Overview of Cervicitis

Cervicitis is a common disease in women of childbearing age, and there are two types: acute and chronic. Acute cervicitis often coexists with acute endometritis or acute vaginitis, and chronic cervicitis is more common in clinical practice.

Cervicitis is mostly caused by frequent sexual intercourse or habitual miscarriage, childbirth and artificial abortion, which damage the cervix, leading to bacterial invasion and inflammation. There are many types of chronic cervicitis, such as cervical erosion, cervical hypertrophy, cervical polyps, cervical gland cysts, endocervicitis, etc., among which cervical erosion is the most common.

The main symptom of cervicitis is increased vaginal discharge. Acute cervicitis causes purulent vaginal discharge, accompanied by pain in the lower abdomen and lumbosacral region, or bladder irritation symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency, and pain. Chronic cervicitis causes milky white mucous discharge, or light yellow purulent discharge. When inflammation spreads along the uterosacral ligament to the pelvic cavity, there may be pain in the lumbosacral region, a feeling of heaviness in the lower abdomen, and dysmenorrhea, which worsens during bowel movements and sexual intercourse.

The commonly used examination for cervicitis is cervical smear cytology, which is a routine gynecological examination. It is simple, easy, cost-effective, and the most important auxiliary examination and the preferred initial screening method for cancer prevention surveys. Colposcopy can quickly detect lesions that are invisible to the naked eye. Taking biopsies from suspicious areas during colposcopy can significantly improve the accuracy of biopsies. Gynecological examinations focus on the size, shape, texture, thickness of the cervical canal, and whether there is contact bleeding. Secondly, check the condition of the vulva, vagina, uterus, and paracervical tissues. Iodine tests and naked eye observations are very simple and inexpensive, and can detect at least 2/3 of lesions.

After excluding malignant lesions and controlling specific or non-specific infections, cervicitis is mainly treated locally, so that the columnar epithelium on the eroded surface necrotizes and falls off, and is covered by new squamous epithelium. When cervicitis occurs, the self-cleaning function of the vagina cannot solve the problem. The washing liquid should be deeply injected into the vaginal vault and cervix, which can significantly improve the inflammation of the vault. Keep the vulva clean, wash the vulva with pH4 weak acid female care liquid, change underwear frequently, and temporarily prohibit sexual intercourse and bathing in a tub after taking the medicine. For those with a lot of mucus, 5% potassium dichromate and 20% to 40% silver nitrate can also be used.