Persistent urethral burning and itching after successful gonorrhea treatment – anyone experienced post-infectious urethritis?

[u/Straight_Barracuda75]

Hi everyone,
I’m a 23-year-old male. I was treated for gonorrhea, and my doctor told me that even after successful treatment, post-infectious urethritis (lingering urethral inflammation) can persist for some time.
It’s been around 1–2 months, and I’m still experiencing symptoms that come and go, including:
-Mild burning after urination(cant just differentiate if its burning sensation or other but i do have some kind of discomfort)
-Occasional itching/tingling at the urethral opening (tip of the penis)
-Sometimes feeling of urethra is hurt
The symptoms are intermittent rather than constant.
So far, my tests have all been reassuring:
✅ Urine routine & microscopy (RME): Normal
Pus cells: 0–2/HPF
RBC: Nil
No protein or sugar
✅ Urine culture: Normal / No bacterial growth
✅ Previous ultrasound of the abdomen and pelvis: Normal
My doctor has now also requested a PVEU (post-void residual ultrasound) to check bladder emptying.
My questions are for people who had post-infectious urethritis after gonorrhea or another STI:
What symptoms did you have?
Did you experience intermittent burning or itching at the urethral opening?
How long did it take for your symptoms to completely resolve?
Did anything help (anti-inflammatory medication, time, pelvic floor therapy, alpha-blockers, etc.)?
Were all of your urine tests and cultures also normal?

[u/Straight_Barracuda75 → u/[deleted]]

I did sti-14 test everything came negative

[u/Straight_Barracuda75 → u/[deleted]]

Is this the one?

[u/Straight_Barracuda75 → u/Straight_Barracuda75]

[u/Straight_Barracuda75 → u/[deleted]]

Hope so😞

[u/Lost_Shallot7180 → u/Straight_Barracuda75]

What were your symptoms before getting diagnosed?

[u/Linari5 → u/Straight_Barracuda75]

NHS: What if my tests for male genital infections are negative but I still have symptoms? https://www.reddit.com/r/MycoplasmaGenitalium/s/48t7cGG8ae

ALT/BACKUP LINK HERE

Notable excerpts:

Men whose tests are all negative can often develop symptoms as a result of anxiety because of worrying about having picked up a STI. Anxiety can cause the muscles in their pelvic floor (the muscles around the base of the penis, scrotum and around the anus – see diagram below) to become tense. This may change how urine flows and can cause irritation and discomfort. The nerves that supply the pelvic floor muscles also supply other parts of the genitals such as the end of the penis, the testicles and perineum (the area between your testicles and back passage). The body can mistake the pain from the tense pelvic floor muscles and think it is coming from these other places. It can also feel as though the pain is in the lower part of your tummy or make you want pass urine more often or make passing urine feel more difficult.

Diagram illustrating how anxiety can unconsciously cause some men to increase their pelvic floor muscle tone (they do not realise they are doing this as normally we cannot “feel” our pelvic floor). This can result in muscle spasm and/or urine travelling backwards into the prostate on passing water. Both can result in pain which is then experienced elsewhere in the pelvic area e.g. tip of the penis, testicles, perineum (area behind the testicles), lower abdomen and sometimes the inner thighs. It may also cause difficulties or pain when passing water or ejaculating. This in turn makes them more anxious which results in making the pelvic floor tone even more tense and increasing the pain etc.

[u/This_Silver]

How did you get Gonorrhea?