What is cervical erosion? All details here

Most women must have heard of the disease called cervical erosion, but they may not know much about it. At most, they know that this disease poses a threat to women's health. In this case, let's take a detailed look at the specific details of cervical erosion.

What is cervical erosion

The cervix is ​​divided into the internal opening and the external opening. The epithelium of the inner opening is a thin, red columnar cell that secretes mucus, and the outer opening is covered by pink squamous epithelium and lines the vagina. The delicate columnar epithelium is easily infected. When long-term chronic inflammation occurs, the squamous epithelium of the external os of the cervix will be covered by columnar epithelium. The columnar epithelium is very thin. If the capillaries and red stroma underneath are seen, a red area will appear with a clear boundary from the surrounding squamous epithelium, which is called cervical erosion.

Symptoms of cervical erosion

After cervical erosion occurs, there will often be increased and sticky leucorrhea, milky white or light yellow purulent secretions, sometimes bloody or mixed with blood; the vulva may be irritated by increased leucorrhea and may develop vulvitis or vaginitis, causing itching and pain; when the inflammation is severe, it can spread along the uterosacral ligament and cardinal ligament to cause pelvic connective tissue inflammation, causing pain in the lower abdomen or lumbosacral region, accompanied by a feeling of falling; when the inflammation spreads to the bladder triangle or around the bladder, frequent urination or difficulty urinating may occur, and sexual intercourse may also cause contact bleeding or odor.

Cervical erosion is not true erosion, it is just a pseudo-erosion compared to the normal smooth cervix. It has three manifestations: at the beginning of inflammation, the erosion surface is only covered by columnar epithelium and the surface is flat, which is simple erosion; later the erosion surface becomes uneven and granules appear on the surface, which is granular erosion; afterwards the unevenness of the erosion surface becomes more obvious, and papillae appear on the surface, which is papillary erosion.

The eroded surface of the cervix has a clear boundary with the surrounding normal squamous epithelium. Clinically, it is often divided into three categories: mild (Ⅰ°), moderate (Ⅱ°), and severe (Ⅲ°) according to the area of ​​erosion. Any erosion area that accounts for 1/3 of the total cervical area is considered mild cervical erosion. If the erosion area occupies 1/2 of the cervix, it is moderate cervical erosion. When the area of ​​erosion exceeds 1/2 of the total area of ​​the cervix, it is considered severe cervical erosion. Diagnosis is not difficult based on clinical manifestations, but it should be noted that cervical erosion is difficult to distinguish from cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or early cervical cancer in appearance. Routine cervical scraping and endocervical aspiration should be performed, and colposcopy and biopsy should be performed when necessary to confirm the diagnosis.

The main symptoms of cervical erosion

1. Increased leucorrhea: Increased leucorrhea is the main symptom of this disease. Usually the leucorrhea is milky white or light yellow purulent secretion, sometimes bloody or mixed with blood.

2. Vulvar itching and pain: The vulva and vagina may be irritated by increased leucorrhea, which may lead to vulvitis or vaginitis and cause vulvar itching and pain.

3. Pain in the lower abdomen and lumbosacral region: When the inflammation is severe, it can spread along the uterosacral ligament and cardinal ligament to cause pelvic connective tissue inflammation, causing pain in the lower abdomen or lumbosacral region, accompanied by a feeling of falling.

4. Frequent urination or difficulty urinating: When the inflammation spreads to the bladder trigone or around the bladder, frequent urination or difficulty urinating may occur.

5. Infertility: Thick leucorrhea is not conducive to sperm penetration, so severe cervicitis can cause infertility.