Chlamydia is the most commonly transmitted type of sexual infection. If you have not been careful about your sexual health, then this is one type of disease that you should be worrying about. In order to protect your sexual wellness and wellbeing, you should ensure that you always use protection when having intercourse with a new partner. If you have any concerns about your sexual health, the first and most important thing is to seek help from a medical professional.
Chlamydia itself is a bacterial infection that is usually spread through unprotected sex – either vaginal or oral. Not everybody who has chlamydia gets symptoms, so you should get checked out even if you are not suffering from any unusual symptoms.
Signs of chlamydia to look out for if you are a man include a white, watery or cloudy discharge from the penis, pain when you are passing urine and a painful swelling of the testicles. If you are a woman, the symptoms can include pain or bleeding during sexual intercourse, bleeding after sex, pain when you are passing urine, any unusual discharge from the vagina or bleeding in between your periods or suffering from heavier periods than is usual for you.
After having unprotected sex with someone suffering from chlamydia, symptoms will take around two or three weeks to appear (although bear in mind that around a quarter of those affected will not get any symptoms at all). The only way to be sure about chlamydia is to have a test.
Your local genitourinary medicine clinic (GUM) or doctor’s surgery can give you a free STI test, and it will all be done in complete confidence.
People aged under 25 can also get tested for chlamydia as part of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (in England). Ask about it at your local clinic or doctor’s surgery.
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