Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections

What are the symptoms and what are the most common (STDs)?

Symptoms of STDs

Symptoms of an STD may include:

• Abnormal discharge from the vagina, penis or anus
• Pain when urinating
• Lumps or skin changes around the genitals or anus
• Rash
• Unusual vaginal bleeding
• Itching around the genitals or anus
• Blisters and sores around your genitals or anus
• Warts around your genitals or anus
• Warts in your mouth or throat, but this is very rare

Common types of STDs

• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhea
• Warts (mainly genital warts)
• Genital herpes
• Syphilis
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)

More specifically, the symptoms of these are:

Symptoms of chlamydia

Most people with chlamydia do not notice any symptoms and do not know that they have it.

If you experience symptoms, they may appear as: 

• Pain and tingling when urinating
• Abnormal discharge from the vagina, penis or bottom
• In women, abdominal pain, bleeding after sex and bleeding between periods
• In men, pain and swelling in the testicles

Symptoms of gonorrhoea

Typical symptoms of gonorrhoea include a thick green or yellow discharge from the vagina or penis, pain when urinating and, in women, bleeding between periods.

But about 1 in 10 infected men and almost half of infected women show no symptoms.

Symptoms of genital Warts

Genital warts are a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmitted by vaginal and sex, sharing sex toys and, rarely, oral sex.

Symptoms of Genital herpes

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmitted through vaginal, and oral sex. Treatment from a sexual health clinic can help. Symptoms usually go away on their own, but can come back. These are : 

• small blisters that burst and leave red, open wounds around the genitals, anus, thighs or buttocks
• tingling, burning or itching around your genitals
• pain when urinating
• in women, vaginal discharge that is not common for you

Get checked out even if you haven’t had sex for a long time, as blisters can take months or sometimes years to appear.

Symptoms of Syphilis

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that,  If left untreated, can cause serious and potentially life-threatening problems.The symptoms are often mild and difficult to notice. They tend to change over time and may come and go.

Symptoms of syphilis include:

• small sores (ulcers) on the penis, vagina or around the anus – these are usually painless and you may have only one of them
• white spots on your mouth
• sores in other areas, including your mouth or on the lips, hands or buttocks
• white or grey warts most often in the penis, vagina or around your anus
• patchy hair loss on the head, beard and eyebrows
• rash on the palms of your hands and on the soles of your feet that can sometimes spread all over your body – this is not usually itchy
• flu-like symptoms, such as high fever, headaches, and fatigue
• swollen glands

It may take 3 weeks or more for the symptoms of syphilis to appear after unprotected intercourse.

Sometimes the symptoms can improve or subside altogether, but if you haven’t treated the infection it is still in your body. This means that you can still pass it on and risk experiencing serious problems later on.

Symptoms of human papillomavirus (HPV)

HPV usually does not cause symptoms.

Most people who have it don’t realise and don’t have any problems.

But sometimes the virus can cause painless growths or lumps around your vagina, penis or anus (genital warts), in extreme cases it can also cause cervical cancer.

Follow our sexual health programs at Hera Family Care to learn more about how to treat or prevent STDs!