Benign Cervical Conditions

Cervicitis is a general term for inflammation of the cervix. A Pap test report or cervical biopsy may mention cervicitis, but it’s not always a real disease or disorder. Cervicitis may accompany vaginal infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and sexually transmitted infections.

Cervical eversion (also called ectropion) occurs when the kind of tissue that lines the cervical canal grows on the outer vaginal part of the cervix, making it red, with a bumpy-looking texture that is smooth to the touch. If the inside of the cervix (columnar epithelium) puckers out, that is referred to as eversion. This is a common physical variation. Most women do not have any symptoms, although eversion can cause bleeding during a Pap test. Eversion requires no treatment unless it is accompanied by infection. Those of us whose mothers took diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy are more likely to have this condition.

Cervical erosion is a pinkish-red sore on the cervix, next to the cervical opening. This rare condition causes little discomfort. Most cases referred to as erosion in the past were really eversion.

Cervical polyps consist of excess cervical cells that “pile up” within the cervical canal. They appear as bright red tubelike protrusions from the cervical opening, either alone or in clusters. Polyps are very common and usually benign. Most polyps contain many blood vessels with a fragile outer wall, so bleeding may occur during or after intercourse or other vaginal penetration, douching, and vaginal or cervical exams. Polyps may also bleed during pregnancy, when hormonal changes stimulate growth of blood vessels in all cervical, vaginal, and uterine tissue. Cells from the polyps will be collected as part of a Pap test. Cervical polyps are almost never cancerous.

Polyps do not necessarily require treatment. When they are small and there is little or no contact bleeding, you or your health care provider can usually just keep track of them with regular exams. Removing cervical polyps is often recommended as a preventive measure but is rarely medically necessary. You may want to have them removed if the polyps begin to grow or if the bleeding bothers you. Removal is a simple office procedure where your practitioner gently twists the polyp off and scrapes or cauterizes the base. If a polyp is very large (this is rare), or if you have several of them, you may need to go to the hospital for removal. Unfortunately, sometimes polyps grow back after removal.