Cervicitis

What Is It?

The cervix is the donut-shaped opening to the uterus. Cervicitis is an inflammation and irritation of the cervix. Symptoms of cervicitis can be similar to vaginitis, with vaginal discharge, itching or pain with intercourse.

Cervicitis usually is caused by sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as gonorrhea and chlamydia. Genital herpes also can cause cervicitis. Trauma to the cervix, in childbirth or from an intrauterine device (IUD), is a more rare cause of cervicitis.

Symptoms

Symptoms of cervicitis include pain during intercourse, a bloody vaginal discharge, or vaginal spotting or bleeding between periods. If the urethra (urine tube) also becomes infected, you may feel burning when you urinate or you may urinate more often. Cervicitis can spread to your uterus, fallopian tubes or ovaries, which is a condition called pelvic inflammatory disease. If you have pelvic inflammatory disease, you may have abdominal pain or fevers.

Diagnosis

Your health-care provider will ask about your medical history and whether you have any new sexual partners. He or she will do a pelvic exam to look at your cervix. This is done with a device called a speculum. This is a metal or plastic device shaped like a duckbill that holds the vagina open. If you have cervicitis, the lining of the cervix may appear red, inflamed, swollen or irritated. In more severe cases, pus may be coming from the cervix. During the pelvic exam, your doctor will take a sample of discharge or pus from your cervical opening so it can be tested in a laboratory and examined under a microscope. By looking at the discharge under a microscope in the office, your health-care provider can check for any signs of yeast, bacterial vaginosis or trichomonas infection that could give similar symptoms.

Your health-care provider also will examine your pelvic area using his or her fingers to look for tenderness of the cervix, uterus or ovaries. To do this, your health-care provider will place his or her fingers are placed inside your vagina.

If your cervix is tender, it's possible you have an STD or a condition called pelvic inflammatory disease in addition to cervicitis. Your health-care provider will order tests on discharge from your cervix area to determine if you have gonorrhea, chlamydia or genital herpes.

Expected Duration

Once cervicitis is diagnosed and the appropriate treatment is started, symptoms should start to improve within a few days. If there are any signs of pelvic inflammatory disease, you will need to take antibiotics for two weeks.