​Non-specific urethritis

Non-specific urethritis (NSU) is inflammation of the urethra — usually caused by a sexually transmissible infection (STI). Your urethra is what your mimi comes out of.

You usually get NSU from having unprotected vaginal sex, anal sex, or oral sex with someone. Unprotected sex is when you have sex without a condom, or an oral dam.  

Symptoms might include: 

• Unusual discharge from your penis 
• Pain when you mimi 
• Irritation or pain at the tip of the penis 

Testing for NSU is done by: 

• Taking a urine sample 
• You may need an examination 
• A swab may be taken from the urethra 

A nurse or doctor will take the sample. Your test sample will be sent to a laboratory for testing. You should be contacted with your test result within a week. 

Sometimes it can be a little tricky to figure out which infection is causing the NSU, and in some cases you may need further testing if the symptoms continue.   

Make an appointment with us — we can test for NSU. 

Don’t worry! We can prescribe you antibiotics to treat NSU. If you have a lot of discharge coming from the urethra, you may be given treatment at the time of the appointment. Make sure that you tell your nurse or doctor if you are allergic to antibiotics, or if you could be hapū. This will help them prescribe you the correct antibiotics.  

Condoms and oral dams can protect against non-specific urethritis, and other STIs. Using lube with condoms can make sex more pleasurable for some people, and can prevent the condom from breaking by reducing friction.

Lots of STIs don’t have obvious symptoms — so it’s important to get tested for STIs before and after unprotected sex, or anytime you have sex with a new person.  

If you’re having sex with several people — or the person you have sex with is having sex with several people — talk to us about how often you should be screened for non-specific urethritis and other STIs. 

If you find out that you have NSU, there are a few important things that you need to do:

• Get treated. Make an appointment with us — one of our nurses or doctors will help you work out what’s causing your symptoms  
• It’s a good idea to tell the people that you have had sex with recently — if it is safe for you to do this — that they might need an STI test or treatment. Often, an STI is found to be the cause of NSU 
• It’s much better not to have sex until 7 days after you have finished your treatment. It’s a good idea to use condoms or oral dams if you do have sex