Cervicitis

Cervicitis means inflammation of the cervix. The cervix is the fleshy projection in the topmost part of the vagina, which you can just feel with a fingertip.
In fact, it's the lower end of the womb (uterus). It's still quite often referred to by the old name of the 'neck of the womb'.
Cervicitis is very common. Some authorities claim that half of all women get it at some time during their lives.
It's more or less unknown among females who are not sexually active.

Symptoms

Symptoms of cervicitis are:

• discharge
• sometimes slight vaginal bleeding
• possibly pain during sexual intercourse.

The discharge of cervicitis is usually grey, clear or whitish. But it's quite unlike the thick, white, itchy discharge of thrush.
Bleeding is slight and 'spotty' and may occur after intercourse.
Sexual pain tends to occur only during deep thrusting, when the tip of the penis hits the cervix.

Diagnosis

The only way to make the diagnosis of cervicitis is by looking at the cervix and observing that it looks inflamed.
In order to inspect your cervix, the doctor puts a small instrument called a 'speculum' into your vagina. This device parts the vaginal walls so that the cervix can be seen, about four inches inside.
The doctor will probably take a swab from the cervix, in order to find out if there are any germs there.

Causes

In some cases, the reason for cervicitis is unknown. But in many others, the cause is infection.
Currently, the most common germ, which is found in cases of cervicitis, is chlamydia – a 'bug' that has become almost epidemic among sexually-active young people in recent years.
Other germs that can cause cervicitis include trichomonas and sometimes neisseria (the causative organism of gonorrhoea).
But in some instances, cervicitis seems to arise because of a reaction to some 'foreign body,' such as a contraceptive cap, a tampon or the 'tail' of an IUD (coil).
It may also happen as an allergic reaction to some chemical, for instance an ingredient in douches or spermicidal gels or the latex of a condom.

Treatment

Understandably, women do tend to get rather alarmed when they are told that their cervixes are inflamed.
But in fact, this condition is not very serious. It is not cancerous.
In most cases, it can be cured by a course of antibiotics. You should come back after the course, so that the doctor can check that the inflammation has cleared up.
In cases which don't respond to antibiotics, other treatments may include:

• cryotherapy or freezing of the cervix
• laser therapy
• cauterisation with an electrical current applied to the cervix.

None of these treatments is anything like as bad as they sound!