STI Treatments

Finding out that you have an STI can be distressing and you may be concerned about the impact it may have on your life. You may be confused about the different STI treatments that are available, and what steps you need to take to either treat or cure your infection.

If you have taken an STI test that has come back positive, it is important that you inform any sexual partner that may also have contracted the infection. Though the majority of STIs are easily treatable, it is advisable to begin a course of STI treatment as soon as possible to minimise the risk of long-term harm. Some STIs, such as chlamydia, may not display any visible symptoms and you should not assume that a partner who has been infected will know that this has occurred.

Your STI treatment will depend on the kind of infection that you have. Firstly, you should be aware that there are three basic types of STI:

• Bacterial
• Viral
• Parasitic

These distinctions are important because bacterial and parasitic infections are curable, but viral infections are not. This does not mean that you cannot treat the infection. For example, genital herpes is an STI which is caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Though HPV is incurable, it is possible to treat the outbreaks of genital herpes when they occur.

Even if you have a viral infection, you do not need to be alarmed. There are a variety of STI treatments available today to treat the infections and minimise their distressing effects.

STI treatments:

Aciclovir

• generic antiviral medication for oral use to treat genital herpes
• for treatment of outbreaks and preventative use

Aldara

• cream treatment for genital warts
• can clear an outbreak in 16 weeks

Azithromycin

• a generic macrolide antibiotic for oral use
• fast acting treatment that produces results within three to five days
• can treat chlamydia, gonorrhoea, non-specific urethritis, ureaplasma urealyticum and mycoplasma genitalium

Cefixime

• antibiotic oral treatment for bacterial infections
• can cure gonorrhoea in just one dose

Condyline

• podophyllotoxin solution (gel) to treat genital warts
• visible results in just three days

Doxycycline

• generic antibiotic oral treatment for bacterial infections
• can treat chlamydia, ureaplasma urealyticum, non-specific urethritis and gonorrhoea

Metronidazole

• generic antibiotic oral treatment for bacterial infections
• effectively treats bacterial vaginosis (gardnerella vaginalis) and trichomonas vaginalis

Warticon

• cream version of Condyline
• treats genital warts outbreaks

The duration of these STI treatments and the dosage required will depend on the infection that you have. You can find more information on each treatment by clicking on the links. If you have tested positive and are prescribed one of the above STI treatments, you should make sure you take the medication exactly as it has been prescribed to you to ensure maximum efficacy.

You may notice that some of the above STI treatments are generic medications. This does not affect the efficacy or safety rating of the treatment.

After treatment

With some courses of STI treatment you will need to abstain from sexual activity for a short period afterwards, for example with Cefixime you should not have sex for seven days after the treatment. You should make sure that you are fully aware of any of these precautions before you begin the course of treatment.

We recommend that you take an STI test two weeks after a course of STI treatment to ensure that the infection has been either cured or cleared.

It is also important to realise that having contracted an STI once does not make you immune from catching it again in the future. Make sure you always use a condom and make sure you are tested regularly if you are at risk of infection.