Periods can be quite inconvenient but women get used to the monthly bleeding. However imagine how distressing it would be to have random intermittent vaginal bleeding especially after sexual intercourse?
Unfortunately this is something that quite a number of women experience and the most common cause of this is a condition known as cervical ectropion, which we’ll be learning about in this post.
Cervical ectropion is a non-cancerous condition that occurs when the endocervix (the canal of the cervix) turns outward, exposing the cells that normally reside inside the cervix to the acidic vaginal environment. The cervix is the neck of the womb and this is usually where such bleeding would be coming from.
Another name for this condition is cervical erosion. Now contrary to how the name sounds, your cervix isn’t actually eroding, there’s just some changes going on that make the area look raw and “eroded”
So normally the cells inside your cervix are made up a soft glandular cells and the ones outside are made up of some tougher cells.
What happens in ectropion is that the soft glandular cells that are meant to be inside are pushed to the outside and because they are soft when they come in contact with anything, they are more likely to bleed.
Many women have cervical ectropion and never know about it because it’s not giving them any signs, however for some other women with this condition they may experience:
- Bleeding between periods
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- Bleeding after sexual intercourse
- Vaginal discharge
The main culprit that has been implicated in this condition is a hormone called oestrogen which is present in all women. it can be caused by hormonal changes, making it more prevalent among adolescent women, pregnant women, or women who are taking an estrogen-containing contraceptive like the pill. The common denominator here is an increase in estrogen levels in the body, which can change or remodel the cervix.
Interestingly it is also found in babies sometimes because pregnant women have increased levels of oestrogen and this can have some effect on the baby and cause them to be born with ectropion.
The good news is that this condition is not a disease. And it doesn’t progress to anything more dangerous like cancer.
Many women who have it don’t even show any symptoms. Many are able to live with their symptoms. But in some women the symptoms cause significant distress. I imagine that seeing blood every time you had sex with your partner might put you off having sex as often as you’d like.
Thankfully, For women with such problems, there’s treatment available.
The first method uses an electric current (known as diathermy) to destroy the top layer of the cervix in order to allow new normal cells to grow and it is done under local anaesthetic; this is the most common method used
The second method is called cryocautery and it uses a cold spray to destroy the glandular cells
The last method uses silver nitrate to destroy the glandular cells
While the term cervical ectropion or erosion sounds worrisome, it’s not.
That being said, it can only be diagnosed by a doctor. So if you are experiencing bleeding with intercourse or new vaginal discharge, it’s important to get it checked out. A number of conditions can mimic the symptoms and/or experience of cervical erosion like an infection of the cervix or vagina or cervical cancer so these need to be ruled out first.
