Bartholinitis is a little-known infection that affects women between the ages of 20 and 40. It is manifested by the appearance of a cyst in the vagina and is particularly painful.
You may have heard of Bartholin’s glands, which are used for lubrication during sex. The latter, two in number and the size of a pea, are placed behind the labia majora of the vagina. Bartholin’s glands are active from puberty to menopause, then stop emitting the famous mucus which allows the lubrication of the vagina. Usually you cannot see or touch them. However, when they become infected, the inflammation is particularly intense and painful.
We then speak of bartholinite. One or both glands are then infected and the inflammation may develop into a pus-filled cyst or abscess. Lou, 38, was unaware of this infection until one of her glands betrayed her. One day, while the young woman is going to take her shower, she detects something strange: “while showering, I felt a ball at the entrance of my vagina“, she describes us. Immediately, she imagines the worst: “I panicked right away and thought I had something serious“, and took “appointment immediately with his gynecologist“.
Symptoms related to bartholinitis
If Lou did not have pain at the beginning of his infection, a sexual intercourse set fire to the powder: “A few days later, after a fiery night with my boyfriend at the time, I wake up doubled over in pain“. The pain becomes unbearable for the thirty-year-old who feels like “stab wounds“in the lower abdomen and a”throbbing and sharp pain“. Panicked, she goes to the gynecological emergency room. There, we explain to her that it is not serious, but in order to soothe the pain, an operation is scheduled immediately.
This, which takes place under local anesthesia, consists of incise the gland and drain the pus that has accumulated at the level of the abscess. Then Lou was allowed to go home, but another journey awaited her. Daily cleaning of the incised area by a home nurse and “a full month of sobriety“.
The causes and treatments of batholinitis
There are many factors that can cause bartholinitis such as germs in the vagina, or an infected cyst of the channel which secretes the lubricating mucus, sometimes too thick. Sometimes childbirth or an episiotomy can cause this infection.
Germs of vaginal origin are often related to sexually transmitted diseases or infections such as Chlamydia, but these germs can also be of digestive origin, as Dr Laurence Mentrop, gynecologist-obstetrician at the Saint-Luc University Clinics in Brussels, points out, such as enterobacteriaceae, enterococcus, Escherichia coli or even anaerobes.
To fight bartholinitis, there are two ways: the first is the operation, the second is taking antibiotics, when the infection has not yet reached the stage of purulent abscess.
Bartholinitis, a recurrence in 10 to 15% of cases
“Rebelote 5 years later, on the same side“, explains the young woman. Indeed, according to the gynecologist, 10 to 15% of patients see their bartholinitis recur. Two options are then imposed on Lou: to proceed with the ablation of the Bartholin gland where the doctors carry out a marsupialization, that is to say that “the cyst is pierced and its edges are sewn on the inner side of the labia majora to keep the orifice of the gland open and prevent obstruction“. Currently, the young woman “seriously considering having the gland permanently removed“.
“I am not cured (…) Nothing can be done to prevent Bartholinitis, nothing to do with food, worn materials or anything else, it happens for no reason. I was also told to watch out for the bike, but I don’t want to stop cycling because it’s my main means of transport.“, Lou tells us. Today, the young woman is even more attentive to her body and tries to remain vigilant: “I do not doubt the psychosomatic dimension of this infection, I try to be attentive to my body and what it tells me“.
So, if you feel discomfort or pain in the Bartholin glands, have the right reflex, ask to be seen by your gynecologist for a consultation.
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