Treating Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) with Medicines

As soon as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) has been diagnosed, it needs to be treated with antibiotics. Two or more types of antibiotics may be taken at the same time. This ensures that all the bacteria are killed. It's very important to take all of your medicine as prescribed, or the infection may not go away.

For mild cases

Mild cases of PID can be treated at home. Antibiotic pills will likely be prescribed. You may also get an injection of antibiotics.

For more serious cases

Severe cases of PID need to be treated in the hospital. There, you will get antibiotics through an IV (intravenous) line. Your health will be closely watched. The length of your hospital stay depends on how sick you are. After you leave the hospital, antibiotic pills will likely be prescribed. If complications have occurred, you may need surgery to help treat them.

Make sure your partner gets treated

The bacteria that cause PID can also have harmful effects in men. Any partner you have had sex with in the past 60 days should be treated for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Your partner must be treated with antibiotics as well.

During treatment

Follow all your healthcare provider’s instructions. This will help you heal. During treatment:

• Finish all of your antibiotics, even if you start to feel better. Otherwise, the infection might not go away. It could even get worse and become harder to treat.

• Don’t have sex until both you and your partner have finished all of your antibiotics.

• Relieve pelvic pain with a heating pad, hot water bottle, or ice pack. Your healthcare provider may also suggest a prescription or over-the-counter pain medicine.

• Ask your healthcare provider if you should avoid alcohol, which can react with some antibiotics.

If you take birth control pills

When both you and your partner have finished your antibiotics, it’s OK to have sex. Use latex condoms to prevent future infections. Also, keep taking your birth control pills on schedule. Remember: Birth control pills help prevent pregnancy, but do not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

If the infection returns

Even after treatment, PID can come back. This could happen if you’re infected by another STI. But be aware that once you’ve had PID, bacteria that are normally harmless may be more likely to infect your upper genital tract. This means you could get PID again even without getting another STI. With each PID infection, the chances of complications go up.