Call your health care provider if you have the following symptoms:
Go immediately to a hospital's emergency department if you have a great deal of vaginal discharge, Fever , chills, nausea and vomiting, severe abdominal pain, dizziness , or any other symptoms that you think might be an emergency.
See your doctor immediately if your male partner has been diagnosed with urethritis (a urinary tract infection) or if he has symptoms of the condition (such as pain or burning during urination, a thin discharge from the penis, or a stain on his briefs). If your partner is not treated, you may get the infection again.
Do not have sexual intercourse until your treatment is completed and your symptoms have gone away—for at least 7 days.
In some cases, a single dosage of medication , which could include an injection, has been shown to wipe out the disease. In other cases, your doctor may prescribe a longer period of medication .
If your infection stems from a sexually transmitted disease, your sexual partner also should be treated. Do not have sexual relations until your partner is treated. Once you have been treated, follow up with your doctor for 3 months with regular exams.
Cervicitis, if found in a young person or a child, may indicate child sexual abuse.
Infectious causes of cervicitis are preventable by using common-sense, safe-sex practices.
Limit your sexual contacts. Know your partner's sexual history. Make condoms a routine part of sex. Spermicides, in addition to the condoms, probably help prevent cervicitis as well.
Make sure you are treated immediately for vaginal infections before they spread to your cervix. Have a complete physical exam that includes a Pap test each year, regardless of whether or not you are experiencing any symptoms, especially if you are sexually active. Recommend that your partner be screened for STIs on a regular basis. Avoid chemical irritants in deodorized tampons, douches, or sprays.
Untreated cervicitis can spread, infecting the lining of the uterus ( endometritis) or the fallopian tubes (salpingitis), which can lead to problems in conceiving a healthy baby. If you are pregnant and have cervicitis, your baby may be infected during delivery, resulting in an eye infection in the baby that can lead to blindness, or, less commonly, pneumonia caused by a chlamydial infection.