Venereology: diseases — симптомы, диагностика и лечение

Urethritis is inflammation of the urethra. It manifests itself as a burning sensation when urinating and discharge, and in most cases in men is associated with sexually transmitted infections. The main mistake with urethritis is self-medication with a random antibiotic: the symptoms subside, the pathogen remains, and after months complications develop - from prostatitis to cicatricial stricture of the urethra.

All healthy women have vaginal discharge: it moisturizes and cleanses the mucous membrane, and protects against infections. Normal discharge is clear or whitish, without an unpleasant odor, its quantity and consistency changes during the cycle, during pregnancy and against the background of hormonal contraception. Reasons to contact a gynecologist include changes in color, smell and consistency, as well as itching, burning, pain during urination or sexual intercourse. The most common causes are bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis (thrush) and trichomoniasis, less often - chlamydia, gonorrhea, cervical inflammation, foreign body or tumors. The exact cause is determined only by examination and smears.

Discharge from the urethra in men is a common complaint, most often associated with urethritis, that is, inflammation of the urethral mucosa. The discharge varies in type: abundant purulent discharge is characteristic of gonorrhea, scanty mucous or transparent discharge is characteristic of chlamydial and other non-gonococcal infections, and curdled discharge is characteristic of candidiasis. However, it is impossible to make a diagnosis based on appearance: very often infections are combined, and sometimes the cause is not at all related to sexual intercourse. Self-medication with antibiotics blurs the picture and leads to a chronic course, so when discharge appears, you need to be examined by a urologist.

Sexually transmitted infections are a group of diseases that are transmitted through vaginal, anal and oral contact, and some through blood and from mother to child. The pathogens are different: bacteria, viruses, protozoa. The main feature of STIs is that they often occur without symptoms, especially in women, and a person does not know about the infection for years, continuing to transmit the infection. Untreated infections rise higher along the genital tract and lead to inflammation of the appendages, prostatitis, adhesions, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. Almost all bacterial STIs are completely curable if identified early and treated with your partner.

Pediculosis pubis, or phthiriasis, is a parasitic skin lesion caused by pubic louse. This small insect attaches itself to the hair in the groin, less often on the stomach, chest, armpits, beard and even eyelashes, and feeds on blood. The main symptom is persistent itching, worse at night, and small bluish spots at the bite sites. The parasite is transmitted mainly through close bodily contact, often sexual, less often through shared linen and towels. The disease is not life-threatening, can be easily treated with external means, but requires examination for other sexually transmitted infections and treatment of the partner.

Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, and at the same time one of the most “silent”: a significant proportion of those infected do not have any symptoms at all. That is why it is often detected already at the stage of examination for infertility or chronic inflammation. The good news is that if detected early, chlamydia can be reliably cured with a short course of antibiotics.

Gonorrhea is an infection caused by gonococcus, one of the most well-known sexually transmitted diseases. In men, it usually manifests itself clearly: profuse purulent discharge and pain when urinating a few days after contact. In women, on the contrary, it often occurs secretly. The main modern problem of gonorrhea is the growing resistance of the pathogen to antibiotics, due to which self-medication has become truly dangerous.

Trichomoniasis is caused not by a bacterium or a virus, but by a protozoan - Trichomonas. It is one of the most common curable sexually transmitted infections. Its peculiarity lies in the sharp difference in the picture between men and women: women usually notice profuse foamy discharge and itching, while in men the disease is often almost asymptomatic, which is why they become an invisible source of infection.

Mycoplasma and ureaplasma are the topic around which the most confusion and unnecessary treatment has accumulated. Having discovered them in the analysis, many receive long courses of antibiotics, although not all of these microorganisms are causative agents of the disease. The key to understanding is simple: among them there is one unconditional pathogen that always requires treatment, and several representatives of opportunistic flora that are treated only under certain conditions.

Genital warts are growths on the skin and mucous membranes of the genital organs caused by the human papillomavirus. This is the most common sexually transmitted viral infection. It is important to immediately separate two points: condylomas themselves are caused by types of the virus of low oncogenic risk and do not turn into cancer, but at the same time a person can be a carrier of oncogenic types that are associated with cervical and penile cancer.