Wanted to answer your question about numbness after Marsupialization. The numbness is actually caused by scar tissue build up. I asked my doctor this past week about it. She told me that because it's a surgery, there will be scar tissue that builds up due to the cutting etc. Some women have the numbness/non-stretching feeling go away with time, but others don't. So far, I'm still number after over a month after surgery.

As for the other responses I've seen...it's been over a month of recovering for myself. I went back to taking care of my kids fairly easily. I think at around week 3 I was almost done with those terrible pain meds. Mostly just took it slow, and now I feel like myself again.

Found out some more information on the stitches they used. Mine are made out of a water degrading fishing wire. Meaning, they will be in there for a total of about 5 months. -.- That's a long time. They do still poke me, prolly because they were too long and not snipped properly.

To answer Ticka: I noticed more of a problem with the cysts while I was pregnant, and especially directly AFTER I had my kids. Seemed to be a lot worse during my 2nd pregnancy. That could just be my mind playing tricks on me because they wouldn't do anything about my cysts till I wasn't pregnant. Drove me nuts.

For an update on myself: Has been a while now. Have had sex multiple times since had my surgery done. No cyst yet. Usually I get one almost every time we have sex.

I hoped all of my research helped you all. I've been thinking of starting a support group as well. All of the information I keep coming across is entirely false.

Once again for the new responders: not good to pop your cyst, it doesn't drain ALL of the fluid etc. More likely for your cyst to reccur.

I just got one for the fist time in September of 2008. It was extremely painful and the size of a golf ball. After waiting for it to go away with anti-botics for one week I finally went into the hospital for a drainage procedure which made me feel much better but then in Jan of 2009 I got it again. This time I did not wait and went in right a way for a marsupilization. The second time it was very small and not as painful. Of course this week it started again and I am on anitboitics but not in a lot of pain. It is insane. Mine is in the Skene's gland. I am at a loss on what a woman is supposed to do about this. If this were on a mans private area, I am sure there would be a cure already.

I just got one for the fist time in September of 2008. It was extremely painful and the size of a golf ball. After waiting for it to go away with anti-botics for one week I finally went into the hospital for a drainage procedure which made me feel much better but then in Jan of 2009 I got it again. This time I did not wait and went in right a way for a marsupilization. The second time it was very small and not as painful. Of course this week it started again and I am on anitboitics but not in a lot of pain. It is insane. Mine is in the Skene's gland. I am at a loss on what a woman is supposed to do about this. If this were on a mans private area, I am sure there would be a cure already.

so i am only 21 years old and therefore have not had too many life experiences. however, seeing as how i am in the 2%ige of women who are blessed with this curse i feel i have a unique view on the subject on hand. today is sunday going on monday and i hopefully will be having surgery on tuesday.this is my 4th attempt at surgery..so...
it has been pleauging me for the better part of a year. it started whils i was one day makeing love to my boyfriend-the most patient man i know of- and suddently this burst of pain as if his member was a cactus, so i toppled off and held myself in the fetal position crying like a baby to top it all off.
i removed my hand, and found no blood, which suprised me because i was just thinking, oh hes probly just unfit for me..if you know what i mean.
so i shifted position and thought..waaaaait a second..i thought i felt something weird, so i put my hand back on the *spot* and felt a lump!!!!
oh my god... i have hpv, hsv2 and now this? no no no no this cannot be happening to me!!!....better yet..what is happening to me?!all i know is that i cannot sit, stand, lay, laugh, sob, cough,move my legs or hips without being in pain/tears...so without zombie status life was unbareable due to this pain inbetween my legs. and zombie status is only ok if you infact are a zombie. i happen to have a pulse so this wont work out so well for me.
so it had to be a saturday...no gyn. is open on saturday, so i went to a family clinic...the male doc. poked around and ask me if it hurt....did it hurt?hah!! let me ask you mr. doc.-face.. if i put your members in a vice and messed them , would that hurt?
then to top it off. he said..bartholin's gland. go home. take bath..all better!!!
- if this ever happens to you punch the igor-amus in the mouth-
i went to my regular family doctor on monday and he saw the gland and said" oh you poor woman im not even going to touch this thing, pelase go now to see your gyn, its a bartholin's gland, please, go now it is infected!!"
you can immagine my horror to hear this from my doctor.
so i did just that the next day.
my gyn. was very kind and understanding that it hurt like a you know what.
and she gave me a local anestetic and drained the egg-shaped gland and sent me home for rest for the next 7 days.
well..when she gave me the injection , it either did not work or she didnt wait long enough because when i say drain i mean poped it like a zit...sqeeeeeeeeeeeezed the thing..till it only gave her blood. oh my lord let me tell you i screamed..and suprized i did not break my boyfreinds hand..and i am a tough cookie..my pain tollerance is very high.
so...i rested...it was immediate releif as far as the pressure goes, but the pain did not stop for 5 days..the "cowboy"strut...did not stop for 5 days ladies.
so once it was done hurting ...me and my boyfreind got that look in our eyes, lets go do something kinda look...welll...the "cactus member" was back...better yet ...my gland decided to join the party. so i went back to the gyn. with my ping pong ball sized gland. the gyn said " may we do surgery" but seeing as how i have never got a surgery done i said no because i was too afraid, she tried to talk me into it slightly but not to pressure me into it, but i stood by my answer.
she injected me, and this time it worked!! i felt it but not nearly as terrible, so it may just be that my gland simply was not infected or that the injection actualy worked or a combo. whatever it was, i was releived to get some help.
she drained it in the same mannor and i went home , layed around with a heating pack, and frequent sitz baths just like the first time, and it did infact get better.
we had sex a few times and it did hurt for some of the occasions and others it was releif. so i though ok, well this is just what i have to live with now.
so aunt flow decided it was due for our 4-day session together...and she has visited me before with my gland being all active.
but this time. i put the tampon in and my gland said" whoaaaaa hold it, hold it...just what in the hell do you think you are doing? i dont like this at all!!" and swellt up to the pingpong ball size again.
again it landed me in the sturrups and my business in this womans office again.
she looked at me as if to say" had enough yet"...aparently i had'nt because i said no..just drain it. my gyn. reluctantly proceeded with the injection, which this time did not hurt, and when she drained it , i barely felt it!!!
i thought.."oh wow im so done with this thing now"
wrong...
i have been dealing with this gland for 6months, inflateing, deflateing, and finaly i thought i had reached the end of the torture, all i had to do is have sex to prove myself wrong get again..but ohhhhh it dont stop there... the other side is now giving me the ride...oh yes you read that right...the other side of my vanina was at war to see if it could do a better job at tearing up my sanity.
.....i was ready and all set up for surgery on the first side which was my right side but we slept in i do beleive so we missed it, i cant honsetly say this was it but since i cant remember and we( me and my boyfreind) have recenly slept thru so many things...its not past us to do this.
so..we just re-scheduled it...on our way we got into a car accident, so we went to the hospital for my back injury insted of my bartholins gland surgery.
next ....i went in to the surgical center, and guess what, my gland was not consiterd to be "surgery ready" she could have done it but the timeing was not right, which ment she might not get all of my gland.
now, seeing as how it is on the left side and not looking any better than my right side at the 3rd attempt..remember when they said it was not "surgery ready"...i am so ready to be done with this thing.
it is not infected, infact it barely even hurts, untill i wear a tampon or even get arroused..i cannot and willnot live life like this..
i demand normalcy..so i will go in "surgery ready" or not.
and when i mention "surgery" i am talking straight up gland removal when i say i demand normalcy.. i mean it.
again..the gyn/surgeon did advise it may grow back or she may not remove the entire gland, i am desprate to end this escapade. i will do this , as my first surgery, and be happy when the hopefull result of normalcy is finaly accomplished.
i just am terrified it will come back , and that when it does it will be just like last time, or that my other gland, ya know , god ol' righty -roo, will get jealous and inflate like a torture ballon.
in any case i shall save this page and offer a folloup to my saga of the bartholin gland adventure.

I discovered my cyst about a week and a half ago. I called to schedule an appt with a new ob/gyn (I just moved to the Dallas area). My OB/GYN lanced the cyst and within three days it is back - only this time it is hard. She says this time it appears to be "granulation tissue" but we must remove it and check for cancer. I just turned 26 years old, and am getting married next MONTH! This is horrible timing - now 3 weeks off of work (our wedding money) and my fiance and I cannot even have sex. I am so frustrated. I am a nurse, so I asked the new doc if we could just remove it. I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning, and am scared to death! Anyone have recovery stories for me to ease (or validate) my concerns? I would greatly appreciate it!

Its 3 weeks since I had my Marsupialization op and I feel fine I decided to leave it 3 weeks until I had sex and it was lovely, no lubrication problems no pain and no lump!!
I would think the actual gland removal will be more painful after, there is also discharge for a few days but you will soon feel the difference and know it was worth it.

Ladies, it seems that 2% of all the women are a lot of us. I am grateful to read this forum but wanted to get more objective detailed info. Please, if any of you have the time to be precise, it would help the rest of us.

1) How old are you? Age is a crucial factor in our reproductive health.

2) Did you get this symptom before or after giving birth? Have you changed the type of feminine product since giving birth?

3) What type of non-organic materials come in constant contact with your vagina? Brand names and type of Feminine products, condoms, lubricants? Even Laundry detergents! Type of underwear?

4) We can sit around and demand a cure from doctors who know nothing about our daily hygiene or we can share our common pitfalls and try to figure out possible reasons more holistically.

5) So, what do you say? Brave ladies who have endured the miraculous pain of childbirth? Shall we all drop the blame on being ignored based on our gender and get help from our sisters around the globe?

6) For post-operational questions. Can someone tell me why so many of you are trying to have sex with stitches?!!!???

7) For women who have had BOTH glands removed: How long it's been and how does it affect your sex life in terms of lubricant production?
looking for a cure-

hi girls, try heper sulphur homeopathic remedy it worked for me.You do have to take it according to the instructions or it will not work.Good luck!

I am currently suffering from my 8th Bartholins cyst/abscess. I am in the UK and have been unfortunate to have been passed from pillar to post by various hospitals and Gynae doctors and had 2 drainages, and 6 marsupialisations over the last 3 years, which is not recommended due to the amount scar tissue that is left and pain that it causes afterwards etc. Finally, and after much shouting and demanding I am due to have the whole gland excised in 2 weeks, however because of the previous amount of surgery I have had, my wonderful surgeon, and I use that term loosely, cannot say how much damage has previously been done and whether this procedure will work or can even be carried out successfully. I wonder can anyone tell me a) have they ever had an excision of their bartholins gland done, what it involves (it is a rare procedure in the UK and surgeons are very unwilling to perform it I have found) and what kind of recovery it takes, and b) has anyone had it done after so many marsupialisations previously and was it successful?! If anyone could help me on this I would be hugely grateful because neither my GP nor hospital are being in the slightest bit helpful.

Hi everyone, I dad a marsupialization done about 5 wks ago and I still have swelling its like a hard ball the size of a quarter, you can't really see it but you can feel it. I only have pain if I have sex and i feel that the bump gets bigger after the act. I am very frustrated with the situation because my doctor said that it would take a month at the most,now she said wait 2 more wks, and it looks like if it still going to be there for a while,is this normal?
Is it normal to have that hard ball for this long, I think i have the pain when attempting sex because of the swelling,Please reply I am so so worried, how long after having normal painless sex?

Hi
Having had 6 masupialisations I have also had this problem before, the cause of it has been two different things, the first time was just post operative swelling which went away of its own accord after around 8 weeks, I think when doctors say sex can be resumed after 3-4 weeks they are at times being too hopeful especially if they have performed a 'large' marsupialisation or placed a lot of stitches in it. The second time I was left with a hard ball was because when the cyst was marsupialised a part of the cyst wall had broken off during the procedure and was not removed and as the wound had healed it had sealed inside me causing the pain and swelling,ultimately this led to me having to have another marsupialistion as antibiotics to break it down did not work and the whole cyst reformed.

I just had my first masupialization after several abscesses over a five year period, i went to the er so many times they drain it but it would always come back, the last painful one i had was June last year, i was pregnant so i my Obgyn told me that after i give birth he would do the surgery,its been eight days now since i had it done, am praying it will never come back,i read testimony's from other ladies who did the surgery and it came back, am praying for myself and other ladies so that we never get them again.

Its a relief to know I'm not alone, just had my third one drained a month and a half ago and no problems so far, hopefully I'm done with this problem, it's sooo painful. I'm 21 and I didn't start having them until about six months after I became sexually active, a few years ago. The first one released on it's own, so that one i didn't count it, but the others I had to have lanced, my doctor says there is no std present, so I'm wondering if anyone else can relate to this scenario??? Also has anyone experienced vaginal dryness since they are the glands that produce our moisture??? Thanks for sharing everyone!!!

I'm 27 married and have 3 kids. My first experience with the cyst was a few months back, and didn't really know what is was. It went away after 3 days.

Now 6 days ago I started to feel real tender down there, and it was the same lump I had before but hurt more, 3 days ago it was so painful that I couldn't sit, and it was extremely painful to walk.

I took myself to the ER and the doctor immediately gave me shots of Ladicane to numb it and cut it open to drain and put in packing. This was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. I would rather give birth to 5 more kids then go through that again. Today my packing fell out, and I'm scheduled to go in tomorrow to have it taken out.

I'm really thinking about asking my doctor to have the surgery but I'm very happy with my sex life and don't want it to be affected. Has anyone really had a bad affect with their sex life after this surgery? I just don't see myself going through the pain of having it cut open again and the missing of work every time it happens. Mine were twice the size of grapes and the doctor said I had a lot of puss pockets. It was so swollen that it covered my whole vagina. Pretty scary. Since the packing fell out today I'm very weak and almost passed out. I hope that I get good news tomorrow cause I really need it, and hope that it isn't infected or anything.

I am 28 years old. Have 3 kids and have been married for 11 years. When I was pregnant with my second I got my first cyst. I had five during that pregnancy and because of the pain my daughter stopped growing and she was delivered at 24 weeks. She is five now and thriving.

Since then, I have had 17 cysts. Well I am in the middle of my 17th. I get them every few months. I don't know why. I wish I did. =(

I want to have the surgery to remove the gland because they are always on the same side, but my doctor feels it un-necessary and painful.

I want to scream at him because to o through pain like this every few months is killing me and my family.

Very few times has it ever burst on it's own and I usually end up in the emergency room to have it lanced and drained.

I have missed so much work because of these and my job is constantly in jeopordy. I have heard stories from many people by reading all of these posts.

I pray and wish none of you have ever experienced this, and I am truly sorry that you have. I pray for you and I pray with you that g-d almighty never gives you one of these again.

I am finding a new doctor to perform the surgery, cause I can't live like this anymore.

Besides, I have much more important things I hae to worry about like my daughter just coming in to ask for scissors to cut her hair.

This was nice chating and nice to releave some frustrations and anger. Thank you for listening.

All women who have these cysts will always be in my prayers. Trust me, as I too and in excruciting pain you are thought of, because I know how you feel.

Take care - Good Luck - and G-d Bless

Hello-

I am 41 years old and have had 4 cysts already. Two within the past 5 months, which I've had drained by catheter and the other lanced. Reading these messages makes me feel somewhat normal. I have felt so embarrased that I haven't been able to talk to anyone about these type of cysts. At first I thought I had contracted an STD from this jerk I used to date but my lab work always came out normal.

My gyne being the wonderful woman that she is had already described the surgery to remove the gland 5 months ago. Today she seriously adviced me to schedule the surgery since the gland was once again beginning to fill up. I asked as many questions as possible like recovery time, being able to have children and what the odds of cysts like these becoming cancerous. I will be able to have more children without complications from this surgery, usually women in their 70's might get cancer from these type of cysts, and it would be a 3-5 day recovery period. I love woman doctors because they understand and are sympathetic about these type of issues.

I wish there was more research to find out if this is genetic or what. I would not want my daughter to have to go through what we all have been through. Stay strong sisters and if your doctor does not give you the answers you seek, kick them to the curb and find another. No woman should have to suffer due to a dotor's lack of compassionor concern!

MariaMena - Talk to you doctor about getting a marsupialization (probably not spelling it right) I thought all I wanted was the gland removal surgery. I have been to 3 doc requesting it. The last doc i went to a few days ago asked me why and my response was. " I am mentally and physically exhausted and these re-occuring cysts are killing me" He then asked if I had a marsupialization and I said no. There is only a 1 percent chanch of this ever coming back after having this sx. It is much less evasive and keeps you whole. I guess the difference is, one removes the gland which means also removes all your bodies natural lubrication, and the other cuts the skin and pulls it back leaving the gland but giving it an artificial hole to breathe. Or so I have heard.

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this, I wish this on no one. I don't know if you read my story but I am on my 16th. The pain has gotten so bad I can't walk. So I don't unless I must. I have a high tolerance for pain having 3 kids but my level is at a 7.5 right now.

Good Luck and I pray for you and everyone else.

I had my first cyst about 5 years ago. I couldn't walk and didn't know what was wrong with me. I went to the hospital in the middle of the night and had it drained. Since then I have had them to reoccur many times. This is my second day missing work. My doctor has been encouraging me to have the surgery, but I was skeptical about it. But now reading your posts, I think I am going to go through with it.
I have met only one person (she lives in Germany) that has had this or knows what I am talking about. I tried explaining to my mom and she is supportive but has no idea what I'm talking about. So I'm glad this forum is here and that I'm not the only one going through this. Once I have the surgery, I will come back and post my results.

I dont know if you read my story but i too had alot of cysts i just had my marsupilization surgery,i am feeling a hundred percent better i have the best doctor in the world,the pain was very hard but i knew ill get over it, i was out of work for ten days i could feel the pressure down there but not as hard as previous days prior to going back to work,now am doing very good i would encourage all ladies with the cyst to do the surgery and see what will happen,i have a very good husband he is being very patient and supportive with me through all this am bless to have him in my life,am praying for all ladies that they will get over it.

I wondering is anyone else has experienced painful urination after marsupualisation? Its been four das since surgery?