Swelling and pain at the vaginal opening

Gynecological diseases are relatively common in women, such as vaginitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic Bartholin's gland inflammation and other gynecological diseases. Many women suffer from the pain brought by gynecological diseases, which affects their normal life. Some women experience swelling and pain at the vaginal opening and feel discomfort in the vagina. Many women do not know what is going on with the swelling and pain at the vaginal opening. What is going on? Let’s take a look at it next.

1. What causes swelling and pain at the vaginal opening?

Bartholin's gland cyst is a common benign cystic lesion. The cyst has clear boundaries and remains unchanged for many years. When infection occurs, local redness, swelling, heat and pain may occur, or pus may be discharged, and antibacterial treatment is effective. Chronic inflammation of the Bartholin's glands causes thickening of the surrounding tissues, which become more tough locally. When diagnosis is difficult, pathological examination is often required to confirm the diagnosis.

2. Reasons

Causes of local redness, swelling, heat and pain at the vaginal opening

(I) Causes of the disease: Bartholin's gland cyst is caused by obstruction of the opening of the Bartholin's gland duct, which causes the secretions to accumulate in the gland cavity. Causes of Bartholin's duct obstruction include:

1. After the infected Bartholin's gland abscess subsides, the pus is absorbed and the mucus in the gland cavity becomes thick and blocks the gland duct.

2. Congenital glandular duct stenosis or atresia causes poor or no discharge of fluid in the glandular cavity, leading to cyst formation.

3. In some cases, the Bartholin's duct may be damaged due to lacerations of the vagina and the outer part of the perineum during delivery, damage to the duct during episiotomy, or severe scar tissue contraction after the episiotomy heals, which may lead to obstruction of the Bartholin's duct and formation of a cyst.

(ii) Pathogenesis: The contents of the cyst are transparent mucus and rarely serous. The cyst is unilocular, and light yellow transparent mucus can be extracted by puncture. Sometimes it is mixed with blood and appears red or brownish red, which can easily be mistaken for endometriosis cysts, especially when the epithelium covering the cyst wall contains pseudoxanthomatous cells.

In the early stage of the cyst, the cyst wall is covered with transitional epithelium. As the cyst fluid increases and the pressure rises, the transitional epithelium can be transformed into a single layer of cuboidal epithelium or flat epithelium, or even atrophy. If secondary infection occurs, the cyst wall will show chronic inflammatory connective tissue and even form granulation tissue.

3. Notes

3. Keep the private parts dry and hygienic. After going to the toilet or taking a shower, pat the perineum with tissue paper to keep it dry and clean.