g of azithromycin is fine.
- As many strains of the bacterium have become resistant to these drugs, additional antibiotics may be needed to eradicate the infection.
- After four weeks of treatment, you will likely undergo further tests to see if the treatment has been effective or if other types of drugs need to be used to fight the disease. You will also need to perform other tests every time you change sexual partners.
Step 5. Wait at least seven days after completing the treatment before having sex
You must make sure that you have completely eliminated the bacteria from the body, to avoid possible contagions.
