Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
By Bjarne Lühr Hansen PhD, MD and Philipp Skafte-Holm MD, Mentor Institute
Pelvic inflammatory disease can arise following an abortion or birth. However, also women with changing partner who do not use a condom have a risk of contracting pelvic inflammatory disease. Pain in the abdomen, discharge from the vagina and spotting together with fever are signs of pelvic inflammatory disease. The illness should be treated with antibiotics.
Pelvic inflammatory disease is most frequently seen with women under 30. Different bacteria that spread from the vagina to the uterus and the Fallopian tubes, thereby causing the inflammation, cause the illness. The old story about cold causing pelvic inflammatory disease have never been documented.
There are two kinds of pelvic inflammatory disease. One of them arises following an abortion or birth where bacteria are able to access the uterus and the Fallopian tubes. The other arises following intercourse where the bacteria chlamydia is transmitted. Consequences of pelvic inflammatory disease may be involuntary childlessness, chronic pain in the abdomen and pregnancy outside the uterus. This is why it is important both to prevent and treat pelvic inflammatory disease.
Pelvic inflammatory disease that arises following an abortion or birth appears as pain in the lower part of the abdomen – under the navel. The pain is usually located in both sides of the stomach. The pain is worsened when someone presses the stomach or if you jump up and down. Aside from the pain, you have a fever and usually an increased amount of discharge from the vagina. Most people feel really ill and lie in bed.
Pelvic inflammatory disease caused by chlamydia can appear in several ways – right from no nuisances at all to strong pain in the abdomen and high fever. A lot of people are not aware that they have pelvic inflammatory disease caused by chlamydia. Some women complain about an increased amount of watery discharge from the vagina together with frequent smarting urination. Spotting and bleeding during intercourse can also be sign of inflammation with chlamydia. Finally, pelvic inflammatory disease with chlamydia can appear as strong pain in the in the lower part of the stomach and high fever.
Thus, there are two situations where the woman has a particularly high risk of having pelvic inflammatory disease. First of all, immediately following an abortion or birth and second, if the woman has intercourse with changing partners who do not use a condom.