Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: Risk Factors, Symptoms And Treatments.

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Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: Risk Factors, Symptoms, and Treatments.

What is pelvic inflammatory disease?
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the reproductive organs in women. The pelvis is in the lower abdomen and includes the fallopian tubes, the ovaries, the cervix, and the uterus...

Several different types of bacteria can cause PID, including the same bacteria that cause the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea and chlamydia. What commonly occurs is that bacteria first enter the vagina and cause an infection. As time passes, this infection can move into the pelvic organs.

PID can become extremely dangerous, even life-threatening, if the infection spreads to your blood. If you suspect that you may have an infection, see your doctor as soon as possible.

Risks.
Risk factors for pelvic inflammatory disease
Your risk of pelvic inflammatory disease increases if you have gonorrhea or chlamydia. However, you can develop PID without ever having an STI. Other factors that can cause pelvic inflammatory disease include:

1).having sex and being under the age of 25
2). having sex with different people
3). having sex without a condom
4).using an intrauterine device (IUD) to prevent a pregnancy

5).having a history of pelvic inflammatory disease
Symptoms
6).Symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease.
Some women with pelvic inflammatory disease don’t have symptoms. For the women who do have symptoms, these can include:

A). fever
B). increased or foul-smelling vaginal discharge
tiredness
Pelvic inflammatory disease can cause mild or moderate pain. However, some women have severe pain and symptoms, such as:

C). sharp pain in the abdomen
D). a high fever (greater than 101°F)
If you have severe symptoms, call your doctor immediately or go to the emergency room. The infection may have spread to your bloodstream or other parts of your body. Once again, this can be a life-threatening condition.

Medical Tests:
Tests for pelvic inflammatory disease
Diagnosing PID:
Your doctor may be able to diagnose PID after hearing your symptoms. In most cases, your doctor will run tests to confirm the diagnosis. Tests include:

1).pelvic exam to check your pelvic organs
2).cervical culture to check your cervix for infections

3).urine test to check your urine for signs of blood, cancer, and other diseases

After collecting samples, your doctor sends these samples to a laboratory.

Assessing damage:
If your doctor determines that you have pelvic inflammatory disease, they may run more tests and check your pelvic area for damage. PID can cause scarring on your fallopian tubes and permanent damage to your reproductive organs.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - Medications
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is usually treated with a broad-spectrum antibiotic, which kills more than one type of bacteria.

How long you need to take antibiotics depends on your infection and the type of antibiotic used. Although you may feel better before you have taken all of your pills, don't stop taking them. If you stop too soon, your infection may return.

Treatment usually takes 14 days. But the number of days you continue to take antibiotics depends on your infection and the type of antibiotic medicine. You may also be able to use a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to relieve PID pain or discomfort.

It sometimes takes more than one course of medicine to cure PID. Sometimes bacteria can become resistant to an antibiotic. This means that the antibiotic is no longer effective against the bacteria. In this case, you'll need to try another type of antibiotic.

Antibiotics commonly prescribed to treat PID include:

ofloxacin
metronidazole
ceftriaxone
doxycycline
The bacteria that cause PID can spread through sexual contact. If you are sexually active, your partner should also get treated for PID. Men may be silent carriers of bacteria that cause pelvic inflammatory disease. Your infection can recur if your partner doesn’t receive treatment. You may be asked to abstain from sexual intercourse until the infection has been resolved.

Prevention
Ways to prevent pelvic inflammatory disease
You can lower your risk of PID by:
1.practicing safe sex
2.getting tested for sexually transmitted infections

3.avoiding douches
4.wiping from front to back after using the bathroom to stop bacteria from entering your vagina.

Complications:
Long-term complications of pelvic inflammatory disease.

Make a doctor’s appointment if you think that you have PID. Other conditions, such as a urinary tract infection, can feel like pelvic inflammatory disease. However, your doctor can test for PID and rule out other conditions.

If you don’t treat your PID, your symptoms can worsen and lead to problems, such as:

A. infertility: inability to conceive a child.
B. ectopic pregnancy: pregnancy that occurs outside the womb.

C. chronic pelvic pain: pain in the lower abdomen caused by scarring of the fallopian tubes and other pelvic organs.

D. The infection can also spread to other parts of your body. If it spreads to your blood, it can become life-threatening.