Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
What is PID?
PID is a serious infection that can involve your uterus (womb), fallopian tubes and your ovaries. Bacteria such as Gonorrhea or Chlamydia can cause it, while other germs can cause it too. Usually a woman gets PID by having sex with a man who also has an infection. The patient may have a lower abdominal pain, unusual cramps (similar to menstrual cramps, but usually worse), abnormal menstrual periods, or tenderness of internal female organs.
Symptoms
Many women do not have any early signs of infection. Sometimes they are longer, heavier or more painful periods, pain in the abdomen, tiredness, fever or chills, bad swelling, vaginal discharge, or pain with sex.
Diagnosis
A pelvic exam must be done even though it may be uncomfortable. Tests will be done for Gonorrhea and Chlamydia. Blood tests may also need to be done.
Risk
This infection may make women sterile (unable to get pregnant). If she does get pregnant, the pregnancy may get stuck in the tubes and never reach the uterus. This is called Ectopic pregnancy, and requires an operation for removal. If not treated in time, it can cause death. Early complete treatment of PID lowers the chance of these serious problems.
Prevention
Don’t take sexual chances with strangers and limit the number of partners. The more partners you have (and he has), the higher the chance you have of getting an infection. Unless you only have sex with one uninfected partner (and he has sex only with you), use latex condoms and a vaginal spermicide (sperm killer, such as foam) in addition to whatever you use for birth control. Use every time you have sex. This will help prevent the spread of infections.
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