How to Treat Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection that will not go away on its own. The only way to treat gonorrhea is by visiting your physician. Your physician will prescribe an antibiotic in order to clear up the infection. Not long ago the most common antibiotics used in the treatment of gonorrhea were called fluroqinolones, which are ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and levofloxacin. Examples of ciprofloxacin are Cipro and Cipro XR. An example of ofloxacin is Floxin and an example of levofloxacin is Levaquin.

Today, gonorrhea has changed with new strains being more resistant to these antibiotics. Due to this problem, the Center for Disease Control in the United States is recommending that cephalosporin’s be used in the treatment of gonorrhea.

Treatment

The physician will in most cases, may prescribe a single-dose injection of an antibiotic or a single dose pill. If an injection is given, it will be Rocephin whereas a pill will be Cipro.

For those under the age of eighteen or pregnant, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin are not safe antibiotics. Your physician will choose the best and most effective antibiotic in your situation, which is often an injection of Rocephin.

In many cases, gonorrhea is often accompanied by another common sexually transmitted disease known as Chlamydia infection. Since this is often the case, many physicians often prescribe more than one antibiotic as the same time. In some cases, the combination is ceftriaxone and doxycycline or azithromycin. This combination can treat both sexually transmitted diseases to ensure that the person can be cured from both instead of battling one infection at a time or curing one and not knowing that the person is also infected with Chlamydia until the gonorrhea has been cleared.

If you have been tested and the result is that you have gonorrhea, you will need to inform all of your sexual partners. They will also need to be tested. Gonorrhea is transmitted very easily and if you have given the infection to another person, they will also be carrying and transmitting the infection.

Do not try to treat the infection at home. Gonorrhea can and will develop into serious health problems if it is not treated.

Consequences of not being treated

Gonorrhea infections will not go away. The bacteria will grow and spread if you do not receive treatment. The bacteria can spread into the reproductive tract or in some rare case into the blood stream. If the bacteria does spread to the blood stream, it can affect the brain, the heart, or the joints.

The most common result of no treatment is an infection of the female reproductive tract known as Gonococcal PID. This condition normally appears shortly after a menstrual cycle and causes scar tissue to form in the fallopian tubes. Once the tubes have scar tissue it can be hard for an egg to pass into the uterus. If the egg cannot move past the scar tissue, it can become fertilized in the tube causing an ectopic pregnancy. This is a very serious condition in which miscarriage, surgery, or death is apparent.

It is very important if you have symptoms of gonorrhea to visit your physician at once. Finish all the antibiotics even if symptoms are gone. Be sure to tell all sexual partners that you were diagnosed with gonorrhea. Do not have sexual intercourse until you know you are clean and that your partner has received treatment. All sexual partners will need treatment or you will pass the infection back and forth.