Gonorrhea symptoms

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases out there, especially among teenagers. Would your body signal there was something wrong if you did have gonorrhea? What are the typical symptoms? And why should you get tested anyway if there is any chance at all that you could have gonorrhea, or another STD?

The Clap and the Drip are nicknames for gonorrhea, and they hint about several symptoms the disease can cause: weird, green or yellow, discharge, and abdominal pain. Now, let's take a look the symptoms someone who has gonorrhea could experience. For women, the symptoms are:

Unusual vaginal discharge. Bleeding in between periods or during and after sexual intercourse. Frequent urination that can also be painful. Lower abdominal pain or discomfort. Genital and anal itching. Pain during sexual intercourse.

That is quite a list, isn't it? Men have similar symptoms, and most notably discharge from the penis. Unfortunately, gonorrhea can also spread to areas of the body outside of the genitals. You can have pinkeye, a sore throat, and joint pain. Inflamed tendons and a rash on the body are also possible.

But, even though there are lots of possible symptoms with gonorrhea, most people who have gonorrhea won't notice any symptoms at all. Where symptoms do exist, they may not attribute them to a possible sexually transmitted disease. Therefore, it is important to go for STD testing regularly if you have any chance of having an STD.

If you have any of the complaints listed, you should see a doctor, not only to treat the symptoms but also for STD tests. Pregnant women and those who are trying to get pregnant should take special care to rule out gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. Like other STDs, gonorrhea can be passed on from mother to baby, with sometimes catastrophic results.