Sexually transmitted diseases can cause severe consequences and not all STDs cause similar symptoms. Many of the STDs do not show signs in the early phases and take a while to appear. Some STDs can also be caused around the oral cavity causing multiple symptoms including sore throat, white spots tonsils, and sores around the mouth.
What are STDs?
STDs are a special type of infection that has a unique spreading character such as transmission via sex including oral, anal, and vaginal sex. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are more than 1 million new cases of STDs that are recorded each year around the world. Most people wouldn’t know they have an STD since the symptoms appear later – making the actual numbers to be quite higher than reported.
When it comes to STDs, there are more than 1 or 2 common ones we know like Chlamydia and HIV that cause infection in both men and women. Some of them are curable and some of them aren’t. Certain types of STDs can cause oral symptoms causing difficulty in swallowing and painful signs.
Oral STDs
Some people have a misconception that STDs transmit only via vaginal or anal sex and oral sex is safer. However, that is not how it works. STDs are caused by bacteria and viruses that need human anatomy contact to survive. When you get in sexual contact with an infected person, the bacteria and viruses transmit via genital fluids – causing infection to the healthy person. In the case of oral sex, it is, even more, easier for the bacteria to penetrate into your body and manipulate orally since the mouth is moist and environmentally friendly to infectious viruses.
Following are some of the most common types of oral STDs that cause white spots tonsils and similar other symptoms,
- Oral Chlamydia
- Oral Gonorrhea
- Oral Syphilis
- Oral Herpes
- Oral HPV
According to CDC, more than 85% of adults (aged 18-44 years) who are sexually active reported having had oral sex at least once with a partner of the opposite sex – meaning oral STD contraction is very common.
What STDs cause white spots tonsils?
Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Herpes are the primary STDs to watch out for if you experience white spots tonsils symptoms. HIV which is an incurable STD can also cause white spots inside your mouth but it is not directly related to HIV symptoms or the virus itself. HIV causes various other infections due to its immune degenerative nature – one such infection is oral thrush where symptoms include white spots tonsils.
Oral Chlamydia
The sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis is called chlamydia. An infected person can pass on chlamydia through unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex or through genital contact. The bacteria chlamydia trachomatis typically infects and causes symptoms in the location they first entered the body. This infection can affect many organs, which include the penis, vagina, cervix, urethra, anus, eye, and throat. Often, a person with chlamydia infection may not have symptoms.
When chlamydia affects the throat, it causes no symptoms. But when symptoms do appear, they include a sore throat. The doctors termed chlamydia in the throat as a pharyngeal chlamydia infection. In addition, getting oral sex from someone who has contracted a chlamydia infection of the throat can also transmit the bacteria to the genitals. This infection is not a lifelong condition, it can be cured when treated with the right antibiotics.
Symptoms of oral chlamydia include
- White spots inside your mouth
- Sore throat
- Sores around lips & mouth
- Dental problems
- Mouth pain
- Mouth sores (which doesn’t heal)
Oral Gonorrhea
Sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae is called gonorrhea. This infection is mainly spread through sex (anal sex, vaginal intercourse, and oral intercourse) and blood. It can affect the throat, genitals, urinary tract, and rectum.
Oral gonorrhea is also termed pharyngeal gonorrhea. Mostly, gonorrhea infections in the throat have no symptoms. But when symptoms do appear, they can include a sore throat. When the throat gets affected, it looks like a strep throat with redness and rarely people may have some white spots or whitish/yellow discharge. The rate of oral gonorrhea is particularly high in gay and bisexual men. Some STD clinics reporting that up to 6.5% of men who have sex with men have pharyngeal gonorrhea.
Oral Gonorrhea Symptoms
- White spots inside your mouth
- Sore throat
- Redness in the throat
- Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
- Fever
Oral Herpes
This is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease (STDs) and it is caused by the Herpes simplex virus. Herpes simplex type 1 can be passed on through oral secretions or sores on the skin. It can also be transmitted through kissing, sharing objects like toothbrushes, or eating utensils. One can contact herpes type 2 during sexual contact with someone who has a genital HSV-2 infection. And genital herpes can be passed on from a pregnant woman to the baby during childbirth.
Of the two viruses, cold sores are most commonly caused by HSV-1. When a person gets oral sex from a partner with herpes on the lips, mouth, or throat, it can result in getting herpes on the genital area, anus, or in rectum. The infection can occur on the mouth, throat, lips, genital area, buttocks, anus, or rectum. It is estimated that 50-80% of US adults are infected with oral herpes.
Oral Herpes symptoms include
- White spots inside your mouth
- Painful sores (which makes difficulty in eating and drinking)
- Sores may occur on the roof of the mouth, lips, gums, front of the tongue, inside of cheeks, and in the throat
- Ulcers and blisters in or around the mouth
- The neck lymph nodes often swell
- The gums may become mildly swollen and red and may cause bleeding
- Irritation/burning sensation in the infected area
HIV
Oral HIV is very rare. HIV primarily transmits via genital and ana sex. Sometimes via sharing used needles, and accepting blood from unscreened donors. However, HIV can expose you to certain types of infections as the virus damages your immune system making you vulnerable to other bacteria and fungal infections like oral thrush.
Oral thrush: Oral thrush is a type of fungal infection caused due to HIV. It causes white patches on the inner cheeks, tongue, roof of the mouth, and throat, and redness/soreness.
Other signs of Oral STDs
- Sores in the mouth
- Lesions
- Fever blisters around the mouth
- Swollen tonsils
- Lymph nodes
- Difficulty in swallowing
- Sore throat
- Redness with white spots
Treatment for Oral STDs: White spots tonsils
The white spots can be treated if the right cause has been addressed, if the white spots in your tonsils are caused by Chlamydia or Gonorrhea, then they can be treated by taking antibiotics that help kill the bacteria that causes such symptoms. Getting tested for STDs is the only way to surely know whether you have been infected with which of the STD.
Can STDs be cured?
STDs can be cured if you get diagnosed and treated at the right time – by the right time we mean, even more, the symptoms tend to show up. Bacteria causing STDs like Chlamydia and Gonorrhea can be cured completely with the right antibiotics. If you are tested positive for STDs your physician may assess the severity of the infection along with your symptoms and prescribe you medicines. It is important to continue your medications for the full course as some people stop mid-way seeing the symptoms disappear – which is not advisable. Even if your symptoms disappear, the bacteria is still surviving in your body and needs to be terminated fully. Also, your physician may recommend avoiding having intimacy until you are completely cured and then practice sex with only your marital partner – as monogamy reduces the risks of STDs.
However, some types of STDs are not curable yet. The virus causing STDs such as HIV, Herpes, and HPV is one of the highly contagious that can lead to multiple yet severe health complications if not addressed in the early stages. The virus causing STD symptoms can be suppressed with anti-retroviral drugs which helps slow down the activity of the virus and heal the symptoms. However, the invaded STD virus is still present in your anatomy and you are to live with it lifelong.