Venereal diseases

Symptoms and causes

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or venereal diseases are infections transmitted after sexual contact. They are transmitted from human to human and can be infections with bacteria, viruses or parasites. These, too, are disorders for which you can get help from a dermatologist.

Some of these conditions can be recognised due to skin abnormalities. Sometimes they can occur as genital skin lesions, sometimes they can cover the entire body. A number of STIs are characterised by a suppurative loss or discharge. There are many different known STIs, such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, herpes and genital warts (condyloma accuminata). Also scabies and lice can be transmitted after sexual contact. All of these conditions give other specific symptoms.

Diagnosis and treatment

The diagnosis is often made based on what the doctor sees. Urine and blood tests are often performed in order to make a correct diagnosis or to find any other STIs.

There are different treatment options for each condition. These will be discussed with you during your visit.

For genital warts, for example, we can freeze the lesions (cryotherapy); laser therapy can be performed, but also cream treatments (imiquimod and green tea derivative).

Antibiotic treatments are given for syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Some treatments require pills, other ones, such as syphilis, an injection.

The treatment for lice, scabies and herpes can be found under the relevant topics.