What is Gonorrhoea?
Gonorrhoea is a bacterial infection which can affect your penis, anus, throat or even eyes. It is possible to get Gonorrhoea more than once and in different parts of your body. It can be painful and can cause health problems such as infertility.
Usually passed on through oral sex, anal sex, sharing toys or any sort of anal play.
Some guys don’t get any symptoms, infections in the anus and throat can often go unnoticed.
Gonorrhoea in your penis can produce a white, yellow or green discharge, other symptoms you may experience are pain when peeing, inflamed foreskin, sore/tender testicles and itchiness or pain when you go to the toilet.
A urine test and a throat and rectal swab will detect Gonorrhoea. Specific antibiotics will be used to treat Gonorrhoea. With effective treatment, most of your symptoms should improve within a few days. Sexual contact should be avoided for at least one week to ensure the infection has cleared after treatment.
Using condoms is the best protection from Gonorrhoea. Not sharing toys and/or washing them before anyone else uses them and washing your hands with soap and water immediately after sex can also help prevent transmission, especially if having sex with multiple partners, as the bacteria can’t survive long outside of the body.
HIV can exacerbate some of the symptoms and complications of Gonorrhoea. Having Gonorrhoea will also increase the amount of viral load in that person’s semen. HIV-negative guys who get Gonorrhoea in their rectum can be more susceptible to being infected with HIV.
Where can I test?
If you are a resident of the borough of Greenwich, then you can order a home test kit to test for Gonorrhoea from this website. These are completely free and you'll get your result by text in five working days of the Lab receiving your samples.
If you are not from one of the above areas, or would prefer to test face-to-face, please visit our Pitstop Clinic or Contact Us for information about other places you can test for Gonorrhoea.