The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Infection) reports the more than 700,000 American people are infected each year. It's important to know whether you have an STD or not for your own health but also to ensure that your partner's sexual health is not at risk either.

It's just a fact of life, if you are having sex you are at risk for coming in contact with gonorrhea and other STDs. When you get tested, you are ensuring that both you and your partner can enjoy a healthy relationship without fear of passing and infection back and forth. If you enter into a brand new relationship, decide to become monogamous or have engaged in risky sexual behavior in the past, it's often a good idea to be tested right away.

First off, it's important to know what gonorrhea is. Basically, it is an STD that comes from a bacteria called neisseria gonorrhea. The perfect growing environment is a warm and moist location and this is why it thrives in the reproductive tract. The most common area of infection in women are the urethra, fallopian tubes, uterus or the cervix. For men, the most ordinary area for infection is the urethra. This same bacteria can also lead to infection in the oral cavities (including throat and mouth), eyes and anus in men and women.

The infection can be passed without ejaculation taking place. This transmission can take place at any point during sexual contact orally or through contact with the anus or vagina.

Unfortunately gonorrhea can be "silent," or in other words, lack any outward signs or symptoms of infection, making this a very difficult STD to detect. When diagnosed in its early stages, gonorrhea is curable with the help of antibiotics. If the infection does cause any outward symptoms, they will usually begin showing up withing a month and most normally somewhere between two to ten days after exposure.

Men generally experience a burning feeling while urinating, discharge (green or yellow) from the penis and swelling and/or pain is often experienced around the testicles. Many times women do not have any symptoms at all. If symptoms do appear in woman they normally include an increase in vaginal discharge, bleeding between periods and painful urination.

Rectal infections also can occur in men and women. Symptoms of a rectal infection include anal itching, pain, blood and pain during bowel movements. Sometimes an infection will also appear in the throat and may be detected due to soreness.

In most cases, the treatment for gonorrhea is extremely effective in clearing up the infection as long as it is caught before any irreversible damage to the reproductive organs takes place. Once damage has occurred, the infection can be cleared up easily with antibiotics but the long-term affects cannot be reversed. One problem that is becoming more noticeable is that today there are more drug-resistant forms of the infection emerging. No matter what, finding out about a gonorrhea infection early on is important to getting treated and keeping your reproductive tract healthy.