Can Gonorrhea be treated?
Yes, the appropriate treatment can heal gonorrhea. it is crucial that you are taking all the medications your healthcare provider gives you to heal your gonorrhea infection. Do not share your prescribed medication for gonorrhea with anyone. Although the medication will cure the infection, it cannot undo any permanent damage resulting due to the infection. Fortunately, the right treatment plan can cure gonorrhea. according to the recommendations by the CDC, a single dose of 500 mg of IM ceftriaxone is enough to stop the gonorrheal infection. In addition, alternative treatment regimens are also available when ceftriaxone is no longer viable to treat rectal or urogenital gonorrhea. (11)
Although medication will cease the infection, it cannot repair the permanent damage resulting in the targeted tissues and cells due to bacterial attack. Another increasing concern in the treatment of gonorrhea is antimicrobial resistance which makes the successful treatment for gonorrhea far more difficult. A follow-up test or screening for the surety of cure from the infection is successfully in place. However, follow-up testing is not a requirement for rectal and genital infections. In fact, if a person shows continuous symptoms of gonorrhea infection for over a few days after getting treatment, they must return to their healthcare provider for reevaluation.
A follow-up test after cure from gonorrhea is due 7 to 14 days after treatment for some people who specifically undergo treatment for throat infection. Because recurrence of infection is quite common among men and women with gonorrhea, therefore a retesting strategy after every three months of the initial infection treatment is a strong recommendation. Moreover, regardless of the fact that some of the patients trust their partners with successful treatment of gonorrhea, it is equally important to go for retesting together. Generally, it is super easy to get rid of gonorrhea. Your doctor or nurse will suggest antibiotics to treat gonorrhea.
Somehow, some strains of gonorrhea bacteria resist the effects of antibiotics and are far more difficult to treat. Therefore, the doctor might suggest you to take two antibiotics, either in pill or injection form. The doctor will help each gonorrhea-infected patient to figure out which treatment plan can work best for them. Most of the doctors also emphasize encouraging your sexual partners to get gonorrhea treatment as well. Your safety from gonorrhea can only be effective if your partner undergoes gonorrhea treatment too. Otherwise, you might spread the infection back and forth or to the other partners. Sometimes, the doctor will prescribe you a medication for both you and your partner to keep the safety from gonorrhea infection.
Moreover, if you are seeking treatment for gonorrhea then you need to know that:
- Taking all of your prescribed medicines the way the doctor advises you to is necessary even if your symptoms are going away sooner. The infection tends to stay in the body until you complete your course of antibiotics
- Go for retesting again in 3 months
- Make sure that your partner is also undergoing a gonorrhea treatment
- Abstain from having sex for almost 7 days