Chlamydia Urethritis, Treated (Male)

Gendered terms are used here to talk about anatomy and health risk. Use this information in a way that works best for you and your doctor as you talk about your care.

You have an infection in your urethra. This is the tube in the penis that carries urine. The infection is caused by the bacteria chlamydia. It's a sexually transmitted infection (STI). It's very contagious. Chlamydia is spread by having vaginal, anal, or oral sexual contact with someone who is infected.

Symptoms most often start within 1 week after you come in contact with the bacteria. But it may take up to 3 weeks for symptoms to show. You may have a watery discharge from the penis. You may also have burning while urinating.

This infection can be treated and cured. Treatment is with medicines called antibiotics.

Follow these guidelines when caring for yourself at home:

• Your sexual partner needs to be treated even if they have no symptoms. Your partner should reach out to their own doctor, or go to an urgent care clinic or your local health department to be examined and treated. Sometimes your own doctor may prescribe antibiotics for your partner. This is called expedited partner therapy.
• Don't have sexual activity until both you and your partner have taken all the antibiotics. You should wait until your doctor tells you that you are no longer contagious.
• Take all medicine as directed until it is gone. If you stop the medicine before you have taken it all, the infection may not clear and symptoms may come back.
• Learn about safe sex practices and use these in the future. The safest sex is with a partner who has tested negative and has sex only with you. Condoms may help stop the spread of some STIs. These include gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV. But condoms are not a guarantee.

• Follow up with your doctor on any test results, or as advised. Talk with your doctor or your local health department to be sure you are having a complete STI (including HIV) screening. Also make sure you are lowering your risk for STIs, including HIV, as much as possible. This includes HIV testing. Call the national CDC-INFO hotline at 1-800-232-4636 or go to the CDC STI website at www.cdc.gov/sti for more information about STIs.
• Get tested for HIV now. If negative, get tested again in 3 months. Also talk with your doctor about whether taking a medicine to prevent HIV would be a good idea. Your doctor may advise you take this medicine now for 28 days (post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP) or on an ongoing basis to prevent you from getting HIV (pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP).

Make sure you talk with your partner about STIs and testing. If you don't feel safe talking face-to-face with your partner about testing, send a text or an email. Or make a phone call instead. Ask for help if you're not safe. Encourage any sex partners to get treatment. Otherwise, they can pass the disease back to you or to others.

If you have an STI, talk with your doctor about expedited partner therapy (EPT). With EPT, you may be given a prescription or medicines to give to your partner without your partner needing to be seen by a doctor. EPT is available in many states for some STIs (mainly chlamydia and gonorrhea). So check with your doctor.

Contact your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if:

• Your symptoms are not better after 3 days of treatment.
• You are unable to urinate because of the pain.
• You have a rash or joint pain.
• You have painful sores on the penis.
• You have enlarged, painful lumps (lymph nodes) in the groin.
• You have testicle pain or swelling of the scrotum.
• You have a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or above, lasting for 24 to 48 hours.
• You have blood in the urine.