Causes of the disease
Cervicitis can have many causes.It is caused by specific and non-specific infections. The former include streptococci, staphylococci, E. coli, fungi, and the latter include syphilis, chlamydia, trichomonas, gonococci, mycoplasma. Specific infections can enter the organ by contact through the blood, lymph or rectum. Non-specific infections penetrate the transformation zone sexually. The cause of inflammation can be damage to the cervix during childbirth, abortions or frequent diagnostic curettage. The installation or removal of an intrauterine device can also lead to inflammatory processes in the cervix. Scars and benign neoplasms in this area can provoke the development of cervicitis. Inflammatory processes in the transformation zone rarely occur on their own. They are usually companions of other diseases of the female reproductive system: vaginitis, pseudo-erosion of the cervix, vulvitis, ectropion, bartholinitis. Cervicitis most often affects women of childbearing age. They account for about 70% of diseases, while during menopause and after it, only 30% of the female population is at risk of getting this disease. Pregnant women should be especially wary of this disease, since the causes of premature births and miscarriages are very often inflammatory processes in the cervix.
Symptomatology of the disease
The symptoms of the disease are quite noticeable.These are nagging pains of varying intensity in the lower abdomen (like during menstruation), purulent or mucous discharge, pain during urination. A symptom that signals inflammation of the cervix may be the appearance of pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse. In rare cases, the disease can initially proceed without symptoms at all, then it can only be detected during a preventive gynecological examination. Cervicitis is divided into acute and chronic forms according to the course of the disease. Acute cervicitis is characterized by all the symptoms described above. In addition, during examination by a specialist, hyperemia and swelling in the opening of the cervical canal, small hemorrhages and ulcers on the mucous membrane are detected. Depending on the causative agent of the disease, the symptoms of inflammation of the cervix can manifest themselves in different ways. If cervicitis occurs as a result of gonorrhea, then it proceeds very acutely with pronounced symptoms. The disease caused by chlamydia may proceed without obvious symptoms. Trichomonas causes inflammatory processes in the cervix in the form of small hemorrhages, when taking a smear for analysis, atypical cells are found in it. With herpetic cervicitis, the entrance to the uterus becomes red and loose, covered with numerous ulcers. If acute inflammation of the cervix was not detected in a timely manner or was treated incorrectly, then over time it turns into a chronic sluggish form. Vaginal discharge resembles cloudy mucus, cylindrical tissues grow, as a result of which pseudo-erosions form near the entrance to the uterus. Symptoms of cervicitis, such as swelling and hyperemia, are weakly expressed. The danger of the chronic form of the disease is that at this time the disease spreads to nearby tissues and glands, cysts and infiltrates form in the inflammation site, and the cervix gradually thickens. As noted above, symptoms of cervical inflammation do not always appear from the very beginning of the disease. Often, the disease is diagnosed when it has already become chronic. Often, a gynecologist discovers cervicitis by chance during a routine examination or when a woman visits him for other diseases, which is why it is so important to undergo routine gynecological examinations every year.
Methods for diagnosing ailment
Cervicitis is diagnosed in several ways:
- by examining the cervix with gynecological mirrors;
- during colposcopy - a study that determines pathologies that have arisen in the cervix;
- at delivery of analyzes on bakposev, a microspion of a smear, PTSR.
In acute inflammation of the cervix, the smearwill contain a large number of leukocytes, histiocytes, lymphocytes, cylindrical and flat epithelium with changes. In chronic inflammatory process, the cells of cylindrical tissues acquire different sizes, sometimes their destruction (cytolysis) is observed. Conducting a laboratory examination will make it possible to determine the type and genus of microorganisms that caused the disease, and select the most suitable antibiotic for treatment. To determine structural cell disorders and positive dynamics in the treatment process, a woman is referred for cytomorphology of a smear. Diagnosis of chlamydia, papillomavirus, gonorrhea, herpes, mycoplasmosis in inflammation of the cervix is possible only after special examinations: ELISA and PCR.
Treatment and preventive methods
Modern medicine has manyTreatment methods for cervicitis. Treatment of the disease involves prescribing antibacterial and antiviral drugs to the sick woman, depending on the identified pathogen and the form of the disease. If the inflammation is of chlamydial origin, then it is treated with antibiotics such as sumamed, erythromycin, monomycin, maxaquin, doxycycline or tarivid. For cervicitis of candidal etiology, the antifungal drug diflucan is prescribed. For inflammation of the cervix, treatment is also carried out with combined drugs of local action, which are produced in the form of suppositories (terzhinan). When the main symptoms of the disease subside, women are prescribed local treatment in the form of treating the vagina and cervix with solutions of chlorophyllipt, dimexide and silver nitrate. It is very difficult to treat inflammation of viral origin. If genital herpes is the causative agent of cervicitis, then long-term treatment with antiviral agents, immunostimulants, vitamins and antiherpetic immunoglobulin will be required. Inflammatory processes in the cervix caused by the human papillomavirus require treatment with cytostatics and interferons. Condylomas are removed along with the therapy. In case of cervicitis of viral etiology, targeted treatment should be given not only to the woman, but also to her sexual partner, in order to avoid relapse. Drug therapy for the chronic form of the disease does not always give positive results, therefore, treatment is often carried out using surgical methods such as laser therapy, diathermocoagulation, cryotherapy. In parallel with this, pathologies associated with the disease (functional disorders, colpitis, ectropion, salpingo-oophoritis) are treated and normal microflora is restored. Treatment of cervicitis should be carried out under laboratory control. Given the serious consequences of cervical inflammation, women should take preventive measures against the disease. In order to avoid cervicitis, it is necessary to:
- observe basic hygiene requirements;
- Do not ignore condom use during sexual intercourse;
- select reliable contraceptives to avoid abortion;
- the entire period of pregnancy be under the supervision of a doctor;
- in time to treat all endocrine disorders
- Once a year, visit the gynecologist regularly.
It is important to remember that cervicitis can be preventedor it is much easier to cure it at the initial stage than to fight its serious consequences for a long time. In no case should you try to cure the disease with folk methods or self-selection of drugs. You can achieve real healing only if you strictly follow all the instructions of your doctor.
