Chlamydia

The majority of people with chlamydia do not have any symptoms however, if you do develop symptoms, you may experience:

• Pain on passing urine
• Unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or bottom
• In women, stomach pains, bleeding after sex and bleeding between periods
• In men, pain and swelling in the testicles

You can get chlamydia through:

• unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex
• sharing sex toys that are not washed or covered with a new condom each time they're used
• your genitals coming into contact with your partner's genitals – this means you can get chlamydia from someone even if there's no penetration, orgasm or ejaculation
• infected semen or vaginal fluid getting into your eye

If you live in England, are under 25 years of age and sexually active, it is recommended that you get tested for chlamydia every year or when you change sexual partner. Otherwise, if you think you may be at risk of an infection or have any of the symptoms mentioned above, then we highly recommend getting tested. Please visit our Sexual Health Test Kits page. Alternatively, visit your GP, community contraceptive service or local genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic to get tested.

It is important that your current sexual partner and any other recent sexual partners you have had are also tested and treated to help stop the spread of the infection. We can contact them on your behalf if you wish.

If chlamydia is not treated early or left untreated, it can be serious. The infection can spread to other parts of your body and lead to long-term health problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), epididymo-orchitis (inflammation of the testicles) and infertility.

Chlamydia is treated with an antibiotic called Doxycycline. This treatment is 95% effective in treating chlamydia and is available via our Click Doctor platform. This treatment is not usually recommended in pregnancy or when breastfeeding. Please speak to your doctor or visit your local GUM clinic for further advice.