Do You Know if You Have an Std
Medically reviewed by Rosanna Sutherby, PharmD on March 27, 2020. Written by Jordana White. To give you technically accurate, evidence-based information, content published on the Everlywell weblog is reviewed by credentialed professionals with expertise in medical and bioscience fields.
Read more: What are the first signs of an STD? | Do I have a female person STD? | What are the odds of getting an STD? | Do STDs go abroad by themselves?
If yous're a sexually active adult female, it's important to be aware of sexually transmitted diseases or STDs (also known as sexually transmitted infections or STIs). It's fundamental to use protection every time you take sex with a new partner (with you or your partner wearing a condom, for example), or with whatever sex partner who hasn't been tested for sexually transmitted infections. Completing an STD screening subsequently each new sexual partner is a good thought if you want to ensure that you lot exercise not have an untreated STD.
Of course, it's also important to learn about the different types of STDs that men and women tin become and how to know if you accept an STD.
Wondering how to get tested for STDs easily? The Everlywell at-home STD testing option can tell you lot whether you have chlamydia or other mutual STDs without having to go to a dispensary for an in-person STD screening.
Here, we'll walk y'all through the symptoms of STIs like chlamydia and gonorrhea. We'll also give you lot suggestions on what to practise if yous call up you have an STD, but recall: information technology'south e'er a good idea to seek the communication of your healthcare provider equally presently as possible.
How to know if I have an STD: the first signs
Even if you have a sexually transmitted infection, you may not display whatsoever symptoms. In fact, upward to 70% of women and 90% of men with chlamydia never develop symptoms. As a result, you can easily contract an STD without realizing it. For this reason, it's important to know how women become chlamydia (and other STDs) in the first identify. Taking the Everlywell at-home STD Test for women can help y'all make up one's mind if you accept chlamydia or other common STDs.
That being said, many people with STDs develop symptoms. These symptoms tend to fall into one or more of these categories:
- Physical pain
- Belch
- Bumps and genital warts
- Other body ailments
Every infection comes with different symptoms, and every person will experience these infections in a unique way.
Do I have a female person STD?
How do you lot know if y'all have an STD? Yous may take an STD if you lot're experiencing the symptoms described beneath—but keep in mind that testing is the merely way to know for sure.
Physical pain
If you have a symptomatic chlamydia infection, you may experience painful urination, too as pain in your lower abdomen. Sexual intercourse might as well be painful.
The same is truthful for gonorrhea. Women with gonorrhea may experience painful urination and painful bowel movements. With Hepatitis A, B, and C, you could too develop abdominal, musculus, and joint pain.
STDs tin also result in visible signs and symptoms. For women, one of those telltale STD symptoms is changes in your vaginal belch.
Discharge
Throughout your monthly wheel, yous will encounter natural, salubrious changes in the discharge from your vagina. It may be clear and thin, or thicker and more noticeable, depending on when you ovulate. All of these variations are completely normal.
If your discharge is thick and white, however, this could indicate a health problem, such as a yeast infection. But if your discharge is yellowish or green or if it smells bad and has a frothy advent, y'all could be dealing with i of three STDs: trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, or chlamydia. All of these infections cause changes in your vagina's microflora, which can impact vaginal discharges.
Microflora are the helpful bacteria that naturally reside in your vagina. When healthy, they tin assistance fight off infections. But they aren't invincible, and when they undergo changes due to infections, your discharge may be noticeably different.
If your belch is abnormal, consider taking an at-domicile STD examination to screen for common STDs.
Bumps and genital warts
The appearance of bumps on the lips, or labia, of your vagina can betoken a sexually transmitted infection. If you have contracted the herpes simplex virus and now have genital canker, you lot may develop clusters of ruby bumps effectually your vagina. Without treatment, they tin can turn into blisters that tin can rupture or leak blood or fluid, which can make urination painful.
Another STD that causes new bumps to appear on your body is syphilis. One of the start symptoms of syphilis is a firm, circular sore in your genital area. Chosen a chancre, it doesn't typically hurt, but it may announced to be open or wet.
If you notice this symptom, talk with your healthcare provider and consider getting tested immediately. Syphilis is highly contagious and, over time, can crusade serious complications such as organ and brain damage if left untreated. You should never ignore these types of sores.
Other ailments
Some STIs won't crusade visible changes in your trunk, but volition cause you to experience "off" or dissimilar. When first infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), you may experience flu-like symptoms, such equally a sore throat, nighttime sweats, or even airsickness and diarrhea. In the secondary stages of syphilis, you may develop a rash on your torso, and you could experience hair loss.
If you contract pubic lice, also known as crabs, you lot'll experience intense itching in your pelvic surface area. You lot may likewise notice eggs or lice in your pubic hair.
All of these could be signs or symptoms of an STD, so talk to your healthcare provider about your concerns. STD testing for men and women, which you can practice from the comfort and privacy of home, is another expert stride to accept.
What are the odds of getting an STD?
Sexually transmitted infections are primarily transmitted through unprotected sex. This could be in the grade of vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and—for some infections—even hand-to-genital contact. For this reason, if you use protection during sexual activity, your odds of getting an STD will be much lower.
Your gamble for STIs volition be even lower if you regularly check your status and test for STDs (along with your sex partner) earlier beginning any new sexual relationship.
But without proper testing and precautions, your chances of getting an STD may be fairly high. In fact, co-ordinate to the CDC, 25% of young women between the ages of xiv and 19 have at least one of the following common infections: HPV, herpes, chlamydia, or trichomoniasis.
Do STDs go away by themselves?
You may be wondering what to do next if you test positive for an STD. Do these infections go away on their ain, or volition yous demand to seek handling? Here'due south the deal: almost all STDs will not clear up without medical intervention. If your STD test returns a positive issue, y'all volition need to follow the advice of your healthcare provider to protect your sexual wellness.
Fortunately, many STDs will clear up with a simple course of oral antibiotics. Bacterial infections such as gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis can all exist cured with antibiotics. Information technology is crucial, however, to complete the unabridged form of medication in order to truly clear up your infection. If you stop taking your medication early, even if your STD symptoms have resolved, the infection could remain in your torso.
Other STIs, like hepatitis C, can be cured with some prescription medications if treated early on. Hepatitis B, on the other mitt, can't be cured. The disease tin only be managed with prescription medication. There is, even so, a Hepatitis B vaccine. Similarly, HPV tin can't exist cured, merely you can go vaccinated for information technology.
Finally, some STIs, such as herpes and HIV, have no cure or protective vaccine. Thankfully, you can manage herpes outbreaks with prescription medication, and antiretroviral drugs can help manage an HIV infection.
Contracting an STD is potentially damaging to your long-term health. If y'all become infected, follow the advice of your healthcare provider. But the best way to protect your health is to avoid getting infected in the outset identify. The best way to not become infected is to practice condom sex and practice preventative STD testing.
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References
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