Chlamydia is a staggeringly common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, among the most common of all the STDs.
Despite it being a bacterial infection and not a viral infection, chlamydia has its dangers, notably that in at least fifty percent of all men infected, there are no noticeable symptoms (the figure is even higher among women, somewhere around 75 percent). Therefore the infection can become a problem before a man even knows he has it.
While it's hard to know for sure if you have chlamydia, there are some symptoms. However, keep in mind that recognizing possible symptoms is not the same as being diagnosed by a medical health care professional. Diagnosis typically can be made by way of a taking a swab from a man's urethra, or there is also a less accurate urine test that can be used.
The primary symptoms of chlamydia in men are as follows:
Because chlamydia is a bacterial infection, it is most commonly treated by antibiotics, which typically result in a cure when taking correctly. A regimen usually takes a week or so to be resolved with antibiotics although it is recommended that before a man resume sexual relations with anyone he get himself re--tested following treatment to make sure he has been cleared of the infection.
If chlamydia goes untreated in men, they face a couple of significant health dangers.
For instance, chlamydia can lead to nongonococcal urethritis (NGU). This is a condition that affects the urethra, or the tube that carries urine from the bladder.
It can also cause an infection of the tube that takes sperm out of the testicles, the epididymis, known as epididymitis
And finally, men can experience proctitis, which is an inflammation of the rectum.
For sexually active men, the best protection against chlamydia is the use of condoms. Furthermore, men who are sexually active should take it upon themselves to be checked frequently for the presence of any sexually transmitted disease so that they can begin treatment as soon as possible and so they do not infect others.
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