Chlamydia Discharge In Men And Women
Last updated on May 30th, 2019 at 04:14 am
Chlamydia discharge in men and women is due to chlamydia trachomatis infection.
Are you having an unusual vaginal discharge after unprotected intercourse? Do you have watery or cloudy discharge from your urethra? Do you feel pain or burning sensation while urinating?
Chlamydia infection, which affects millions of people worldwide can affect the vagina, mouth, joints and eyes of both men and women. Women may also transmit chlamydia infection to their babies during child birth.
Chlamydia symptoms and signs are absent in more than 50 percent of infected men and women. Therefore, if you’ve had intercourse without protection, you may have chlamydia without knowing.
Read more: How long can you have chlamydia without knowing
What are the ways to get chlamydia?
Chlamydia transmission is exclusively through sexual contact.
Ways to get chlamydia are
- Unprotected anal intercourse
- Sharing toys during intercourse
- Unprotected vaginal intercourse
- Oral sexual contact with chlamydia throat infections
- Contact with infected body fluid
- Transmission through use of contaminated towel
What does normal vaginal discharge in women look like?
Vaginal discharge in women may have different colors and may be watery or thick during your menstrual cycle. It is usually white and consist of epithelial cells, bacteria including lactobacillus, fungi and cervical mucus.
Women discharge is the body’s natural way of protecting against infection. Vaginal pH is between 3.5 and 4.5 and this acidity is vital to prevent growth of bad bacteria and fungi.
Several types of discharge a woman could have are
- Thick white discharge
- Milky white discharge
- Creamy white discharge
- Watery discharge
- Clear mucus discharge
- Dark brown discharge
Vaginal discharge may be thick at both ends of your menstrual cycle or watery due to ovulation. It does not smell or cause vaginal itching.
Yellow mucus discharge and green mucus discharge in women are most likely due to an infection.
What does chlamydia discharge look like?
Chlamydia discharge in women can be whitish, yellowish, pus-like or sometimes greenish. Other symptoms are
- Vaginal itching
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- Vulva pain
- Painful urination
If you’ve had unprotected sexual intercourse weeks and months ago and now have painful urination and pus-like discharge, then it may be due to chlamydia infection.
However, other sexually transmitted infections may present with similar symptoms.
What other symptoms of chlamydia could i have?
- Fever
- Low abdomen pain
- Difficulty conceiving
- Bleeding between period
- Bleeding after intercourse
- Contact bleeding during pelvic examination by your doctor
- Joint pain
- Red eyes
What are the long term effects of chlamydia in women?
- Miscarriages
- Premature delivery with low birth weight babies
- Ascending chlamydia infection resulting to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Infertility
- Increased chance of contacting other STDs like gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV.
Read More: Chlamydia long term effects
What does chlamydia discharge look like in men
If you’ve had intercourse with chlamydia infection, you may have penile discharge. Penile discharge due to chlamydia infection is watery, cloudy discharge and purulent.
Other male symptoms of chlamydia are
- Painful discomfort or burning sensation while urinating
- Painful swollen testicle due to inflammation
- Red eyes due to hand to eye transmission
- Fever
- Discomfort during intercourse
- Blindness
How can chlamydia discharge be diagnosed and treated?
If you have any of these symptoms, then its may be due to chlamydia. You can get a chlamydia test kit to confirm if you have chlamydia or not. If positive, you should inform your doctor ASAP.
Do you have yellow purulent discharge? Discharge from the urethra or vagina is collected with a swab for culture. Chlamydia culture last for 3 – 7 days.
If positive, chlamydia treatment involves use of antibiotics — Doxycycline, azithromycin or amoxicillin.
Other sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, will also be tested.
Can chlamydia infection be Prevented?
Because chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection, you can prevent it by abstaining from intercourse. Other ways you can prevent chlamydia spread are
- Use of condoms during intercourse
- Avoid unprotected oral and anal intercourse
- Advice and counsel partners about chlamydia side effects and why they must test for chlamydia. This is because you can get re-infected, if your partner is not treated for chlamydia.
- Retest for chlamydia after change of partners
- Avoid sexual intercourse while on chlamydia treatment
- Recheck in 5 weeks to ensure chlamydia cure
- Yearly routine check for chlamydia and other STDs, if you are sexually active.
Frequently asked questions about chlamydia discharge
These are some questions that may concern you.
What is chlamydia discharge color?
Chlamydia discharge color is whitish, pus-like, yellowish or milky white. Some women may have green discharge.
Urgent treatment is necessary to prevent chlamydia complications
Does chlamydia have a fishy odor?
Fishy vaginal odor or discharge is likely due to bacteria vaginosis infection (BV). BV infection of the vagina occurs due to destruction of good bacteria, lactobacillus, which keeps the vagina acidic.
Women with BV complain of fishy smelly discharge with little or no signs of inflammation.
However, chlamydia discharge in women may have an offensive smell with yellow or whitish discharge.
Now its your turn. Do you have chlamydia discharge after an unprotected sexual intercourse? Any other symptoms? let us know if we can help.