Many men with gonorrhea are asymptomatic 3, 4. When present, signs and symptoms of urethral infection in men include dysuria or a white, yellow, or green urethral discharge that usually appears one to fourteen days after infection 5.
Gonorrhea symptoms in men
Symptoms may include: White, yellow or green discharge from your penis. Pain or burning (possibly severe) when peeing (dysuria). Testicular pain and swollen testicles.
If left untreated, gonorrhea usually resolves naturally, but can also cause serious health problems. For women this could include pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can lead to ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the womb) and inability to have a baby.
Most men with gonorrhea don't have any symptoms. If they do get symptoms, they usually show up between 2 and 14 days after having sex with someone who's infected. Symptoms can also show up weeks later. Even without symptoms, if you have gonorrhea and you don't get it treated, it can lead to other health problems.
It takes 7 days for the medicine to work in your body and cure gonorrhea. If you have sex without a condom during the 7 days after taking the medicine, you could still pass the infection to your sex partners, even if you have no symptoms.
How is Gonorrhea Treated? Even though gonorrhea is highly treatable, it will not go away without medication. Gonorrhea cannot be cured without medication. Someone who has gonorrhea will be prescribed antibiotic medication.
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) (also called a sexually transmitted infection, or STI) that affects both men and women. Some people do not have symptoms of gonorrhea, and others have mild symptoms. Symptoms of gonorrhea may also come and go, but gonorrhea itself will not go away on its own.
In men, gonorrhoea can cause a painful infection in the testicles and prostate gland, which may lead to reduced fertility in a small number of cases. In rare cases, when gonorrhoea has been left untreated, it can spread through the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections in other parts of the body (sepsis).
The short answer
For example, someone might have tested negative for genital gonorrhea but not been tested for oral or anal gonorrhea, and potentially transmit the STI through anal or oral intercourse.
Long term complications in women include: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - an ascending infection that spreads from the vagina and cervix to the uterus and fallopian tubes. PID can lead to sterility — See section on PID. Ovarian or tubal abscesses.
More than half of women with gonorrhea do not have any symptoms. If symptoms occur, they may include burning or frequent urination, yellowish vaginal discharge, redness and swelling of the genitals, and a burning or itching of the vaginal area.
"It's not seen as a killer disease, but it's a big public health threat." Unprotected oral sex is one of the main reasons for antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea. Throat infections after oral sex are often mistaken for strep throat or another infection by doctors, who prescribe antibiotics.
As for gonorrhea, one study found that most infections in 16 female subjects “did not appear to resolve spontaneously,” as most were still infected after two months.
Gonorrhea discharge can have an unpleasant, foul smell.
In the later stages of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia, people often complain about being extremely tired. Along with these infections, fatigue can also be caused by Hepatitis A, B, or C. Associating fatigue with having a busy lifestyle is not a good idea as it can be a symptom of a Sexually Transmitted Disease.
Typical symptoms of gonorrhoea include a thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis, pain when peeing and, in women, bleeding between periods. But around 1 in 10 infected men and almost half of infected women do not experience any symptoms.
It's sometimes possible to have an antibiotic tablet instead of an injection, if you prefer. If you have any symptoms of gonorrhoea, these will usually improve within a few days, although it may take up to 2 weeks for any pain in your pelvis or testicles to disappear completely.
Health care providers screen people for chlamydia and gonorrhea using a urine test or swab. Swabs are taken inside the penis in men or from the cervix in women. The sample is then studied in a lab. Screening is important, because if you don't have symptoms, you may not know that you're infected.
Both infections are caused by bacteria. Gonorrhea is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterium while Chlamydia is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. Any sexually active person can become infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia, but there are some factors that can increase the risk of contracting the infection.