They happen on your genitals, on your anus or rectum, or in or around your mouth between 10 and 90 days (3 weeks on average) after youre exposed to the disease. Even if you dont treat them, they heal without a scar within 6 weeks.

How long can you have syphilis before it causes damage?

Tertiary Stage Tertiary syphilis is very serious and would occur 10–30 years after your infection began. In tertiary syphilis, the disease damages your internal organs and can result in death.

How long can you live with syphilis untreated?

It can be 10 or 20 years before you experience the worst effects. Eventually, untreated syphilis can lead to damage to the brain, eyes, heart, nerves, bones, joints, and liver. You could also become paralyzed, blind, demented, or lose feeling in the body.

Can you have syphilis for years and not know it?

Primary syphilis Syphilis develops in stages, and symptoms vary with each stage. But the stages may overlap, and symptoms dont always occur in the same order. You may be infected with syphilis and not notice any symptoms for years.

What are the symptoms of late stage syphilis?

Late stage syphilis can be cured but the damage done to the body is permanent. Syphilis can invade the nervous system at any stage of infection, and causes a wide range of symptoms, including headache, altered behavior, difficulty coordinating muscle movements, paralysis, sensory deficits, and dementia.

Can the body fight off syphilis?

Syphilis is easily curable with antibiotics in the early stages. If you get treatment late, it will still cure the infection and stop future damage to your body. But the damage that late stage syphilis has already caused cant be changed or healed.

Can you tell how long you have had syphilis?

Youll also have a blood test. Results typically come back within a few days. Blood tests can tell if your body is making the antibodies to fight the infection. The ones that fight syphilis bacteria can stay in your body for years, so your doctor can tell if you were infected, even if it were a long time ago.

How many shots does it take to cure syphilis?

Syphilis can be treated with penicillin. The penicillin is given as a shot. If you had syphilis for less than one year, you only need to get one shot. If you had syphilis for more than one year, you need three shots—one shot a week for three weeks.

What drug can cure syphilis?

When diagnosed and treated in its early stages, syphilis is easy to cure. The preferred treatment at all stages is penicillin, an antibiotic medication that can kill the organism that causes syphilis.