One of the most common gynecological diseases is cervicitis. By definition, cervicitis is an inflammation of the cervix in the vaginal segment.
Due to untreated cervicitis, a woman may have erosion, a thickening of the cervix, sometimes the infection spreads to the upper genitalia. Also, cervicitis is a possible cause of infertility, abortion or premature birth. The following groups of cervicitis are divided according to the course of the disease and its pathogen:
- acute;
- chronic.
Acute cervicitis
Acute cervicitis is a strong inflammation, with pronounced symptoms. Namely:
- uncharacteristic discharge, in severe cases - purulent, with an unpleasant odor;
- pain in the lower abdomen and during sexual intercourse;
- burning during urination;
- itching and irritation of the external genitalia;
- bleeding or simply bloody discharge after intercourse;
- if the active cervicitis infection spreads to the upper genitalia, in this case, the temperature may rise, nausea, dizziness and pain in the lower abdomen will increase.
Chronic cervicitis
With inactive cervicitis, all symptoms of the disease are mild, but the inflammation spreads to nearby tissues, cysts, infiltrates, seals on the neck are formed. When gynecological examination in patients with chronic cervicitis, there are:
- pseudo erosion of the cervix;
- swelling and redness of the cervix;
- specific discharge, sometimes with an admixture of pus.
Classifying because of the occurrence of cervicitis can be identified:
- nonspecific cervicitis;
- specific cervicitis.
Nonspecific cervicitis can occur on the background of the presence of streptococci, staphylococci, E. coli, fungi. In addition, hormonal deficiency can be the cause.
The situation with bacterial cervicitis is more complicated, since the causative agents of inflammation are mainly infectious diseases that are transmitted sexually. The most common are:
- gonorrhea , in most cases it is accompanied by the development of mucopurulent cervicitis;
- chlamydia;
- ureaplasma, mycoplasma;
- trichomoniasis;
- bacterial cervicitis can be provoked by a viral infection, such as the herpes virus, HPV.
It should be noted that the development of inflammation can contribute to various cervical injuries (in childbirth, abortion, intrauterine intervention, scar deformation, etc.), as well as allergies to spermicides and latex condoms.
Treatment of cervicitis
Treatment of cervicitis is determined depending on the cause of its occurrence and the form of leakage. With acute and subacute cervicitis, douching with lactic acid solution and chamomile is often prescribed. Further, depending on the etiology of inflammation, drug therapy is used, aimed at eliminating the pathogen.
In viral cervicitis, antiviral drugs are used. When bacterial - antibiotics, effective for a particular infection. An important stage for complete recovery is the restoration of the normal vaginal microflora.
Do not forget that if the cause of cervicitis was a sexually transmitted infection, then the course of treatment should be passed and the sexual partner.
Women should remember that their health is in their own hands and do not forget about measures to protect against sexual infections, the prevention of inflammatory diseases. Also, a regular visit to the gynecologist will, if not prevent the disease, at least reveal it at an early stage. And in time, the prescribed treatment will help to overcome the disease and avoid consequences.