The following symptoms and complaints may indicate vulvitis (inflammation of the external genitalia):
Pathognomonic (indicative of a disease)
- White plaques are pathognomonic for mycosis (fungal infection).
- Vesicles arranged in groups on a red background with burning and itching are pathognomonic for genital herpes.
- Fibroepithelial, papillary tissue changes are pathognomonic for condylomata acuminata (HPV infection type 6, 11).
- Painless, sharply circumscribed, set, hard ulcers with lymph node enlargements in the groin are pathognomonic for a primary effect (local reaction at the beginning of an infectious disease) of syphilis (lues ; venereal disease).
- Up to chicken-egg-sized strongly reddened, painful swellings in the lower part of the large and small labia are pathognomonic for a Bartholinian abscess/encapsulated collection of pus (Bartholinitis). Bartholinitis (esp. coliform bacteria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Staphylococcus aureus, anaerobes): Abscess, or pseudoabscess of the Bartholinian gland due to obstruction of the excretory ducts.
- Paper-thin, parchment-like altered skin of the vulva with a tendency to shrink is pathognomonic for atrophy (Kraurosis vulvae).
Leading symptoms
They depend on the cause of the disease, can be very variable or asymptomatic:
- Burning
- Heat
- Pruritus (itching)
- Redness
- Pain
- Swelling
Secondary symptoms
Depending on the cause of the disease, the following secondary symptoms may occur:
- Fluorine (discharge)
- Foetor (“stench”)
- Dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse).
- Dysuria (painful emptying of the bladder).
