If you think you might have chlamydia

Treatment and recovery

If you think you might have chlamydia, it's important to be tested quickly. Testing is free on the NHS from genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics, sexual health clinics, many contraception clinics, your GP and pharmacies. In some areas testing kits may also be available by post.

The National Chlamydia Screening Programme in England is being extended to ensure all sexually active women and men under 25 can access chlamydia testing - this includes testing in other settings such as youth clubs and colleges.

You can also buy home chlamydia testing kits, but the accuracy of these tests varies so it's important to get good advice from a pharmacist.

Women having intrauterine contraception (IUD or IUS) fitted, or having an abortion, will be offered a chlamydia test.

The test is simple and painless. Either a urine test is done or a swab (like a cotton bud) is used to take a sample of cells from the vagina or urethra. If you've had anal or oral sex, a swab will be taken from the rectum or throat. Your eyes will be tested if you have symptoms of conjunctivitis (discharge from the eye).

Chlamydia is easy to treat with antibiotics, either as a single dose or longer course for up to two weeks.

Tell your doctor or nurse if you're pregnant, or think you might be, or you're breastfeeding - this might affect the type of antibiotic you're given. The antibiotics used to treat chlamydia interact with the combined oral contraceptive pill and the contraceptive patch, making them less effective, so check this with the doctor or nurse.

To avoid reinfection, any sexual partners should be treated too. Every time you have a new sexual partner you need to be tested. If complications occur, another treatment might be needed.

Without treatment, the infection can spread to other parts of the body causing damage and long-term health problems, including infertility.

In women, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease. This can lead to:

* Ectopic pregnancy (when a pregnancy develops outside the womb, usually in the fallopian tube).
* Blocked fallopian tubes (the tubes that carry the egg from ovary to womb).
* Long-term pelvic pain.

In men, chlamydia can lead to painful infection in the testicles and possibly reduced fertility.

Rarely, chlamydia can lead to inflammation of the joints in both men and women. This is known as reactive arthritis. When this involves the urethra and the eyes, it is known as Reiter's syndrome.