Chlamydia can be easily cured with antibiotics. Your sexual partners need to be treated too. If you don’t treat chlamydia, it can lead to serious problems.
Want to get tested for Chlamydia
What’s the treatment for chlamydia?
Chlamydia is usually easy to get rid of. Your nurse or doctor will get you antibiotics to treat the infection. Sometimes you only have to take one dose of medication. Another chlamydia treatment lasts for 7 days. Your doctor will help you figure out which treatment is best for you.
If you’re treated for chlamydia, it’s really important for your sexual partners to get treated also. Otherwise, you can keep passing the infection back and forth, or to other people. Sometimes your doctor will give you medicine for both you and your partner
What do I need to know if I get treated for chlamydia?
If you’re getting treated for chlamydia:
Take all of your medicine the way your doctor tells you to, even if the symptoms go away sooner. The infection stays in your body until you finish the antibiotics.
Your partner(s) should also get treated for chlamydia so you don’t re-infect each other or anyone else.
Don’t have sex for 7 days. If you only have 1 dose of medication, wait for 7 days after you take it before having sex. If you’re taking medicine for 7 days, don’t have sex until you’ve finished all of your pills.
Get tested again in 3-4 months to make sure your infection is gone.
Don’t share your medicine with anyone. Your doctor may give you a separate dose of antibiotics for your partner. Make sure you both take all of the medicine you get.
Even if you finish your treatment and the chlamydia is totally gone, it’s possible to get a new chlamydia infection again if you’re exposed in the future. Chlamydia isn’t a one-time-only deal. So use condoms and get tested regularly.
What happens if you don’t get treated for chlamydia?
Even though chlamydia is common and doesn’t always cause any symptoms, it can become a big deal if it’s not caught and treated early.
Chlamydia can spread to your uterus and fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID might not have any symptoms at first, but there can be permanent damage that leads to pain, infertility, or ectopic pregnancy. Getting tested for chlamydia really reduces your chances of getting PID.
If you have a penis, a chlamydia infection can spread to your epididymis (a tube that carries sperm from your testicles), and can cause chronic joint pain. Rarely, it can make you infertile.
Having chlamydia may increase your chances of getting or spreading HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
If you have chlamydia during your pregnancy and don’t treat it, you can pass it to your baby when you’re giving birth. Chlamydia can cause eye infections and pneumonia in newborns, and it also increases the risk of delivering your baby too early. Testing and treatment for chlamydia is quick, easy, and the best way to avoid all these problems.
