Six signs that a woman may have an STD

In the past, when we talked about sexually transmitted diseases, men would be the first to come to mind. Indeed, according to statistics from 8 years ago, the majority of patients were male, with a male-to-female ratio of 8:1. However, in recent years, the number of female STD patients has increased rapidly, and now the ratio of male to female STD patients has reached 7:5. Moreover, many STDs that have obvious symptoms in men often have no special manifestations in female patients, which delays the treatment.

If female sexually transmitted diseases are not treated in time, they can spread to cause pelvic inflammatory disease

It causes dyspareunia and pain in the lower abdomen and back; it can spread to the fallopian tubes and cause salpingitis, leading to infertility and ectopic pregnancy; some viruses such as human papillomavirus and human herpes simplex virus are related to the incidence of reproductive system tumors such as cervical cancer, vulvar cancer, and anal cancer. If a pregnant woman is infected with a sexually transmitted disease, it may also cause miscarriage, fetal death in utero, premature birth, or infect the newborn during delivery. If we wait until this stage to treat STDs, wouldn't it be too late to regret?

Sign 1

The amount of vaginal discharge increases, and the discharge is yellow or green pus, which is often accompanied by pain during urination, increased frequency of urination, and difficulty in retaining urine.

Tip: Gonorrhea

It is worth reminding that some women may have no symptoms or mild symptoms after being infected with gonorrhea, which often delays treatment. However, male gonorrhea patients often have obvious symptoms, and gonorrhea is more easily transmitted from men to women than from women to men. If a woman has unprotected sex with a man who has gonorrhea, her chances of becoming infected are 40-60%. Therefore, women should learn to protect themselves and avoid sexual contact with men with gonorrhea symptoms. If risky sexual behavior has already occurred, even if the woman has no symptoms, she should go to the hospital for examination to get early diagnosis and treatment.

Tips: When men are infected with gonorrhea, they often experience yellow pus flowing out of the urethra. If you gently squeeze along the urethra with your hands, more pus will flow out.

Sign 2

The amount of leucorrhea increases and becomes tofu dregs-like, white, clumpy, and the amount increases significantly. It is often accompanied by internal and external vulvar itching, which is often very intense.

Tip: Candida (fungal) vaginitis

This disease can be transmitted to others through sexual intercourse, so it falls under the broad category of sexually transmitted diseases. Unlike other sexually transmitted diseases, candidal vaginitis is a very common female vaginal inflammation. 75% of women will suffer from it once in their lifetime, and 40-50% will have two or more attacks. In terms of the age of onset, the most common age is around 20 years old when the patient is sexually active, and the lowest age is over 50 years old. Some women are infected through means other than unclean sexual behavior: such as not paying attention to the cleanliness of the vulva or using unclean toilet paper or sanitary napkins; excessive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics kills normal bacteria in the vagina, leading to dysbacteriosis, which is conducive to the growth of disease fungi; diabetic patients are prone to candidal vaginitis due to high blood sugar levels.

Sign 3

The vulva is extremely itchy, the amount of leucorrhea increases, there may be foam, and there is often yellow liquid on the underwear.

Tip: Trichomonas vaginitis

This disease can also be transmitted to the other party through sexual intercourse and belongs to the category of sexually transmitted diseases in a broad sense. Generally, women are more likely to suffer from Trichomonas vaginitis, which is mainly caused by the destruction of the natural acidic environment of the vagina. However, the probability of infection in men is low, and most of them have no symptoms.

Sign 4

There are ulcers on the genital surface. It often manifests as a hard lump about 1 cm in diameter appearing on the labia majora or the inner side of the labia minora, with slight ulceration on the surface. Women often do not feel any discomfort, and the ulcers disappear in about a month.

Tip: Early (primary) syphilis

This kind of ulcer is medically known as "chancre", which is a special manifestation of early syphilis. There are a large number of pathogens on the surface of the chancre, and the probability of being infected after contact is extremely high. However, since it disappears automatically and does not cause pain or itching, it is often not taken seriously by women and their sexual partners.

Sign 5

Many red spots appear on the body. The color is darker and you need to look carefully to see them. They are not itchy.

Tip: Secondary syphilis

Generally, if the chancre of syphilis is not treated promptly, it will develop into secondary syphilis. The most typical symptoms are dark red spots on the palms and soles of the feet, with peeling around the area. If it is not discovered and treated in time, syphilis will develop into an advanced stage, affecting multiple organs throughout the body, making it difficult to treat, with a prolonged course of the disease and even life-threatening. Moreover, if pregnant women infected with syphilis are not treated in time, the disease will be transmitted to the fetus, so special attention needs to be paid.

Sign 6

Small cauliflower-like or jagged growths appear around the vaginal opening, which are painless to the touch and usually cause no sensation.

Tip: Genital warts

The growth is not red on the epidermis and is often grayish white or skin colored. If left alone, the growths will grow larger and larger, and will become more and more numerous, filling up the vaginal opening and even blocking the vagina. This feature can be used to identify pseudocondyloma acuminatum in women. Pseudo-condylomata will not grow or increase in number and are not contagious. As long as you pay attention to cleanliness and reduce the local irritation of leucorrhea, the symptoms can be alleviated and no treatment is necessary.

Tip: Pseudo-condylomata are common in women with excessive vaginal discharge. They appear as velvety, caviar-like, or villous protrusions on the inner side of the labia minora. They are relatively uniform in size and pink or slightly transparent.