Bartholinitis in women - symptoms, causes and treatment

Bartholin gland is located in the area of ​​the large labia, or more precisely - in the subcutaneous fat.

Its functions: maintaining optimal moisture in the vagina through the development of a special secret, without which there may be discomfort during sexual intercourse, pain in the perineum.

Bartholinitis is, as the name suggests, an inflammatory process that occurs in the Bartholin gland. Malicious microorganisms affect not only the excretory duct of the Bartholin gland, but also itself.

Causes

Why do women have bartholinitis, and what is it? The causative agent of bartholinitis is E. coli, staphylococci, streptococci, chlamydia, gonococci, Trichomonas. Often the cause of the disease is mixed infection - a combination of several pathogenic microbes.

The most common causes of bartholinitis are the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the vaginal discharge. That is why inflammation is considered a secondary disease: it almost always becomes a consequence of a primary infection. In order to eliminate the causes of bartholinitis, you must first eliminate the source of infection, which causes painful symptoms: bartolinite causes a very serious discomfort to the woman.

Often, the cause of the appearance of bartolinite lies in the uncleanliness of women. If you do not comply with the rules of personal hygiene, you can easily enter into the excretory duct of the gland infection, the source of which can be covered not only in the vagina, but also in the urethra or intestine.

In the absence of treatment, a painful abscess is formed. After a while, it can open itself spontaneously. Purulent contents flow out. The condition of a woman suffering from bartholinitis is improving, but this does not mean that the doctor can not be visited. The disease can go into a chronic form.

Classification

In the course of bartholinitis, an acute and chronic form is distinguished. Acute bartholinitis is manifested as:

• a false abscess (primary - canal and secondary - with inflammation of a previously formed cyst).
• a true abscess.

Symptoms of Bartholinitis in Women

When the appearance of bartholinitis, the main symptoms are manifested in the form of reddening of the labia and the Bartholin gland, dense neoplasms appear. At palpation it is possible to find out its or her increased duct, pressing on a gland causes painful sensations. Inflammation of the gland can be accompanied by the formation of a purulent sac.

With acute bartholinitis, a false abscess usually occurs and acute pain, which is difficult to walk, reaches a temperature of 39 ° C. Over time, the abscess breaks (or it is opened in the hospital). If you uncover this abscess at home on your own, then the risk is high that not all pus will be removed. In this case, the symptoms of bartholinitis soften, but do not disappear completely - so the chronic form of the disease begins.

Often, bartholinitis occurs simultaneously with sexual diseases, so the symptoms of these infections are also present - itching in the vagina, burning, discharge, red spots, etc.)

Chronic form

The main signs of chronic bartholinitis are:

• weak aching pain on the side affected by the disease;
• painful sensations during sexual intercourse;
• unpleasant sensations in the region of the external genital organs during movement;
• swelling of the inflamed labia;
• neoplasm on the labia majora from the affected side;
• the appearance of a large gland cyst outside the vagina, which can open itself after 4-5 days.

Symptoms of chronic bartholinitis are practically the same, unless the pain is not so acute and the temperature does not always rise. They usually appear during menstruation, with hypothermia, weak immunity, seasonal exacerbations are possible.

Bartholinitis: photo

What does bartolinite look like, a photo of clinical manifestations is presented below.

Diagnostics

To understand how to treat bartholinitis, it is necessary not only to diagnose a symptom, but also to determine the cause of its development. Therefore, when identifying signs of bartholinitis, women are assigned the following tests:

• smear from the vagina;
• bacteriological seeding of the material taken from the secretions (to select a suitable antibiotic);
• study of pus, taken with breakthrough abscess;
• diagnosis of sexual infections (trichomoniasis, ureaplasmosis, chlamydia, etc.).

Treatment of bartholinitis

Modern gynecology has a whole list of effective methods for treating bartholinitis, both conservative and surgical. The chosen tactics of therapy depend on the stage of inflammation. When severe forms of acute bartholinitis are detected, treatment of a woman is carried out under stationary conditions. With mild forms of bartholinitis, treatment can be carried out at home.

Conservative therapy of acute bartholinitis is aimed at arresting the pain syndrome, eliminating the symptoms of intoxication and preventing the development of a true abscess of the gland. For this purpose, local and general therapy is prescribed.

Apply tools such as:

1. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, they relieve pain (Baralgin, Ibuprofen).
2. Antibiotics. The cause of Bartholinitis is always an infection - so antibiotics can not be avoided. Of course, it must be drugs to which the pathogen is sensitive. However, the identification of "culprits" through bacteriological inoculation can take a long time, and it is advisable to start treatment as early as possible. Therefore, most often at the first stage the doctor prescribes antibiotics of a wide spectrum of action. In addition, often additionally prescribed painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.
3. Lotions with 8-10% saline solution for 30-40 minutes. 3-6 times a day;
4. Irrigation with disinfectant solutions (Chlorhexidine, Miramistin), herbal decoctions (oak bark, calendula, chamomile, etc.);
5. Ointments (Vishnevsky, Levomecol) - the maximum therapeutic effect is achieved by their combination (in the morning alone, in the evening the other);
6. Physiotherapy (magnetotherapy, UHF) - it is advisable to hold for 3-4 days.
7. In some cases, you can not do without an operation. However, surgical intervention can not be limited to simply opening a cyst or abscess. The fact is that the tissues on which the pathology is formed have the property of rapidly sticking together after dissection, as a result of which the duct again becomes clogged. Therefore, there are two options for conducting a surgical operation: the formation of an artificial duct of the bartholin gland or complete removal of the gland.

It should be noted that bartolinite in chronic form requires long and complex treatment. This is due to the fact that a dense capsule of the large gland of the vestibule prevents the penetration of drugs to the focus of inflammation.

Prevention

Naturally, like any disease, bartolinite is easier to prevent than to treat for a long time. So, the prevention of bartolinite includes the following activities:

• follow the rules of personal hygiene;
• To exclude casual sexual relations, to use barrier methods of contraception (condoms) at sexual contacts;
• avoid hypothermia;
• avoid bathing in contaminated water bodies;
• to refuse to wear tight lingerie and clothes;
• regularly visit a gynecologist (2 times a year).

All these recommendations may well become a way of life - none of them require special efforts for their implementation.

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