hey everyone. I have been all over the internet today trying to figure out what I should do. I am 18 years old and over the course of the last 4 months I have had three of the Bartholin's Cysts. The first one did not rupture and went away. The second one ruptured and the doctors told me if I got another one chances are that they will have to remove the sac that produces the cysts. Last night I got my third one. I have a doctors appoitment today and I am freaking out. I am so young and the websites I have looked at show that like 2% of women aged 14-40 get these!!! If anyone has any advice for me please let me know. Thank you so much and god bless!

hey everyone. I have been all over the internet today trying to figure out what I should do. I am 18 years old and over the course of the last 4 months I have had three of the Bartholin's Cysts. The first one did not rupture and went away. The second one ruptured and the doctors told me if I got another one chances are that they will have to remove the sac that produces the cysts. Last night I got my third one. I have a doctors appoitment today and I am freaking out. I am so young and the websites I have looked at show that like 2% of women aged 14-40 get these!!! If anyone has any advice for me please let me know.

Dont feel bad Im 16 will be 17 in May and I have had the same cyst 2 or 3 times this year. It sucks and it hurts really bad even to walk sometimes but the only thing is is that its not on the lip of my vagina its on the upper part of the crease between my leg and vagina. So Im not sure if it is a Bartholin cyst or something else but that is what everyone is telling me

Wow after finally researching this online, ive realized this is a bigger problem then i thought. Ive gotten a cyst about every year since i was 16 im now 20, recently married and 5 months pregnant. It seems like the best way to get rid of these are surgery, but i dont think thats an option because im pregnant. I might get the marsup. surgery after delivery, has this helped anyone or should i just have the gland removed? Im just so tired of going thru this pain! And does anyone know ..if i have it removed will i be able to produce my own lubrication anymore? Its really frustrating and depressing. Im a newly wed and my sex life already seems like its going to be horribe:(

hi all --

firstly, i am very happy to have found this forum. i've had many bartholin cysts/abscesses and many times, i feel like the only person going through this since i don't know a single person who can relate to my problems.

i've had cysts that have come and gone; i've had abscesses that have been lanced, marsupialized and have returned in less than a week; i've had abscesses that grew so large that it ruptured on it own and have returned in a few months. i've never had kids before but have preached to others that sometimes the pain is so great, i am 100% sure that it's worse than birthing a child.

i have seen two obgyns with different viewpoints on how to handle this matter. the first prefers to lance and put me on a strong course of antibiotics until the infection is gone. she tells me that this is something i will have to deal with for the rest of my life unless i remove the entire gland (not just cyst), a procedure that is often advised again because of how it can stifle your sex life (i am only 24). my second obgyn is determined to make sure she can find a solution that will prevent cysts and abscesses from ever coming back without having to remove my gland. i've been seeing my second obgyn because if anyone has ever had a bartholin abscess before, you would know that it is something you don't ever want to experience again and the idea of constantly living in fear and anticipation that the infection will come back is a lifestyle no one should have to conform to.

for the last two years, i've had reoccuring abscesses on my left gland. my obgyn marsupialized it and placed a gauze inside to keep the incision open. rather than to let it eventually close, i saw her twice every week for 6 weeks to have the duct cleaned and to be kept open -- much like the logic of keeping recently pierced ears open. the idea is to form a larger duct to prevent future blockages which would lead to the formation of cysts/abscesses. i am now left with a small opening that i maintain on my own every few days to make sure it stays open. obviously the size of the new duct is larger than what it normally looks like but this is a decision i made for myself because a) i do no want to lose the gland entirely, and b) i do not want these cysts/abscesses to ever come back. this has worked so far for the past half year. i am now currently waiting to have the same done with my right gland since the last time there was an abscess, it grew so large so quickly that by the morning of my appointment to have it marsupialized, it had ruptured on its own.

i would like to note that this posting is for the purposes of sharing my experience with everyone and in no way am i offering advice on how others should deal with this problem. these are choices we all have to make for ourselves depending on how much we are willing to sacrifice and additionally, treatments work differently for each person. my heart goes out to all who have dealt or are going through this ordeal. fully aware of how scanty the research available on this issue is, if anyone would like to learn more about my experience, feel free to reach out to me.

Hello, sorry to all of you out there suffering... I am too at the moment, unfortunately.

I was interested by something the last two posters mentioned. For people who have had the gland removed, HAS it affected your sex life?

I am 25 and have had a recurring cyst from my right bartholyn's gland for about 5 years. The first treatment they tried was marsupialization. This worked for about a year and then the recurrences started and became more frequent. Since my first cyst and marsup I've had a word catheter, they tried "burning" the cyst with some kind of cauterizing device, and and additional marsup. I have had about 5-10 cysts develop and rupture on their own.
I really trust my doctor and believed she tried everything she could before advising me to have the gland excized.
I had a full gland excision a week ago and was so terrified of something going wrong that my dr had to prescribe me clonopen two days before the operation because i was freaking out.
I had looked up the surgery online and read all these awful possible complications "deformed vagina, painful sex forever". It was a really difficult decision because i'm 25 and hope to have a long healthy happy sex life ahead of me.
The first couple of days are tough. You definitely need someone around to take care of you. By day 4 I could go for little walks and moved from percoset to motrin. I am on day 7 of recovery. I am still bleeding a little from the stitches but do feel a bit better every day. My vagina on that side is still very bruised and swollen, and I feel most comfortable when sitting on an ice pack. I am going back to work tomorrow. So far my recovery hasn't had any complications.
If all continues to go well, I would say this was definitely the right decision. It is really scary to have an excision, but i hated living in dread of these awful cysts that interrupt your life so dramatically. I'm hoping to continue my steady recovery and then be rid of this awful problem forever. My fingers are crossed.

I had my Bartholin gland removed about 2 months and 2 weeks ago. i would have to say that was the worst pain in my life! I had some complications with the surgery and developed a hemotomia. Than after a month and 2 weeks the lump was still there, so i decided to get a second opinion. So that doctor said i didn't have a hemotomia, and that it was just scar tissue, at this point i had develped an infection, so i was put on antibiotics to take that away. But then he said i shouldnt be having pain if it was just scar tissue. So now i dont know what to believe, and it is 2 months and over 2 weeks after the surgery. I was thinking of going to Pheonix Arizona to see a specialist, does anyone know of a good doctor down there, if so please help me out,I just want to be healed!

i heard that tea tree oil is good, i had my bartholin cyst since jan 2008, b/c i was 8 months pregie and its not infected my ob, says it will goes away by its own, i gave birth and cyst was gone and after couple of months i feel it again, i used hot compress and it seems work.. getting smaller, till now its not infected.. i dont wanna go in any procedure coz in all article i read is pretty scary, no cure, as long as its not infected im happy..

I'm 20 years old and when I was 19 I started getting the bartholin cyst. I've been in and out of the hospital for it. I've had it drained about 8 times. I had a marsuplization of it Jan or this year. It's August now and about 2 days ago I had it reoccur.

I've been coping with this the best I can, I'm really rather depressed about it, but I'm trying to remain strong. These forums really help me.

My obgyn comes back from vacation on Monday. I'm afraid he's going to suggest just removing the gland itself.

I've read that, it can cause cancer, you bleed a lot (I'm a bleeder), and bad bad pain during intercourse for the rest of your life. Not to mention deforming my flower.

As much as males talk about there manhood, and how precious it is to them I feel the same. I feel like this is taking away my essence of being a women. I've always been clean, and I don't have an std. After sex I tend to clean myself up I don't always take a shower but I try to keep that area clear from obstruction but this is still happening.

Is this true? If I do get this removed that I'm going to have pain during sex the rest of my life? So my choices would be pain, or pain from a cyst that occurs every 2 months.

I don't know where to turn or who to talk too. I'm hoping my doctor has something good to tell me.

I'm 20 years old and when I was 19 I started getting the bartholin cyst. I've been in and out of the hospital for it. I've had it drained about 8 times. I had a marsuplization of it Jan or this year. It's August now and about 2 days ago I had it reoccur.

I've been coping with this the best I can, I'm really rather depressed about it, but I'm trying to remain strong. These forums really help me.

My obgyn comes back from vacation on Monday. I'm afraid he's going to suggest just removing the gland itself.

I've read that, it can cause cancer, you bleed a lot (I'm a bleeder), and bad bad pain during intercourse for the rest of your life. Not to mention deforming my flower.

As much as males talk about there manhood, and how precious it is to them I feel the same. I feel like this is taking away my essence of being a women. I've always been clean, and I don't have an std. After sex I tend to clean myself up I don't always take a shower but I try to keep that area clear from obstruction but this is still happening.

Is this true? If I do get this removed that I'm going to have pain during sex the rest of my life? So my choices would be pain, or pain from a cyst that occurs every 2 months.

I don't know where to turn or who to talk too. I'm hoping my doctor has something good to tell me.

I had a cyst on my libia in April of 2007...could hardly walk...hurt badly...in June (when antibiotics failed to help) the Gyn. did a marsulization...it was day surgury...left fine an hour later...bled for a few days though....a few weeks later it was back in the exact same spot. My gyn. (after bombarding me with anti-biotics) thought it's be wise to remove it entirely.

Went in for 9 am..they called my hubby at 11 to pick me up...when he got there, I stood up and blood was literally pouring out of me on the floor. I spent 7 days in the hospital and one month with a nurse coming to my house daily to change the packing! lAnd the Gyn. says to me.."Oh you must be a slow healer" Little did she I am a very fast healer.

I had a mild stroke June 25th 2008...I think it all relates back to that...my family doc (small town) will never admit it...but the specialist I saw yesterday seems to think that could be it.

Look out ladies...shop for your doc...I'm in a small town and the options aren't good. Plus I find since she removed it..sex is slightly painful...and lubrication is very bad. I am 41 with a 4 year old daughter and 16 year old son.


Holly

I am now joining the "2%" of women who get these. Lastnight I went to the hospital in horrible pain and of course my cyst turned into and absess. I now have the word cathiter in place and hopefully it stays in for as long as possible. Ive heard that the longer it stays in the better chances you have of avoiding it coming back....I hope it doesnt come back I dont think I could stand it. I really believe I would opt to have the gland removed.

I think I've had Bartholin's cysts periodically through my adult life (I'm 35), but they have never been too big (pea sized?) nor were they painful, and usually went away pretty quickly.

However, last month, I found a lump that ended up being a Bartholin Cyst - it had been growing for about 2.5 weeks and was not painful, but about the size of a large grape. My GP referred me to an OB/GYN, who, after examining it, immediately recommended draining the cyst and inserting a word catheter. I hadn't had any pain with the cyst up till then (so it probably wasn't infected), so I was scared about having a procedure this invasive - and she was pretty blase about it, too.

I ended up going with her recommendation, because I wanted to do whatever possible to 'nip it in the bud'. The procedure to drain the cyst and then insert the catheter was traumatic, but not horrifyingly painful after she numbed up the area. The injections were the most awful part. The draining part was just embarassing, though after a while, I got over it. Thank goodness it didn't have a foul odor - I was lucky.

After I walked out of her office, i actually went back to work (wearing my brave face)! I was walking around gingerly for the rest of the day, and went home and took a long hot bath. The minute my husband came home from work, I burst into tears. I was just emotionally exhausted from the invasive procedure, and very disappointed that I had to explain to him that I had to abstain for 6 weeks - luckily, I married a really great guy who didn't think twice about his new abstinence experiment.

So far, the catheter has been in for 2 weeks, and it hasn't fallen out yet. The part of the tube outside of the gland was tucked up into my vagina and it popped out - but i was able to tuck it back up without any pain, and the balloon was in the same place and I didn't have any soreness after - I think it was just fine.

My GYN said that the catheter will most likely just fall out naturally - though i'm not sure how, since the end in the catheter is inflated... but I assume that if after 6 weeks it hasn't come out naturally, I'll go in to the office. Not looking forward to that procedure.

Reading about the amount of repeat cysts, it looks like we're in for a long haul. I figure that women who have had one treatment and were just fine forever after wouldn't be visiting this forum, but if anyone has had success with a word catheter, let me know!

i am 18 and have discovered another Bartholin gland cyst.

when i was 15 i found my first one, after been rushed through A E, i was in surgery within two days to have it drained. i was also told by a leading surgeon that a Bartholin gland cyst will rupture after five days.

hoever the second time, i went to my GP and explained the situation, and was referred to
hospital in six days time. even though i explained i have been told it wont last more than five days, my GP insisted he knew best... on the sixth day at 1am my cyst ruptured and i felt relieved, and also angered by my GP for not listening to me.

it's now three years later, and i've found that same old lump, on the exact same side and same place as the previous two. although i know what it is i am sitting alevels in two weeks, and risk not being able to sit the exams because of the cyst.

please can anyone tell me how i can stop these coming back? i am scared to death of operations, yet the cyst is due to rupture during one of my exams, and i have no idea how i am suppose to sit in a chair for two hours. and i just want them to stop coming back.

many thanks x

after 9 intense days, and two trials of different tablets provided by my GP, i went to A E as the pain was getting to much.

after bein seen by a surgeon and discussing my options i decided to try another type of tablet instead of having an operation to drain the abscess.

on th 10th day, the abscess was getting more painful and growing by the minute, so after i got my perscription i took the new tablets (Augmentin 625gm) and within half hour it ruptured.

or corse it was rather messey and ive got really bad stomache pains, dizzyness, sickness and other side effects of rapid blood loss and loss of pressure, but i feel so relieved! but of corse ive got a follow up appointment on friday, which would have been when i would have been operated pn, but hopefully now i wont need one, but due to it rupturing i need to ensure no harm was done to my body.

i have know idea whether it ruptured by itself or whether the tablets made it happen, but i would recommend Augmentin to anyone, as accodring to my surgeon 'it is alot stronger and gives more effect than anything a GP will give you'. yet, it does contain penicillin, but like i said if you are not allergic ask for it!
good luck to you all
x

Hey all.I'm happy that I found that I'm not alone with this pain.I've had a B.cyst for 10 days much bigger than a grape which became painful from 5 days ago.My Gyn.gave me Unasyn 375 mg & when I asked for an operation he told me to wait maybe it cured by itself.I have still pain,but the cyst is the same size.now have some questions:
1.If Bartholin's cyst rupture it would be from outside the body?I mean can I see the rupture?How will the fluid which comes out look like?
2.I have some discharg.I don't know if it is vaginal or from the cyst?
Can any body answers me if she knows please?

Iris, the rupture occurs from the inner side of the labia where the cyst is located. I have found when it ruptures the fluid will be clear to yellow and mingled with blood. When it ruptures, you will have no doubt because the pressure which you once experienced will be relieved.

I have had problems with this gland for 22 years. The gland becomes blocked four to five times a year. I have had the cyst lanced, drained, marsupialized,tubed and sitzed bathe but they still have reoccurred. For years I dreaded the ideal of surgery. Now I'm older, 47, and the thought of continuing to endure the cysts outweighs the dread of surgery. I am currently in the process of contacting my GYN to obtain surgery as quickly as possible.

I got my first bartholin cyst when I was 12 (!!!). I was definately not sexually active. I have had them recurring ever since, at first it was only one cyst every year or so - sometimes more. I am now 25. I have been with one man, my husband, and he with one woman, me. I definately do NOT have STDs. I do NOT wear tight pants. I DO have GREAT hygeine.

When I was 20 and had recently give birth to my first child, another cyst showed up. By then I was averaging about 2-4 every month. Usually they didn't go away for months at a time. The pain is unbearable, it was worse than pre-labor pains for me.

I went to the family medical center. We are army, so we were seen immediately as soon as I put in the appointment. By then my one cyst had been around for about 4 months continiously growing to the size of my daughter's head! No lie, it was about the size of a small ball. It was HUGE!!!

The MALE doctor didn't know what it was. He snickered at the pain I said I was having. I told him to look carefully because the thing is pretty huge and I need something done about it. Then I told him to imagine his nuts to swell that big, that stopped almost all the snickering.

He went to go look up what it was, when he came back it was to tell me what it was. He suggested we put a word catheter in it. (I now regret this) He told me to keep it in place for 14 weeks (another mistake, after much research it's only supposed to be 4 weeks max).

He drained my cyst/tumor. The smell was awful. My mother was there crying, holding my hand telling me it was disgusting. Know how he drained it? He jsut shoved a needle into it and it popped. Excruciating pain. He was trying to numb me up. It didn't work. So there I am screaming my head off, my mother crying, and this jerk has the nerve to say "gee look painful".

Weeks pass, the catheter falls out at 13 weeks. I go through a good 3-4 more cysts and draining before I make a resolve to get this completely fixed. I go back in to the doctor, I see a female doctor this time. She tells me she's had it before. She refers me to a specialist. We find out I'm pregnant. I go through an entire pregnancy with another huge cyst. It stays there for over 13 months. Never draining, never stopping the pain. I'm popping pain pills like nuts. I recently moved. Just had my 2nd daughter. FINALLY I can do something about this again.

As of about 3 weeks ago, I saw another specialist. She told me the statistics.
- Women dealing with this under 30: 2% of all women in the world
- Women dealing with recurring cysts: .001% of those previously mentioned 2% women.

I am a rare breed, apparently. She goes on to tell me that it has been rumored that it is actually GENETIC, or so she thinks. My mother has had ovarion cysts, my grandmom has had bartholin cysts. This makes complete sense to me. She tells me she wants to do a marsupialization on it.

I am currently scheduled to have mine done tomorrow. As for the up and walking around in 2 days, that's a lie. There is a high risk for nerve damage (50%), and a high risk of recurrance (45%) with just the marsupialization when it's done on women like me. With the excision (removing the gland) the recurrance will drop to 15%, they will be doing this if the gland becomes a problem during the surgery.

Since some of these posts are old, I thought I'd throw that information out there. I've tried everything I could find on the internet to get rid of these cysts. Herbal rememdies, pain killers, antibiotics, none of it worked. Those sitz baths btw, they prescribe that for everything...and seriously, never worked for me not even post-childbirth.

Here are some facts some of you may want to know about Marsupialization that my doctor told me.

- You have a risk of hemoraghing (spelling?)
- You may need a blood transfusion
- You need to pick out your anethetic, and there are over 100s to pick from (how you will be doped up)
- You will have a therapist assigned to you afterwards
- It is a walk-in, walk-out same day proceedure lasting total 3 hours
- You DO have a chance of recurrance, but this helps lessen it
- They MAY need to do some minor surgery on important parts on you, like your uretha/uterus/etc, IF the cyst has grown so big and up that far
- They MAY need to remove dead tissue (they do with me)
- You will be on required bedrest for at least a month, some women take up to 3 months to just be able to sit down
- It MAY cause nerve damage, resulting in ghost pains
- It MAY affect your future sex life, not being able to get wet etc
- It WILL help you stop getting pain when you get turned on (happens to me), will stop the fevers (happens to me), will stop problems getting wet (happens to me)
- They MAY need to repair your bartholin cyst tube (leading to the cyst) or remove it all together
- As for the clown that stated that they were nauseous because they didn't eat before the surgery, I'm going to call junkies on that. You are told not to eat after MIDNIGHT the night before, and the surgery is usually scheduled at 6am-9am. Not that long without a snack, eh ladies?
- Do not take any pain pills within 10 days of your surgery because it will dillute your blood.

Because I am such a rare breed, I have dead tissue outside of my labia. They will be removing a part of my vagina as well. Apparently the recurring cysts caused dead tissue, and that tissue needs to be removed.

Overall, I believe the nuts that talk about herbal remedies...are nuts. There are SOME things that can be fixed with herbs. This is NOT one of them, at least for me.

There is no common cause for this. Don't let anyone tell you that you are dirty/disease filled. I have told every single one of those doctors off when they asked me that question. You will have worries about looking like a freak, you will be VERY depressed because this is a lifelong thing that will never go away, and you will DEFINATELY at some point consider this surgery. In a few days I'll let you know how I'm feeling then.

I'm one of those chicks that would rather limit the chance of recurrance than know for a fact I was going to have this for such a long time. Like I said, everyone is different, but these are ALL the facts that I was presented with myself. I wanted to personally put a stop to all of the fake rumors going around about this surgery and the cysts in general (which are also referred to as benign tumors).

By the way, my word catheter was inserted completely wrong by that MALE doctor. I have since been told it will take ANOTHER surger to repair the damaged tissue.

Thought I'd also add that it's also called a TUMOR because if they drain it and do NOT remove ALL of the cyst, it WILL grow back.

They CAN use lazers on it, but prefer not to because obviously lazers are not that reliable in this day and age. Especially for such a SMALL, SENSITIVE, easy to mess up proceedure.

The dead tissue occurs when your cysts POPS (like other women have said they purposely done to themselves, bad idea). The icky fluid inside will leak into other various parts of your body and fester..make it worse and destroying your tissue in the process.

That's all I was told, as of this morning at my appointment with my anethesiologist.

Sorry for the long posts, just a ton of MIS-information out there.