Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: How to Care for Your Daughter

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection in the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and/or uterus. PID is caused by an STD (sexually transmitted disease). STDs are infections that spread through sex (vaginal, oral, or anal). Treatment with antibiotics can help prevent long-lasting problems and stop the infection from spreading to others.

Treatment:

• Make sure that your daughter takes all the antibiotics exactly as the health care provider recommended. Even if she has no more signs of PID, stopping antibiotics early means the PID could come back.

• Your daughter needs to tell all sexual partners from the past 2 months to get treatment too, even if they don't have signs of an STD. 

• Your daughter should not have sex until:

  • treatment is finished and there are no more signs of PID or other STDs (such as belly pain, fever, abnormal discharge, pain when peeing, or genital warts or sores). This is usually at least 1 week after treatment starts.

  • partners have been treated and have no symptoms

• If your daughter has pain, cramps, or fever, she can:

  • Take ibuprofen (such as Advil®, Motrin®, or a store brand) OR acetaminophen (such as Tylenol® or a store brand). Follow dose instructions on the label.

  • Try a warm heating pad on her belly.

Follow up:

• Take your daughter for follow-up STD testing as recommended by the health care provider.

• Be sure your daughter gets all doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (shot). HPV is an STD that can lead to some kinds of cancer and genital warts.

Your daughter:

• is not taking the antibiotics

• gets a new or higher fever

• is not getting better after a few days on antibiotics

• gets better, then develops signs of an STD

Your daughter:

• gets sudden, severe pain in her belly

• has heavy vaginal bleeding

• is vomiting (throwing up) and can't keep anything down

What happens if PID is not treated? If PID isn't treated, a girl can have problems like:

• ongoing pain in the lower belly

• trouble getting pregnant

• ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the womb)

Sometimes, if PID has gone on too long, a girl may still get these problems even after treatment.

Can my daughter get PID again? Yes. Girls can get PID again if partners with STDs don't get treatment, or if a girl has sex with someone else who has an STD.

How can my daughter avoid getting another STD? The best way to avoid an STD is not to have sex (vaginal, oral, or anal). Teens who do have sex should:

• Use a condom every time they have sex (vaginal, oral, or anal).

• Have only one partner, who has already been tested and does not have an STD. That partner should not have sex with other people.