Syphilis is also a sexually transmitted disease. For this disease, a not very obvious manifestation is characteristic. But how is syphilis manifested in men and what are its ways of infection?
How is it transmitted?
There are several infection routes. The disease is transmitted:
- Sexually. This is most famous when infection occurs during sexual contact with a person with syphilis. Treponema, whose habitat is a liquid, can enter the body not only during traditional sex, but also during oral and anal.
- Household way. So you can get sick only if the household does not know that one of them has found refuge in treponema. For its further distribution, common use of dishes, towels, lipsticks and even cigarettes is sufficient. So you should be careful not only in choosing a new partner for sexual relations, but also in the use of unfamiliar household items. But it is difficult to get infected in this way, since the bacterium itself cannot live for a long time in the environment that is not suitable for itself. But such cases are known when people became sick with syphilis after washing things that belonged to a sick person in the total capacity.
- By blood transfusion. The cause of infection is blood. Basically, this happens during a transfusion - from a sick person to a healthy one. It is possible to infect and when using a disposable syringe by more than one person.
- Professional way. In this way, health workers can become infected. For example, obstetrician gynecologists, dentists, surgeons, pathologists.
- Transplacental way. Newborns are susceptible to this infection. If the mother has treponema in her blood, then she can enter the baby’s body through the placenta, as well as through milk during breastfeeding.
Incubation period
How is syphilis manifested in men? Before describing the signs of the disease, it is worth talking about the incubation period. It lasts about three weeks. But there are also cases when this period increases from about a couple of months to three. It may also appear after eight days, without showing any special symptoms indicating the severity of the disease.
How much syphilis is manifested in men? Considering the issue, it should be noted that when a person used antibiotics of any kind during the incubation period, the manifestation of symptoms may drag on for a longer period. This also happens when a man has a venereal ulcer.
The incubation period is no less dangerous for others and sexual partners than a pronounced disease.
Stages
But after what time does syphilis appear in men? There are three stages of the onset of the disease:
- primary;
- secondary;
- tertiary.
The main symptom in the primary stage is chancre. It can be like an ulcer or erosion. It is characterized by its appearance in any place, regardless of where the sexual intercourse took place. It manifests itself immediately after the end of the incubation period. At first, this chancre is small and does not cause any particular inconvenience. In addition, there is no feeling of pain.
Signs
Initial manifestations occur on the foreskin or the glans penis. Thus, the immune system signals a syphiloma that has entered the body.
Primary syphilis in men manifests itself in such parts of the body as:
- genitals;
- scrotum;
- upper limbs;
- lips;
- oral cavity;
- stomach;
- anal area and others.
At the first remark of the chancre, it is safe to say that the primary stage of syphilis has already begun. Although the symptoms are not so noticeable. They are more manifested in the secondary stage of the disease, but here you can still note an increase in lymph nodes.
What signs and symptoms of syphilis in men can be seen? These include:
- Significant malaise;
- decreased appetite;
- increased irritability;
- pain in the joints and bones;
- elevated temperature;
- swelling of the genitals.
Secondary syphilis. How is syphilis manifested in men?
Photos of such manifestations of the disease will not cause anyone positive emotions. The secondary stage begins about the eighth week after the first chancre appeared and disappeared. If nothing is done now, the secondary period can last about five years.
How is syphilis manifested in men? At this time, blood infection occurs with an infection, which is manifested not only by skin rashes, but also on the mucous membranes. At the same time, completely innocent symptoms are observed for everyone:
- elevated temperature;
- headache;
- decreased appetite;
- dizziness;
- increased fatigue and malaise;
- the presence of a runny nose and cough, which is similar to a cold disease;
- sometimes conjunctivitis occurs.
This period is characterized by the fact that all of the above symptoms can alternate, and the patient does not have any special reasons to consult a doctor. But to ignore them is by no means worth it.
But the worst part is that it is at this time that the internal organs and joints are affected.
The main sign of syphilis is a rash. When not taking any measures, then after a while it disappears, and the disease goes into a closed form.
When a syphilis rash occurs, it strongly resembles nodules of various shapes. Sometimes a symptom of the disease may be baldness, which will be clearly observed not only on the head, but also in other parts of the body where the hairline is located.
Right now the nervous system is affected, when you can observe the following:
- vessels in the brain are affected, and their inflammatory process may occur;
- Neuritis and meningitis are more often observed.
Third stage
So, we study further how syphilis manifests itself in men. The third stage begins 3-5 years after infection. Until this time, perhaps no obvious signs were observed. But during this period rashes begin to appear, which strongly resemble small tubercles of a dense structure. If at the moment you do nothing and do not get treated, then they begin to turn into ulcers, which already clearly indicate the presence in the body of a disease such as syphilis.
In some cases, a person who is the carrier and causative agent of this disease in this condition can remain until the end of his life. But if syphilis is manifested, then the patient’s health deteriorates significantly, and all existing chronic diseases appear in a more acute form.
The consequences of an advanced disease
Most often, the following effects of an advanced form of syphilis are observed:
- The brain is affected, and this contributes to the progression of paralysis of both the upper and lower extremities. Mental disorders can also be observed. Dementia, which cannot be treated, sometimes progresses.
- With damage to the spinal cord, walking is disturbed, orientation in space is lost. The most severe case is when the patient cannot move at all.
- The circulatory system is affected, primarily large vessels.
What does it look like?
But what does syphilis look like in men? It manifests itself in the form of a small ulcer. She herself is a bright red tint. It occurs in most cases on the genitals. In rarer cases, inside the anus or diuretic canal. If nothing is done, then these formations can grow up to four centimeters.
During the course of the disease, some complications may occur:
- swelling;
- foreskin may have seals;
- getting some other infection into an already formed ulcer.
In the latter case, there is the possibility that a large edema forms in this place. In more rare and worse, complete tissue death occurs. This symptom is called re-gangrenization. This can happen to a man if he is abusing alcohol.
Diagnostics
Diagnosis of syphilis in men is carried out in any clinic. To confirm the diagnosis, it is mandatory to donate blood for analysis. The stage of the disease is easier to determine after analysis of the Wasserman reaction.
If you ignore the symptoms of the first two stages, then in the third it will be difficult to do, since both the epidermis and the internal organs, as well as the nervous system, are affected. This is possible only in cases where the disease proceeds in an invisible form and appears only at the last stage. Basically, the disease is detected during preventive examinations.
It should be noted that the sooner you undergo a course of treatment for this disease, the safer it will be both for your own health and for future offspring.
Conclusion
Nowadays, a disease such as syphilis is subject to treatment, regardless of the stage at which it was discovered. Naturally, the sooner the better.
So at the slightest suspicion, especially after accidental contact, it is best to contact a venereologist and take tests.