Gonorrhoea
Gonorrhoea is an STI. The most common symptom in boys and men is ‘the drip’. Gonorrhoea is passed on during sex, especially if you don’t use condoms. And sometimes during kissing. You might have symptoms, but often you won’t notice it at all. Gonorrhoea is easy to treat with drugs. That gets rid of the infection.
Video: Doctor Hanna about gonorrhoea
Gonorrhoea signs and symptoms
You don’t always notice that you have gonorrhoea. Women and girls often have no symptoms at all. Boys and men usually do. You might notice something straight after having sex with someone who has gonorrhoea. But it could take a bit longer than that. For male symptoms up to 6 weeks, for female symptoms up to 3 months. And even with no symptoms at all, you can pass the infection on to someone else.
Male symptoms
- Fluid coming out of your penis, mostly in the morning. It is whitish-yellow or green. This is called ‘the drip’ or ’the clap’
- Pain when you pee
- A burning sensation when you pee
- Irritation around your anus if you’ve had anal sex
- Blood or fluid in poo or diarrhoea if you’ve had anal sex
- Pain in your testicles
- Sore throat, if you’ve had oral sex
Female symptoms
Women and girls often have no symptoms at all. Symptoms you may have are:
- Pain when you pee
- A burning sensation when you pee
- Pain or vaginal bleeding during or after sex
- Vaginal bleeding when you haven't got your period
- More fluid (discharge) than normal that could look different. It may not smell nice and may be yellow or green
- Irritation around your anus if you’ve had anal sex
- Blood or fluid in poo or diarrhoea if you’ve had anal sex
- Severe abdominal pain
- Sore throat, if you’ve had oral sex
Drugs to treat gonorrhoea
You can get treatment for gonorrhoea. That gets rid of the infection. The treatment is an injection. Do you think you could have this STI? Perhaps because:
- You had sex without a condom
- You have symptoms
- You had sex with someone who has gonorrhoea
Then go to your doctor or a GGD Sense clinic for an STI test.
Not sure whether you need to have an STI test? If you answer a few questions, we can give you some advice.
Why should I have treatment?
If you don’t get treatment, then you may get severe symptoms. That doesn’t happen very often.
Women
could get an infection of the fallopian tubes. That means:
- You could become infertile. Then it will be difficult to have children
- You have a higher risk of an ectopic pregnancy. That means your child starts to grow outside the uterus and cannot survive
Men
could have these symptoms:
- An inflammation of the epididymis: your testicles hurt and become swollen
- A prostate infection: you could have a fever and pain. During peeing too
These symptoms are not common. But it could happen if you don’t have treatment. That’s why it’s better to go to the doctor if you have symptoms.
Telling people you have gonorrhoea
If you have gonorrhoea, tell the people you’ve had sex with recently. Then they can get tested and treated too. Talk to the doctor about who you should tell.
If this is difficult for you to do, your doctor or someone at the Sense clinic can help you do it online. You don’t have to say who you are.