In the United States, the practice of safe sex has been preached to men of all ages, races and sexual orientation. For many men, the tendency to prolong healthcare treatment may, unfortunately, lead to life long complications associated with contracting a sexually transmitted disease. To compound health matters are the complications which are commonly unnoticed or even recognized within men suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. Within these sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea, men often suffer for many years without recognizing a problem exists or, even worse, suffer through mild to moderate symptoms without seeking the treatment crucial to ensuring health.
Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease involving the transmission of bacteria from sexual contact. Contact can involve oral or sexual intercourse and can lead to life impacting complications when untreated. For men, the concern lies in the selection of a sexual partner who may be experiencing what is known as asymptomatic gonorrhea in which the symptoms are not present but the gonorrhea infection continues to persist. In women, gonorrhea can lie in the incubation period for great than one month, often significantly longer than that of men. For this reason, it is imperative that men practice safe sex, through use of condoms, in an effort to control the spread of undiagnosed gonorrhea infections.
When suffering from a case of bacterial gonorrhea, men will commonly exhibit no symptoms for several weeks at which point symptoms will appear, initially, as a simple case of urinary infrequency, commonly exhibited as a problem with the ability to void. Beyond urinary difficulty, men suffering from symptomatic gonorrhea will begin to notice the presence of abscesses and, more often than not, the testicles may begin to swell resulting in significant pain with activities of daily living.
Beyond testicular pain and inflammation, in addition to urinary complications, men who prolong the treatment needed for gonorrhea may soon suffer from complications associated with the prostate gland and scarring of the urinary tract system with potential for life altering complications associated with urology complications and often leading to infertility.
For many men, suffering from these symptoms become debilitating. Still, all too often, men tend to delay the medical attention needed for fear of impending measures for diagnosis and treatment. For gonorrhea in men, however, diagnosis and treatment are rather simple. Through simple urethra swabs, a culture can be obtained with confirmation of a gonorrhea infection in several hours.
To treat gonorrhea in men, antibiotics are prescribed over a ten day period with urethra testing repeated following completion of the antibiotics to ensure the infection has cleared. Beyond this ten day regimen, treatment is generally not required unless the gonorrhea infection persisted for an extended period at which point the male sufferer may require additional medical treatment to resolve scarring, infertility or complications associated with the prostate.
In an effort to prevent acquiring the gonorrhea bacteria, use of condoms are crucial during any sexual encounter, regardless of sexual orientation.
For information regarding medical treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, contact a Planned Parenthood center in your neighborhood.
