How to Diagnose Syphilis

Syphilis is a deadly infection that can stay in the body and reoccur for up to 30 years before advancing to the final stages. Syphilis is completely curable with penicillin, but the damage it can do the brain, spinal cord and internal organs is not reversible. You must catch it before it can harm you.

Instructions

1. Check for canker sores after suspected infection, or unprotected sexual involvement. Canker sores may take up to 90 days to present. They typically show up around the mouth, lips and tongue or on genitalia, including vulva, vagina or cervix. The sore can show up on the outside or inside of the body and should heal on its own.

2. See your physician right away if you find a painless sore. He should be able to diagnose syphilis by the symptoms, through a blood test and by microscopic examination of the sore.

3. Look for the symptoms. Symptoms start 3 to 6 weeks after the appearance of the canker sore and include additional sores appearing on the mouth, cervix and throat; high or low-grade fevers; sore throat and swollen glands; a skin rash that appears mainly on the hands and feet or other parts of the body; headaches and muscle aches; unexplained weight loss; fatigue and hair loss on any parts of the body. Even when the symptoms disappear, the infection is progressing to the next and most dangerous stage.

4. Prevent the final stage of syphilis. The infection begins to affect the brain, heart, internal organs and joints. It can cause paralysis, blindness, insanity and death. The infection can stay in your body and not present for more than 30 years. The only way to stop the progression is by treatment.

Tips & Warnings

• Syphilis symptoms can go away with or without medication, but the infection is still contagious.