What Happens If Chlamydia Goes Untreated for a Long Time?

What Happens If Chlamydia Goes Untreated for a Long Time?

What happens if chlamydia is untreated?

If you’re not treated for chlamydia, you may have some serious complications. 

Pelvic inflammatory disease

In women, the untreated chlamydia infection may spread to your fallopian tubes or uterus. This may cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Pelvic inflammatory disease can result in serious health problems:

  • Chronic pelvic pain
  • Infertility. Pelvic inflammatory disease can cause scar tissue to develop in your fallopian tubes. This can block your tubes and make it difficult for an egg to pass through and become fertilized. 
  • Ectopic pregnancy. This scarring of your fallopian tubes can stop a fertilized egg from moving into your uterus. The egg may then begin to grow in your fallopian tube. An ectopic pregnancy can be dangerous, as your fallopian tube may break and cause bleeding in your pelvis and abdomen. 

A study of women admitted to hospitals found that women with pelvic inflammatory disease were:

  • Ten times more likely to be admitted to hospital for abdominal pain
  • Ten times more likely to be admitted for ectopic pregnancy
  • Six times more likely to be admitted for endometriosis
  • Eight times more likely to be admitted for a procedure to remove their womb (hysterectomy)

Some people with pelvic inflammatory disease caused by chlamydia may also develop a rare complication known as Fitz-Hugh-Curtis Syndrome or perihepatitis. This is a painful inflammation of the tissue surrounding your liver.

Pregnancy complications

If you’re pregnant and your chlamydia is untreated, this increases your likelihood of problems like premature birth and a low-birth-weight baby. You may pass chlamydia on to your baby. Your baby may develop a lung infection (pneumonia) or eye infection (conjunctivitis).

Studies have found that in babies born to women with untreated chlamydia at delivery, about 18% to 44% get conjunctivitis, and 3% to 16% develop pneumonia.

Other complications

Women with chlamydia are also 6.5 times more likely to develop cervical cancer than those who are uninfected. Having chlamydia also increases your risk of HIV infection because your genital tract is inflamed.

Reactive arthritis (Reiter syndrome) is also linked to chlamydia infection. This is a type of joint inflammation that develops in response to an infection.

For men, chlamydia that’s untreated can cause your testicles and tubes that carry sperm from your testicles to swell and become tender or painful. The pain may be severe and constant. You may also have some discharge. This rare condition is known as epididymitis or epididymo-orchitis.