3 Ways to Treat Chlamydia

1. Get Screened Regularly

If you contract chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted disease (STD), it often takes 1 to 3 weeks before you experience any symptoms if you experience them at all. These symptoms usually include painful urination, unusual discharge from the penis or vagina, pain in the lower abdomen and/or testicles and pain during intercourse. Because many of these symptoms are often mild, they can be easily overlooked or attributed to other causes. Consequently, you should be regularly screened for chlamydia if you are in an at-risk group, which includes people with multiple sexual partners and anyone who doesn't practice safe sex or has another sexually transmitted disease. You also should undergo screening if you learn a past or current sexual partner has received an STD diagnosis.

2. Clear Up the Infection With Antibiotics

Antibiotics like azithromycin (sold under the brand name Zithromax), doxycycline or erythromycin, are typically prescribed to treat chlamydia. These medications are taken in one dose or a series of doses over 5 to 10 days. You must complete the full course of antibiotics to eradicate the infection even if your symptoms go away. Abstain from sexual relations until your infection has been completely treated. It usually only takes 1 to 3 weeks for the infection to clear. If a chlamydia infection is left untreated, it may require hospitalization and more intense treatment with intravenous antibiotics.

3. Get Your Partner Tested

Ask your current partner to tested and treated for chlamydia or she could transmit the infection back to you. Even if your partner has no apparent symptoms, you could still be reinfected. When left untreated, chlamydia can cause numerous complications, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women, infertility and epididymitis and prostatitis in men. Inform your past sexual partners of your diagnosis so that they can be tested and treated for the disease. It's possible that they have been asymptomatic without realizing that they have an infection. Notifying your past partners of their potential exposure to chlamydia can prevent them from unwittingly spreading the STD to others.