Symptoms

Typical signs of inflammation are always the following: swelling, redness, overheating and pain. These characteristics are essential for any inflammation in the body and they are the basis for characterising an inflammation to this day. An inflammation of the Bartholin gland, Bartholinitis, also shows these same symptoms.

Even though these signs are usually clear, their extent varies greatly. Bartholinitis initially begins with a slight inflammation, which is accompanied by minor pain in the vaginal area. The stronger the inflammation, the more intense the pain becomes parallel to the growth of the Bartholin cyst that the affected woman complains of.

If the inflammation is very pronounced (Bartholinitis cyst), any sitting or walking can already cause pain. It is not uncommon for women to notice the inflammation only during sexual intercourse, before it either heals on its own or can progress further and further within a short period of time and the symptoms become increasingly severe. Depending on whether only one or both glands are affected, the pain can also be felt on both sides or only on the back of the affected labia and around the entrance to the vagina.

If both labia are affected by the inflammation, the pain also occurs on both sides of the labia and around the vaginal entrance. Classical, as mentioned in the typical signs of inflammation, is the inflamed and reddened gland and the surrounding swollen tissue. The swelling occurs more frequently when the duct is closed by adhesions, the pus inside the gland cannot flow away, is backed up and presses the surrounding tissue.

Due to the constriction, the surrounding tissue is subjected to additional stress and every small touch causes pain. Physiologically, the Bartholin gland is only the size of a bean, but it can grow to the size of a ping-pong ball due to the inflammation and the congestion. If the pus does not flow off in any direction, a coarse, bulging abscess can develop, which can be impressive up to a swelling the size of a chicken egg and usually has to be split by a doctor with a scalpel.

This accumulation of pus in the end piece of the gland is called empyema in technical language. Bartholinitis is not to be confused with a urinary tract infection which causes discomfort in the front part of the vagina. If, in very rare cases, bacteria or their metabolic products enter the bloodstream during bacterial bartholinitis, fever and flu-like symptoms may also occur. With these symptoms it is always necessary to consider and exclude other diagnoses, such as the above-mentioned urinary tract infection with an inflammation of the renal pelvis or an inflammation of a hair follicle of the pubic hair (= boils), as these clinical pictures can all cause similar complaints.