Trichomoniasis

Your healthcare professional may find, also called diagnose, trichomoniasis with an exam of the genitals and lab tests.

Your healthcare professional may use a cotton swab to collect a sample of fluid from your vagina or penis. The sample is then checked under a microscope. If the parasite can be seen, no other tests are needed.

If the test doesn't show the parasite, your healthcare professional still may think you could have trichomoniasis. When this happens, other tests may be done. A lab can do genetic testing of your fluid sample. Or the lab can find out if the parasite can be grown in a sample of your genital discharge or urine. This is called a culture test.

If you have trichomoniasis, your healthcare professional likely will test you for other sexually transmitted infections as well. That way, you can get treatment for any other diseases that are found.

Treatment of trichomoniasis involves taking medicine called an antibiotic. Antibiotics are best known for treating infections caused by bacteria. But certain antibiotics treat infections caused by the trichomoniasis parasite. Treatment can be given during pregnancy. Options may include:

• One large dose. Your healthcare professional may have you take one dose of medicine by mouth. Antibiotics that treat trichomoniasis include metronidazole (Flagyl), tinidazole (Tindamax, Tinidazole) and secnidazole (Solosec).

  Metronidazole can be taken during pregnancy. Tinidazole and secnidazole usually are not given to pregnant people. More research is needed on their safety during pregnancy.

• More than dose. Your healthcare professional may recommend a few lower doses of metronidazole or tinidazole. You take the pills two times a day for seven days.

  To help gid rid of the infection, keep taking this medicine for the full time that your healthcare professional prescribed the drug. Take it as exactly as prescribed even if you start to feel better after a few days. If you stop using this medicine too soon, your infection may not go away completely.

All sex partners that you have need treatment at the same time. This keeps you from getting the infection again, also called reinfection. Do not have sex until you and your partner have finished the treatment and the symptoms have gone away. Tell your healthcare professional if symptoms don't go away after treatment.

Drinking alcohol during and for a few days after treatment can cause upset stomach and vomiting. Don't drink alcohol for 72 hours after taking metronidazole or tinidazole, or 48 hours after taking secnidazole.

Your healthcare professional may test you for trichomoniasis once more after treatment. This is done to check whether the infection is gone and that you haven't gotten infected again. Women often are tested 3 weeks to 3 months after treatment. Men usually are not tested again unless they have trichomoniasis symptoms.

Even if you've had treatment that gets rid of trichomoniasis, it doesn't protect you for life. You can get trichomoniasis again if you're exposed to someone with the infection.

Your family healthcare professional or gynecologist can diagnose and prescribe treatment for trichomoniasis. So can a medical practitioner at an urgent care center.

What you can do

Before the appointment, make a list that includes:

• A detailed description of your symptoms, including when they started.
• Any sexually transmitted infections you've had.
• The number of sexual partners you've had during the past few years.

What to expect from your doctor

Your healthcare professional may do a pelvic exam to check your lower genital tract, including your vagina. A sample of urine or other fluid may be collected from inside your vagina or penis for testing.