Oh, chlamydia! It’s a pretty name—like some kind of orchid or maybe a Greek goddess—for a not-so-pretty infection. Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI), with approx 2.86 million infections per year According to the CDC. It is especially common among people under the age of 25, men who have sex, and men who have sex with men who have sex with men.
But fear not yet! The good news is that, unlike viral STIs like herpes and HPV, chlamydia is completely curable with either a single dose or seven days of antibiotics. If you test positive for chlamydia, there are a few different ways you can get treatment. Your health care provider may give you medicine in the office or they may prescribe medicine for you to pick up from a pharmacy. Or your partner can get it for you when they take their own medication. If you get your medicine from a partner (by the way, this is called “expedited partner therapy”), they must also give you information about the medicine and what infection you are treating.
If you are taking the medication as directed (and your partner or partners are also taking their medication), you should come back (here) one week after you and your partner(s) have both finished your medication. It is really important to avoid re-infection to not have sex at all from the first day of treatment until seven days after the last person has taken their medication. The CDC recommends retesting for chlamydia three months after being treated for it.
Now that you know it’s common and treatable, let’s take a look at chlamydia—what it looks like, what it does, and how to prevent it.
How do you get chlamydia?
Chlamydia is spread through vaginal or anal sex (and, less often, oral sex) with someone who has chlamydia. These are bacteria that like to hang out in ejaculate (aka cum), pre-cum, and vaginal fluid. Important note: Because it is found in pre-cum, you can get chlamydia from someone who has sex even if they don’t ejaculate. But you not allowed get it by kissing, hugging, coughing, holding hands, or whatever does not involve genital fluid.
Since chlamydia only lives in genital fluids, condoms are too much effective as protection against this (and as protection in general!). So it’s always a good idea to finish it!
What are the symptoms of chlamydia?
Like so many other STIs, the most common symptoms of chlamydia are…no symptoms. That’s why it’s so important to get checked regularly. The CDC recommends that people with genital warts under the age of 25 get tested for chlamydia at least once per year—and more often if they have other risk factors, such as sex with a partner who has had chlamydia or sex with a partner whose STI status is unknown.
Those over 25 should be tested annually if they have more than one partner, a new partner, a partner with other partners, or a partner who has tested positive for an STI. In fact, it’s generally a good idea to get tested for STIs once a year and any time you have sex with a new partner. Check out our clinic finder to find a place to get tested in person or read how to get tested for STIs, including chlamydia, via telehealth.
If the people who own do have symptoms, these may include abnormal vaginal discharge or a burning sensation when they urinate. For men with penises, the most common symptoms are discharge from the penis and burning when urinating.
And everyone can get chlamydia in their butts. As with genital and penile chlamydia, most people do not have any anal symptoms. But if they do, they can include pain, discharge, and bleeding.
How does chlamydia affect you long term?
If chlamydia is treated, there are no long-term health effects. But if it goes undiagnosed or untreated—which is likely in people who don’t show symptoms—it can cause serious health problems in people who have it.
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) occurs when an infection such as chlamydia spreads from the vagina up to the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. Symptoms may include lower abdominal pain, foul-smelling genital discharge, unusual bleeding, pain or bleeding during intercourse, pain when urinating, and fever. But it can also be asymptomatic.
If PID is left untreated for too long, it can lead to scarring and abscesses in the reproductive organs. In some cases, it can even lead to infertility and increase the risk of a ectopic pregnancy. This is another reason why regular testing for chlamydia is an important part of a healthy, active sex life.
