How to Recognize Gonorrhea Symptoms

Learning the Risk Factors

Recognize that gonorrhea affects men and women differently. Many people with gonorrhea have no symptoms at all, but gonorrhea can cause serious health problems. Women’s symptoms include burning during urination, increased vaginal discharge, and bleeding between periods, but symptoms are often mistaken for bladder or vaginal infections. Men’s symptoms include burning during urination, white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis, and, less commonly, painful or swollen testicles. Rectal gonorrhea symptoms include discharge, bleeding, itching, soreness, and painful bowel movements.

Know how gonorrhea spreads. You can get gonorrhea by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has gonorrhea. Direct contact is key. A pregnant woman with gonorrhea can also give the infection to her baby during childbirth. Take preventative steps to stop the spread of gonorrhea. Prevent Gonorrhea by using condoms or dental dams, or by limiting the number of sexual partners you have.

Know what happens if you don't treat gonorrhea. Gonorrhea can have numerous complications. In women, gonorrhea may cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). This can happen when the infection spreads to the uterus or fallopian tubes. If untreated, PID can cause chronic pelvic pain and tubal pregnancies. PID can even damage the reproductive organs and make it hard for a woman to have a baby. Gonorrhea can also make it easier for women to contract an HIV infection. Gonorrhea in men can lead to permanent painful urination.

Visit the doctor. Gonorrhea is not a disease that you can cure with home remedies or sanitation. If you are sexually active or suspect that you've been with someone who has contracted gonorrhea, you should consult your doctor immediately.

Checking for Symptoms

See if it burns when you urinate. The most common symptom in both men and women with gonorrhea is painful/burning urination. This sensation may disappear on its own, but is often painful enough to send men to the doctor.

Watch for unusual discharge. In both men and women, gonorrhea produces a yellowish-greenish, thick discharge from the genitals. It is a secretion produced by the bacteria itself. In women this secretion can also be accompanied by bleeding between periods. It is the body’s way of expelling the foreign agent. Any unusual vaginal discharge should be examined by a doctor.

Check for pelvic and lower abdominal pain. This could be a sign of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) — a common symptom of gonorrhea in women. If you have PID, you might also experience fevers greater than or equal to 101 Fahrenheit. More than 1,000,000 cases of PID are diagnosed annually in the U.S. 10% of those with PID face infertility.

Check for painful or swollen genitals. In both men and women, gonorrhea can cause general inflammation of one’s genitals. Women may experience swelling, redness, or soreness of the vulva (the opening of the vagina). In men, gonorrhea can lead to swollen testicles and an inflamed prostate gland.

Check for painful bowel movements. In both women and men who practice anal sex, gonorrhea can produce anal discharge and painful bowel movements. Frequent and persistent diarrhea can accompany anal gonorrhea. See your doctor immediately if you experience these symptoms.

See if you have difficulty swallowing. Gonococcal pharyngitis or gonorrhea of the mouth produces sore throat, discomfort while swallowing, general redness, and whitish/yellowish discharge. The symptoms are the same for men and women. People with oral gonorrhea usually do not transmit the disease to others, but it is possible through direct contact with the back of the mouth. Kissing does not normally transmit the disease, but oral sex may. Most people with oral gonorrhea often mistake their condition for strep throat or the common cold. Only after visiting the doctor do they discover that they have oral gonorrhea.

Visiting the Doctor

Get tested by a doctor. If you are a woman and you have reason to suspect you may be at risk for gonorrhea, get tested. Many women who are infected do not have any symptoms, or symptoms so non-specific as to be mistaken for other conditions. Gonorrhea requires medical treatment. If left untreated, it can cause numerous serious health problems, including chronic pain and infertility in both men and women. Eventually, untreated gonorrhea can be spread to the blood and joints, which can be a life-threatening condition.

Take the test. Your medical provider will take a urine sample or will swab your cervix, vagina, rectum, urethra, or throat — wherever gonorrhea is suspected. There are several tests that can be done, all of which look for the neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria. If you are giving a urine sample, be sure not to urinate for at least 2 hours prior to the test. You want to make sure that the bacteria hasn’t been flushed out before taking the test. Most tests can be completed in a couple of days.

Talk to your doctor about possible complications. In some cases, gonorrhea can have lasting effects. Women may experience cervicitis, tubo-ovarian abscesses, or even ectopic pregnancies. Men may face continued pain along their epididymis (the duct that connects the testicles to the vas deferens) for up to six weeks after initial infection.

Get medication. The standard treatment for gonorrhea is a 500 mg injection of intramuscular ceftriaxone. If your symptoms don’t resolve in a few days, see your doctor to be reevaluated, as some strains of gonorrhea are becoming increasingly resistant to treatment, and your doctor may need to prescribe additional medication. You will need to get tested for gonorrhea again in about 4 weeks to determine if the treatment worked or if you need to be treated with another type of medicine. You will also need to be retested every time you change sexual partners.

Wait at least seven days after completing treatment to have sex again. You want to be certain that the disease has cleared your system to avoid further transmission.