How to Detect Symptoms of STDs in Teenagers

The malignant ghost of sexually transmitted diseases is hovering over many houses where teenagers live. We are obsessed with the fear of having unwanted pregnancies, and we try to ask our teens if they are careful enough. But is not only early pregnancy that should scare us, because STDs are horrifyingly common these days among young people. In 2007, around 2 million people under the age of 15 were infected by AIDS, according to avert.com. STDs can affect teens from every background or race who are having unprotected sex.

STDs are dangerous if they are not treated. They can cause serious medical problems, such as infertility, and even death. Teenagers are people who are living complicated lives. Physical and emotional changes make them sensitive and many times non-communicative. It is difficult for many teens to talk to their parents about their problems, and the situation may be become worse if the problem is sexual.

We always wonder if our teenagers are safe; we need to know what is going on with them, and their health is one of our bigger concerns. Communication is important; we must try to speak to them about what is going on with their lives and listen to them without judging or scaring them. Observing them can be a good way to detect if our teenagers suffer from STDs. Although many STDs don’t show external symptoms, we know our children, and we can detect some signs that something is not right with them. These are some signs that can help us:

If a female teenager complains about abdominal pain, she could be affected by Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease. She might also have pain while urinating, so we can be aware of the time she spends in the bathroom, and ask her if she is OK. Another possible symptom of Chlamydia is a thicker and smelly discharge. We should check out her underwear while we wash the laundry to detect any abnormal sign.

Bleeding between periods may be another sign of Chlamydia, and that can be easier for us to detect If your daughter is using pads between periods or if her underwear shows blood, you should take her to the doctor.

It is much harder to detect if your teenage boy suffers from Chlamydia, because he may not have symptoms at all, or his symptoms might be very internal, such as discharge and irritation in the penis.

If your teenage children suffer from genital herpes, you would detect signs of it during an outbreak. Your boy or girl will suffer from pain in the genitals, rushes and sores, which can bleed and be very painful. If they complain about those symptoms and they show fevers and headaches, you should immediately take them to the doctor.

Gonorrhea is a difficult sexually transmitted disease to be detected in a female teenager, because the symptoms are not clear until the disease is advanced. We need to be aware of strong, yellow discharge in the underwear, complaints about a burning and itching feeling in the genitals and fever and headaches.

For a boy, is easier to detect gonorrhea, because they suffer from a yellow discharge from the penis and a burning feeling. But for parents to detect the signs would be hard, except if the child were to talk to you. We must be aware of how underwear looks.

If our teens show fever and symptoms similar to the flu, complain about abdominal pain and their skin looks somehow yellowish, you must take them to the doctor, because they may suffer from Hepatitis B (HBV). There is a vaccine against Hepatitis B, and it is important to give it to our teenagers.

If your teen contracts HIV, you can face a big problem in detecting it, because in many cases he or she won’t develop complete AIDS symptoms until 10 years after or more. If your teen develops full-blown AIDS, he or she won’t be able to fight off infections, and the fatigue and weakness will be overwhelming. You will observe a rapid loss of weight, swollen lymph glands, heavy sweating at nights, rashes in the genitals and the mouth, chronic diarrhea or a persistent cough. If you detect these symptoms in your teenagers, take them immediately to the doctor.

These are some of the STDs that can affect our teenage children. We must always keep our ways of communication open and be aware of what is going on in their lives. Observing and listening are your best weapons in fighting and detecting STDs that threaten our children.