Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of a woman’s reproductive organs. In 2013, about 88,000 women ages 15–44 in the United States were diagnosed with PID. PID is often caused by a sexually transmitted infection (STI). If left untreated, PID can cause problems getting pregnant, problems during pregnancy, and long-term pelvic pain.
PID is an infection of a woman’s reproductive organs. The reproductive organs include the uterus (womb), fallopian tubes, ovaries, and cervix.
PID can be caused by many different types of bacteria. Usually PID is caused by bacteria from STIs. Sometimes PID is caused by normal bacteria found in the vagina.
PID affects about 5% of women in the United States. Your risk for PID is higher if you:
A woman can get PID if bacteria move up from her vagina or cervix and into her reproductive organs. Many different types of bacteria can cause PID. Most often, PID is caused by infection from two common STIs: gonorrhea and chlamydia. The number of women with PID has dropped in recent years. This may be because more women are getting tested regularly for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
You can also get PID without having an STI. Normal bacteria in the vagina can travel into a woman’s reproductive organs and can sometimes cause PID. Sometimes the bacteria travel up to a woman’s reproductive organs because of douching. Do not douche. No doctor or nurse recommends douching.
Many women do not know they have PID because they do not have any signs or symptoms. When symptoms do happen, they can be mild or more serious.
Signs and symptoms include:
PID can come on fast, with extreme pain and fever, especially if it is caused by gonorrhea.
To diagnose PID, doctors usually do a physical exam to check for signs of PID and test for STIs. If you think that you may have PID, see a doctor or nurse as soon as possible.
If you have pain in your lower abdomen, your doctor or nurse will check for:
Your doctor may do tests to find out whether you have PID or a different problem that looks like PID. These can include:
A Pap test is not used to detect PID.
Your doctor or nurse will give you antibiotics to treat PID. Most of the time, at least two antibiotics are used that work against many different types of bacteria. You must take all of your antibiotics, even if your symptoms go away. This helps to make sure the infection is fully cured. See your doctor or nurse again two to three days after starting the antibiotics to make sure they are working.
Your doctor or nurse may suggest going into the hospital to treat your PID if:
If you still have symptoms or if the abscess does not go away after treatment, you may need surgery. Problems caused by PID, such as chronic pelvic pain and scarring, are often hard to treat. But sometimes they get better after surgery.
Without treatment, PID can lead to serious problems like infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain (pain that does not go away). If you think you may have PID, see a doctor or nurse as soon as possible.
Antibiotics will treat PID, but they will not fix any permanent damage done to your internal organs.
Maybe. Your chances of getting pregnant are lower if you have had PID more than once. When you have PID, bacteria can get into the fallopian tubes or cause inflammation of the fallopian tubes. This can cause scarring in the tissue that makes up your fallopian tubes.
Scar tissue can block an egg from your ovary from entering or traveling down the fallopian tube to your uterus (womb). The egg needs to be fertilized by a man’s sperm and then attach to your uterus for pregnancy to happen. Even having just a little scar tissue can keep you from getting pregnant without fertility treatment.
Scar tissue from PID can also cause a dangerous ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy outside of the uterus) instead of a normal pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies are more than six times more common in women who have had PID compared with women who have not had PID. Most of these pregnancies end in miscarriage.
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 STIs by not having vaginal, oral, or anal sex.
If you do have sex, lower your risk of getting an STI with the following steps:
The steps work best when used together. No single step can protect you from every single type of STI.
Yes. It is possible to get PID, or an STI, if you are a woman who has sex only with women.
Talk to your partner about her sexual history before having sex, and ask your doctor about getting tested if you have signs or symptoms of PID.
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