Hi There,
I had a marsupialization roughly a month ago and i still have the lump as well. no pain, other than when attempting sex.
If anyone is experiencing this or has gone through this,pls let us know!

Hello,

I am scheduled to have a marsupialization next month and I am wondering what your experience was like? The cyst is moderately swollen and painless, and I am worried the surgery will not heal up correctly and leave me with painful sex and a gaping hole. Can someone let me know how the procedure went for them and what the healing was like? How long does it take to have sex again and how painful is it? I had a word catheter inserted and removed two days later. Sex was painful for a couple of weeks but seems fine now.

Thanks for any information you can share!

Hi there,
i had the marsupialisation in march for my first cyst.it started very small (hair bump size) and over about 4 weeks, developed into an unmanageable lump.painful beyond words.(dont want to frightn you !) the procedure itself takes about 15 mins. immediately after surgery,the pain was excruciating. burning and stinging inside and outside the vagina. the first time you urinate after the procedure there will be alot of blood in the bowl.this is completely normal and should clear up almost immediately.i found it hard to walk and sit properly for about 3 weeks. i had salt baths 3-4 times a day (which is hard for a working woman!). you might have a discharge for a few weeks while the incision heals itself.this is also normal.you have have some scar tissue as well, which will leave a lump behind, but this will eventually disintegrate internally. you may also experience vaginal nerve twitching in the weeks to follow the surgery,which will feel like a sharp sting.this is also normal.I was off work for 2 days while the aneasthetic wore off.i recommend staying off your feet for a few days and making sure you get lots of fluid. i attempted sex at 4 weeks and it almost killed me. saw my doctor and she mentioned that afer the surgery, the tissue inside the vagina would be compacted and required stretching. therefore, she encouraged me to keep trying to engage in sex in order to stretch the issue. here i am, 4 weeks later like nothing happened. although marsupialization is quite effective, my cyst has been appearing on and off again over the past 4 weeks. i am almost certain that i will see it again,but i am glad i had the procedure.overall is was quite effective.
hope this helps. definately scary when such an intimate spot on your body is meddled with,but you have nothing to be too afraid of.

Hi Sihamc,

Thanks for the response. It's nice to hear from someone who has relatively returned to normal. Are you still having recurrences? I'm hoping this marsupialization will get rid of mine once and for all, but I'm afraid that gland removal will be the only way to take care of it permanently. Your sexual activity resumed at a normal level and there is no pain or nerve damage?

Thanks!

Hi there,
yes i did have it reoccur after the procedure,only after sex. i invested in a giant tube of KY jelly, and havent had it since.
i sometimes experience a little bit of nerve twitch's , but it is nothing compared to the bartholins cyst. just momentary.
there is no guaruntee that it will not return, (like mine did) but if you learn to manage it, there shouldnt be a problem. i now try to stay away from sugary foods and drinks, as the sugar can create a great breeding ground for bacteria. i make it a point to have a bath every second day, and not shower too much. i make sure the bath is super hot as well. i try not to do strenuous exercise.
a few weeks ago i went ice skating, fell on my butt and the next day i had a huge lump where my bartholins cyst was! this told me that i needed to be extra careful,and physical exersion must be kept to a reasonable level. thats what happened when i had sex, i was not as lubricated as i should have been, and this caused irritation to the marsupialised area. thus, the cyst returned.
so just remember,it's a little uncomfortable to begin with, after the surgery,but once healed, and properly managed, you should have minimul discomfort.

Siham

Siham- I have a question for you. I had marsipulization of a Bartholin gland about a week ago.When I sit, it stings....almost like i have an open sore there or something...is this normal...and it stung once when I peed. I felt nothing from thsi surgery til now.

hi there!
yes,i did experience the stinging for about 2 weeks after the operation. you must remember, that during the surgery, your vagina is literally being opened up, in order to make the incision inside. so essentially, you have an open wound on the inside of your vagina in order keep the puss draining out. i also had a weird discharge for about 3 weeks. my gyn told me it was completely normal and was a result of the infection. it cleared up on its own after i had finished my course of anti biotics.
you wont be able to sit properly, use the toilet properly...its quite overwhelming. but as long as you keep it clean,thats the most important thing in my opinion. as long as its clean, the infection will heal.

hope this helps. i'm going from my own experience.
hint:make sure that when you do engage in sex, that you are well lubricated. sex will be painfull the first few times, as you will have to stretch the skin in your Vag all over again, and obviously, there will be contact with the operated area. but PLEASE! if it is too painful for you to bear, STOP! you will only encourage swelling. this was my error. wait another week,and try again.

I just had my marsupialization yesterday and it went very well. Hardly any pain at all, and really, not much bleeding either. Unlike when I had the word cathete inserted - then I couldn't sit, stand, or walk, and was in excruciating pain for three days until I had them remove it.

I just took my first sitz bath (in an actual sitz toilet seat bath- I finally invested in one!), and when I got up to check myself out, I saw a lot of discharge. Not to gross anyone out, but it was stringy, and looked like a mixture of blood and mucous. I had no infection, so I would be surprised if it were pus. I am just wondering if this is a normal part of the process, or if an infection may be beginning post-procedure? I am assuming right now that it is normal, and that the warm water caused the cyst to loosen up and release some of the fluid and blood that was trapped in there.

Otherwise, still minimal discomfort and I'm so happy I'm able to move around easily! Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

Hi I have just had a marsupialization today under local anaethesia. Whole process was not too painful, numbing pricks were abit uncomfortable, and felt some small and bearable pain when the Doc was cutting and stiching. Am on painkillers and antiboitics and have been advised to take salty baths 3 times a day... or better still whenever I go to the tiolet... I have not yet gone to the tiolet all day today after the op.

My doc says I shd be fine and able to have sex within a few weeks ... I better be fine soon coz my boyfriend who lives abroad is visiting in five weeks time and I need to be really fine by the time he comes.!

otherwise no discomfort at all at the moment.

http://www.atlasofpelvicsurgery.com/1Vulva andIntroitus/3bartholinsglandcyst/chap1sec 3.html

I found this site..Had not heard of this surgery and lookedit u..Has some really intersting info..k

lbe - you will be fine in five weeks time. i had sex about two weeks after and it wasn't painful. we did take it slow though.

it's been three weeks for me and i just had my last stitch removed yesterday. it does not look like the procedure resulted in the creation of a new drainage tract, and there is still a little swelling (though not much), so i am thinking the marsupialization failed. the dr says we can try again, but will have to do it in the operating room this time, under anesthesia, so they can be a bit more "aggressive" with the incision. UGH. my only other option is complete gland removal, which i am trying to avoid.

good luck everyone!

Hi thanks sr7628 for your comforting info....I am just over one week and actually most of the pain has gone, there is still a small swelling which hurts when I touch... think it hasnt healed completly but is on the way to healing. Was supposed to see my doctor for a review two days ago but didnt get the chance to see him, intend to see him tomorrow .

I think your swelling shall go in due course, dont think its a failed marsupialisation.... like any boby part, it takes a while to heal completely especially inside. Just be patient, as long as you are not in any pain or discomfort and its not affecting your sex life. As for complete removal of the gland...NOOO I dont encourage you to do so at this point, its still too early. From the reading I have done, many of those who have removed the entire gland have done so after suffering from multiple cysts that have not responded to marsupialisation after several ops... so hang in there gal, you shd be fine soon.

Good luck

Hello

I went for my doctors review and he was very happy with the healing process... and he says it shd be completly healed in the next two weeks.... however I note that there is still a swelling, not painful but when you touch you can feel it. Also the part which was stiched can still be felt when you run your finger there....feels abit uncomfortable .... but my doctor says it will go. He has put me on a futher doze of antibiotics for the next two weeks and has scheduled me for another review then... I have not attempted to have penetrative sex yet.... coz am rather scared....but my doctor assures me that by the time of my next review, I shd be home and dry....

Will keep you posted...

well i will be going for marsupialization on wednesday, n its finally happening after 6 cysts! im nervous, im wondering how will i walk sit n have sex. how long is the down time? im in school so sitting is a prob, and missin to much class is also. will i be stitched? how many ? how long before they remove stitches? how long did it take for the surgery? well thanks for all the info! wish me well!

I had a marsupialization done just a week ago. My bartholin cyst turned into an abcess and the pain was not good at all. a couple of months ago my gyno tried inserting a word catheter with no sucess since the fluid trapped inside the bartholin's gland was so slippery she tried over and over again and told me she had never seen a fluid as slippery as mine. So she told me about my other option (marsupialization)and I told her I would wait some time before going on surgery... and there I was at the hospital a week ago with a HUGE bartholin abcess, I wont lie, it was the size of a plum and the infection made it so hard I couldnt almost walk.

After surgery everything was ok. Except for the horrible headache that spinal anesthesia gave me (I dont recommend this anesthesia to anyone!), I took 3 days off from my work because of the headaches but I can walk, sit and do everything as normal like I used to. The only concern I am having is the discharge, wich is nasty looking and wont stop. I think this is normal, is kind of sticky and yellowish-brownish. I am also wondering if any of you had success with lubrication of the vagina after surgery, since I stopped lubricating almost completely when the bartholin cyst formed, and before I had the cyst I used to lubricate LOTS. please let me know Thanks!

Hi there,
i have bad news ladies, after my relatively successful marsupialization in March, my cyst returned with a vengeance. i got it reopened in hospital in July this year, then 3days ago, the lump had returned, only this time, it burst within 2 days of arriving, in the middle of the night without warning!!!!! gunk everywhere!
i now have to start a whole new round of pills for the infection, and as this is my 3rd major case, they're not considering removing the gland altogether. which i have read is a very painful experience.
will keep you all posted!
Rgds,
Sihamc

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting in a forum. I've had continuous bartholin's cysts since I was 16. I am now 20 years old, but am not sexually active. I've had two normal lancings in the past(but have had 10 actual cysts during the 4 year period), and am scheduled to have my first marsupialization tomorrow.

Looking through the forums, it seems to me that marsupializations are very hit or miss. Originally, I thought that was my best option because I have had so many cysts previously. Now, I'm not so sure if it's worth it 1) because it looks like the procedure doesn't successfully stop the cysts from returning and 2) I've read a lot about physical defects that occur after the marsupialization is done (craters etc).

I'm actually very afraid to have sex because of all the problems I've had in the area. The last cyst I had just burst last night so I'm not even sure if it's possible to continue with the procedure tomorrow. It was very painful and grew to about the size of a pingpong ball. I couldn't walk or sit very well for about 5 days.

I don't want it to come back anymore. The marsupialization was my hope for normalcy, but now I'm not sure. Has anyone else not had sex before they started having Bartholin's cysts? If so, how did that affect your sex life? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex

Hi,
I'm due to have the Marsupialization shortly and im a little concerned about it. My main concern is this hole that will be created. Is the hole large, will it heal over, is it permenant and is it noticable.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
Emma

Hi everyone,
I had a marsupialization at the beginning of July. Its now mid September and I think that the procedure left a scar down there. Whenever I am aroused, It swells up as if gathering secretion. Is this normal? I feel very depressed because one side of my vagina gets really puffy and because of this I have become somewhat insecure. I have not had sex since my procedure because I am no longer comfortable with my body.