Syphilis Testing London

Syphilis is a common bacterial infection that is easily cured with medicine but can be dangerous if left untreated. It is spread through sex-vaginal, oral, or anal sex.

Sores on your genitals called chancres are major characteristics of syphilis. The sores are usually painless, but they can easily spread the infection to other people. Syphilis is contracted through contact with the sores. A lot of people infected with syphilis don’t notice the sores; they might not know they have it.

Syphilis can infect your vagina, penis, anus, or scrotum, and sometimes your lips and mouth.

Complications of Syphilis

Medications can be used to cure Syphilis if treated early. But without treatment, it leads to serious, permanent problems like:

• Brain damage
• Paralysis
• Blindness

Risk Factors

• Having sex with multiple sexual partners
• People who have unprotected sex
• Men who sleep with other men
• People infected with other STIs especially HIV

How’s Syphilis Contracted?

• Through vaginal sex and anal sex. It’s less common with oral sex, but it can happen
• From an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy and childbirth; this can be dangerous

It is important to note that it cannot be gotten through casual contact like holding hands, sharing towels, sitting on toilet seats. Etc.

Symptoms of Syphilis

The symptoms come and go over time, and that makes it hard to notice. So the best way to know is to get tested. Most interesting is the fact that the signs of syphilis can be so mild that sometimes people confuse its symptoms with other things, like pimples or rashes.

Syphilis has different stages which makes it confusing, and they can happen around the same time. Symptoms are inconsistent, and in some cases, no symptom may appear; that doesn’t mean the infection is gone! The symptoms vary with stage, and may not be the same for everyone.

Primary Stage

• Appearance of chancre (syphilis sore)—usually firm, round, and painless, or sometimes open and wet
• Chancres can appear on your vulva, vagina, anus, penis, scrotum, and rarely on your lips or mouth
• Chancres may hide deep in your vagina, under your foreskin, inside your rectum, and other inconspicuous places.
• Chancres usually last for 3 – 6 weeks and then disappear; without treatment.

Secondary stage

Symptoms are rashes on the palms of your hand; soles on your feet or other parts of your body; flu-like symptoms—slight fever, tiredness, sore throat, swollen glands, headache, muscle ache; weight or hair loss, etc. These symptoms can last 2-6 weeks and may come and go for up to 2 years

Late stage

You may experience tumors, blindness, paralysis, brain damage, nervous breakdown, and even death. This late stage complication can happen 10-20 years after being infected.

Diagnosis and Treatment

At our private sexual health clinic in London we have good labs for syphilis diagnosis. Our doctors are knowledgeable and friendly. We can treat you with antibiotics at the early stages. We can run a blood sample or swab test to detect this STD.