Young, Sexually Active Women With Multiple Sex Partners Are At Greatest Risk For Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.

Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases (PID): Definition, Causes, Risk Factors, Signs And Symptoms, Treatment And Preventions.

What is Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases?

Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases can be defined as an inflammation and infection of a woman's pelvic organs which includes the ovaries, cervix, fallopian tubes and womb (uterus).

PID is common and is estimated to affect around one million women yearly in the US.

Most cases of PID are caused by chlamydia and or gonorrhea, although several different types of bacteria can be responsible.

Click here to know about Chlamydia.

Do you want to know about Gonorrhea? Click here.

PID usually develops as a result of spread of a sexually transmitted infections (STI).

Young, sexually active women with multiple sex partners are at greatest risk for pelvic inflammatory disease. Douching and history of pelvic inflammatory disease are other risk factors.

Pelvic inflammatory disease may not show any symptoms or signs (referred to as being asymptomatic). In some cases, it causes

Fever

Vaginal discharge

Abdominal pain

Pelvic pain

Dysuria (sensation of pain during urination)

Painful sexual intercourse (painful coitus).

The treatment for pelvic inflammatory disease involves antibiotics directed against the microorganisms responsible for the disease.

Complications of untreated pelvic inflammatory disease can include infertility and scarring of the pelvic organs.

Pelvic inflammatory disease can be life threatening in severe cases.

What are the causes of PID?

Pelvic inflammatory disease is usually caused by a bacteria from sexually transmitted infections. Sometimes pelvic inflammatory disease is caused by normal bacteria found in the vagina. If left untreated, pelvic inflammatory disease can cause problems getting pregnant, long term pelvic pain and problems during pregnancy.

Each year in the United States, more than one million women have an episode of pelvic inflammatory disease. One hundred thousand women become infertile each year because of PID. Also, many ectopic pregnancies that occur are due to problems from PID.

Pelvic inflammatory disease affects about 5% of women in the United States.

What are the risk factors of PID?

Your risk for PID is higher if you:

Have had pelvic inflammatory disease before

Have had sexually transmitted infections

Have more than one sex partner or have a partner who has multiple sex partners

Recently had an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted. The risk of PID is higher for the few weeks only after insertion of IUD. PID is rare after that period. Getting tested for sexually transmitted infections before the IUD is inserted lowers your risk for PID.

Are younger than 25 years and have sex. PID is most common in women 15-24 years old.

Douche, Douching can push bacteria into the reproductive organs and cause PID. Douching can also hide the signs of PID.

Signs And Symptoms Of PID

Many women don't know they have pelvic inflammatory disease, because they don't have any symptoms or signs. When symptoms do happen, they can be mild or serious. Signs and symptoms are:

Fever

Painful sexual intercourse

Painful urination

Pain in the lower abdomen (this is the most common symptoms)

Vaginal discharge that may smell foul

Irregular periods

Pain in the upper right abdomen.

How pelvic inflammatory disease is treated?

Your medical practitioner will give you antibiotics to treat PID. Most of the time, at least two antibiotics are used that works against many different types of bacteria. You must take all of your antibiotics, even if your symptoms goes away. This helps to make sure the infection is fully cured. See your medical practitioner again two to three days after starting the antibiotics to make sure they are working.

How can I prevent myself from getting PID?

You may not be able to prevent PID. It is not always caused by an STI.

Sometimes, normal bacteria in your vagina can travel up to your reproductive organs and cause PID. But you can lower your risk of PID by not douching. You can also prevent STI by not having oral, vaginal and anal sex. If you do have sex, lower your risk of getting an STI with the following steps:

Use condoms, condoms are the best way to prevent STI when you have sex.

Do not douche, Douching removes some of the normal bacteria in the vagina that protect you from infection. 

Douching may also raise your risk for PID by helping bacteria travel to other areas, like ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes.

Get tested. Be sure you and your partner are tested for STIs. Talk to each other about the test results before you have sex.

Limit your number of sex partners. Your risk of getting STIs goes up with the number of partners you have.

Be monogamous. Having sex with one partner can lower your risk for STI.

After being tested for STIs, be faithful to each other. That means that you have sex only with each other and no one else.

Do not abuse drugs or alcohol. Drinking too much alcohol or using drugs increases risky behavior and may put you at risk of sexual assault and possible exposure to STIs.

Sources:

www.medicinenet.com