Experiences with
Chlamydia

Symptoms of chlamydia

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

If you do develop symptoms, you may experience:

pain when peeing
unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or bottom
in women, pain in the tummy, bleeding after sex and bleeding between periods
in men, pain and swelling in the testicles

If you think you're at risk of having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or have any symptoms of chlamydia, visit a GP, community contraceptive service or local genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic to get tested.

How do you get chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection. The bacteria are usually spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids (semen or vaginal fluid).

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

It can also be passed by a pregnant woman to her baby.

Chlamydia cannot be passed on through casual contact, such as kissing and hugging, or from sharing baths, towels, swimming pools, toilet seats or cutlery.

How chlamydia is treated

Chlamydia can usually be treated easily with antibiotics.

You may be given a course of doxycycline to take for a week or azithromycin to take once a day for 3 days.

If you have doxycycline, you should not have sex (including oral sex) until you and your current sexual partner have finished treatment.

If you have azithromycin, you should wait 7 days after treatment before having sex (including oral sex).

It's 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.

Under-25s who have chlamydia should be offered another test 3 to 6 months after being treated.

This is because young adults who test positive for chlamydia are at increased risk of catching it again.

Sexual health or genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics can help you contact your sexual partners.

Either you or the clinic can speak to them, or they can be sent a note advising them to get tested.

The note will not have your name on it, so your confidentiality will be protected.

Preventing chlamydia

Anyone who's sexually active can catch chlamydia.

You're most at risk if you have a new sexual partner or do not use a barrier method of contraception, such as a condom, when having sex.

You can help to prevent the spread of chlamydia by:

using a condom every time you have vaginal or anal sex
using a condom to cover the penis during oral sex
using a dam (a piece of thin, soft plastic or latex) to cover the female genitals during oral sex or when rubbing female genitals together
not sharing sex toys

If you do share sex toys, wash them or cover them with a new condom between each person who uses them.

SymptomsMedical treatmentsCausesPrevention

Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. You can get treatment from a sexual health clinic.