Chlamydia And Arthritis: Is There A Link?
Chlamydia is a super common sexually transmitted infection common during the teens, twenties and early thirties. Arthritis causes inflammation and pain at various joints and is not common until a little older in life. How are these two related?
There is a condition called, “undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy” that presents itself as inflammatory back pain, single-sided or alternating buttock pain, inflammation at the point where a tendon/ligament attaches to a bone, arthritis of the small joints, swollen fingers or toes, heel pain, fatigue, and/or eye inflammation. The HLA-B27 test is positive only 20-25% of the time.
In the 2009 May issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, researchers found 62% of the patients to test positive for a Chlamydia infection either in their blood or synovial fluid. Chlamydia is common in Reactive Arthritis which is another form of spondyloarthropathy.
If you suspect, or have been diagnosed with, a spondyloarthropathy, consider having a Rheumatologist test you for Chlamydia in case it has been the cause for your pain all these years.
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hey, i was totally unaware of chlamidiya causing joint pains if left untreated. I was diagnosed with chlamidya in august last year and i took antibiotics however i didnt finish the packet as i lost them. I forgot to return to the clinic and get some more. A few months later up until this date i have been experiencing very tender joints and are quite painful. After reading this post i shall return to the clinic tommorow and have a second test. This time though i shall ensure i finish the medication then get retested to make sure it has gone.
September 6, 2009 - 6:04pmThis Comment