If you have an untreated STI it can cause a range of mild to severe health complications and also create other health conditions. For example, some STIs can damage men and women's reproductive systems. Men could get painful swollen testes (testicles) and women could get pelvic inflammatory disease.
Increased risk of organ damage, disease, and cancer
Untreated STDs can grow unchecked for years in your body and cause potentially serious or deadly diseases to develop. For example, someone with HPV can get cervical or anal cancer, while syphilis can cause blindness, dementia, and heart or kidney damage.
Several of the more than 20 types of STDs can lie dormant for months, years, or even decades. Dormant STDs and STIs highlight the importance of sexual health testing, as only a test can determine if an asymptomatic infection is present.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as they are also referred to, often have no symptoms. However, if left untreated there can be serious consequences including blindness and other neurologic manifestations, infertility, mother-to-child transmission or birth defects.
It depends on which sexually transmitted infection (STI) you have. Symptoms can develop within a few days or weeks, but sometimes they do not appear until months or even years later. Often there are few or no symptoms and you may not know you have an STI.
What is late-stage chlamydia? Late-stage chlamydia refers to an infection that has spread to other parts of the body. For example, it may have spread to the cervix (cervicitis), testicular tubes (epididymitis), eyes (conjunctivitis), or throat (pharyngitis), causing inflammation and pain.
You're having unprotected sex.
Here's how long after exposure we can get a reliable test result: 2 weeks: gonorrhea and chlamydia (and a pregnancy test too!) 1 week to 3 months: syphilis. 6 weeks to 3 months: HIV, hepatitis C and B.
Incurable STDs. Currently, there are 4 sexually transmitted infections (STIs or STDs) that are not curable: herpes (HSV), hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and human papillomavirus (HPV).
There's no way to tell by looking if a person has an STD — even people who have STDs sometimes don't know it. If you have had sex before, you and your boyfriend can get tested together at a local health clinic like Planned Parenthood.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that can cause serious health problems without treatment. Infection develops in stages (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary). Each stage can have different signs and symptoms.
How long does it take for an STI to make you infertile? STIs like gonorrhea and chlamydia are often asymptomatic. You may have an infection for a long time, even years, and not know it. There is no definitive time frame for the damage they may cause.
The characteristic rash of secondary syphilis may appear as rough, red, or reddish brown spots both on the palms of the hands and the bottoms of the feet. However, rashes with a different appearance may occur on other parts of the body, sometimes resembling rashes caused by other diseases.
Antibiotics, often in a single dose, can cure many sexually transmitted bacterial and parasitic infections, including gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and trichomoniasis. Once you start antibiotic treatment, it's necessary to finish the prescription.
If you have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI), you are not alone. STIs are very common and many are completely curable. Even STIs that are not curable can be treated and the symptoms managed with medicines.
Most STIs go away after treatment. Some may require lifelong management with medications. You can develop the same STI after it goes away if you get infected with it again. People who get an STI diagnosis may feel embarrassed or ashamed.
If you get treatment late, it will still cure the infection and stop future damage to your body. But the damage that late stage syphilis has already caused can't be changed or healed.
STD stands for “sexually transmitted disease,” and STI stands for “sexually transmitted infection.” But no matter which term people use, they're talking about the same thing: infections that get passed from one person to another during sex.
If you recently tested negative for an infection but are still experiencing symptoms, consider getting tested again. STIs can be dangerous to your well-being if left undetected and untreated. When it comes to your sexual health, prioritize testing and visit an urgent care center at your convenience.
Consistent and correct use of latex condoms reduces the risk of sexually transmitted disease (STD) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. However, condom use cannot provide absolute protection against any STD.
Repeat testing may be needed in some cases. All sexually active gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men should be tested: At least once a year for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. Those who have multiple or anonymous partners should be tested more frequently (e.g., every 3 to 6 months).
Most people who have chlamydia don't notice any symptoms.
If you do get symptoms, these usually appear between 1 and 3 weeks after having unprotected sex with an infected person. For some people they don't develop until many months later. Sometimes the symptoms can disappear after a few days.