There are many sexually transmitted infections. One of them is Trichomonas. It’s caused by a living single-celled organism that goes by the name of Trichomonas vaginalis. Don’t let the name fool you – both women and men can get this infection.
The way to transmit this infection is by having unprotected vaginal sex with an infected person. Kissing or having oral or anal sex is not usually thought to be the origin of transmission for this infection.
Many of the STIs have no symptoms in some cases, for some people. And Trichomonas is no exception to this – many infected people have no symptoms whatsoever. But some of the potential symptoms that a person can have are having a discharge from the penis or vagina, experiencing pain when urinating, and inflammation, soreness or itching in the genital area.
It’s important to get relatively frequent tests for trichomonas due to the fact that it’s so easy to transmit it. If you go and see a doctor, then he or she may get a swab from your penis or vagina and test it for trichomonas residues. We have to mention that no test is 100% accurate, so in some cases, you may even get a false negative despite your partner being positive. It’s very rare, on the other hand, to get a false positive for trichomonas.
And then things are very simple from then on. Your doctor will prescribe you medication for treating trichomonas. If you have a sexual partner at the moment of being diagnosed – then your partner should also start taking medication. It’s generally not recommended for you to have intercourse less than seven days after you have finished taking the medication that your doctor has prescribed. If you have had symptoms of the infection – then they should go away in a few days after starting to take medication.
Once you clean the infection out – it doesn’t mean that you’re now safe from getting a new infection. You should always be mindful of the sexual health of the sexual partners that you have. Trichomonas is sneaky in the sense that, in many cases, it causes no symptoms whatsoever. It may be smart for you to do frequent check-ups despite not having any symptoms – especially if you switch up sexual partners.
If you don’t treat trichomonas for a longer period of time – then it can increase your risk of being infected with HIV – and of transmitting the HIV infection to someone else. Also, it’s been known to cause problems with pregnancy. However, it’s not shown to be related to infertility. In some cases, Trichomonas can be cured by getting no treatment at all – with the regular passage of time. However, this may take a very long time and is not the smartest way to go about it.
Trichomonas vaginalis is a sneaky, frequent infection that many people have. If you suspect that you too have it – then it’s important to get tested and start treatment after the diagnosis. Only in this way will you be able to protect yourself and minimize the spreading of the virus.
