What causes a hard cervix?

The cervix is ​​a relatively important part for women. There are often various problems with the cervix, such as cervical hardness, which is a common problem. A hard cervix is ​​most likely caused by cervicitis. Cervicitis is a common problem, which is mainly divided into acute cervicitis and chronic cervicitis. Below, we will introduce the relevant knowledge about cervicitis in detail.

1. Acute cervicitis

Acute cervicitis is caused by cervical injury due to sexual intercourse, abortion, childbirth, diagnostic curettage, etc., and the invasion of pathogens into the damaged area. Common pathogens include the following:

(1) Sexually transmitted disease pathogens Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis are mainly found in people at high risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

(2) Endogenous pathogens such as Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli, Trichomonas, Candida, and Amoeba.

2. Chronic cervicitis

Chronic cervicitis can be a continuation of acute cervicitis or it can be caused by persistent infection with pathogens similar to those of acute cervicitis. Unclean sexual life, decreased estrogen levels, and long-term stimulation from foreign bodies in the vagina can all cause chronic cervicitis. Secondary infection after damage to the cervix due to abortion, delivery, or vaginal surgery may not cause acute symptoms, but may directly lead to chronic cervicitis.

1. Acute cervicitis

The main treatment is antibiotics, with systemic treatment as the main focus, and strive to be thorough to avoid it turning into chronic cervicitis.

(1) Empirical antibiotic treatment

For patients with the following high-risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases (such as age less than 25 years, multiple or new sex partners, and unprotected sexual intercourse), empirical antibiotic treatment against Chlamydia is used before the results of pathogen testing are obtained.

(2) Antibiotic treatment targeting pathogens

For those who have acquired pathogens, choose antibiotics specific to the pathogen. Since Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection is often accompanied by chlamydial infection, if it is gonococcal cervicitis, in addition to using anti-Neisseria gonorrhoeae drugs, anti-chlamydial infection drugs should also be used during treatment.

(3) Treatment of sexual partners: If the pathogens of cervicitis patients are Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, their sexual partners should be examined and treated accordingly.

Local treatment is the main method, and different treatment methods are used for different lesions.

(1) Chronic cervical mucositis

For persistent cervical mucosal inflammation, it is necessary to understand whether there is reinfection with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, whether the sexual partner has been treated, and whether vaginal microbiome imbalance persists. Treatment is directed at the cause. For those whose pathogens are unclear and there is no effective treatment, physical therapy can be tried. These include electric ironing, laser, freezing, microwave infrared and other methods. Chinese medicine can also be used as an auxiliary treatment before or after physical therapy. However, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer must be excluded by screening before treatment. For patients with severe erosion or those who fail to recover after long-term treatment, cervical conization may be considered.

(2) Cervical polyps are treated with polypectomy, and the removed polyps are sent for pathological histological examination.

(3) Cervical hypertrophy generally does not require treatment.