Chlamydia

Chlamydia is is a bacterial infection of the genitals, throat, or anus. You can get chlamydia from having unprotected vaginal sex, anal sex, or oral sex. Unprotected sex is when you have sex without a condom, or an oral dam.  
 
Chlamydia can spread from your cervix to your uterus and fallopian tubes. This spread can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) — which can damage and block your fallopian tubes. If both tubes are blocked, you might not be able to get pregnant. People who have had PID are at a higher risk of having an ectopic pregnancy or suffering from long-term pelvic pain.  
 
Chlamydia can also spread from your penis to your testicles — causing painful swelling and sometimes infertility. If you give birth and you have chlamydia, the baby can become infected with chlamydia. 

Most people won’t notice any symptoms from chlamydia — which is why it’s so important to get regular STI tests. If you do have symptoms, they might include: 

• Unusual discharge from your penis or vagina 
• Bleeding between periods or after sex  
• Lower belly pain 
• Pain when you mimi 
• Pain when you have sex 
• Pain in your testicles (balls)  

The only way to find out for sure if you have chlamydia is to get an STI test.  

Testing for chlamydia is done by: 

• Collecting a urine sample 
• Taking a sample from your vagina, mouth, or anus with a swab — basically a long cotton bud  

Either you, or a nurse or doctor, will take your sample.

Your test sample will be sent to a laboratory for testing. You should be contacted with your test result within a week. 

Make an appointment with us — we can test for chlamydia. 

Don’t worry! Chlamydia is easy to treat. We can prescribe you antibiotics to treat a chlamydia infection. It's important that your finish the whole course of antibiotics, even if your symptoms get better before all the tablets run out. Make sure that you tell your nurse or doctor if you are allergic to antibiotics, or if you could be pregnant. This will help them prescribe you the correct antibiotics. 
 
It's a really good idea to get another STI test 3 months after your chlamydia treatment.  

Using condoms, oral dams, and lube during sex is good protection against chlamydia and other STIs.

Lots of STIs don’t have obvious symptoms — so it’s important to get tested for STIs before and after unprotected sex, or anytime you have sex with a new person.

If you’re having sex with several people — or the person you have sex with is having sex with several people — talk to us about how often you should be screened for chlamydia and other STIs. 

If you find out that you have chlamydia, there are a few really important things that you need to do:

• Get treated for chlamydia. Treatment is easy — just make an appointment with us
• If it's safe for you to do, tell the people that you have had sex with recently that they might need to get tested or treated for chlamydia  
• Don't have sex with anyone for at least 7 days after you, and the person you plan to have sex with, has finished treatment for chlamydia 

Untreated chlamydia can be a serious threat to your health.