Bartholin Cyst Experience

I'm finally free of these cysts! What a horrible journey! I used to read these posts for guidance and so I did not feel alone-thank you.

A small lump started on the left side of my vagina about 3 years ago and a short while later I got a bartholin abscess. The first was naturally the worst. Sharp, intense pain that would not give for hours. I was resisting going to the ER but the thing was huge and would not burst on it's own in the bath. Luckily a merciful NP at the urgent care down the street treated me that night (I was sent away on subsequent returns and I never tried the ER). The relief was instant, I was hopping around for joy, the smell was awful and they gave me an antibiotic shot in my butt. 😃 I got these abscesses about every 2 months after that. I got with an excellent MD gyno in Tucson who excised a few but insisted it would resolve on its own. She was very difficult to get appointments with especially since abscess grows and bursts in like 4-5 days. I only took antibiotics one other time. Sometimes the lymph nodes around the area would be swollen. I started just letting them burst on their own. I knew I could work until the day it burst (I could tell by the size / pain). Then I would rotate between bed and hot bath. I tried tea tree oil, epsom salts, castor oil, onion slices, vitamins but nothing worked. The pain was not as bad after the, I don't know, 10th one. I got used to the pain and also the cyst would burst quicker / easier now that there was an established drainage hole. My gyno gave me some hydrocodones but they don't work when it's the day to burst! BUT if you've got the time and someone to help bring you things you can totally get away with lying super still in bed and it will just burst without much pain. The pain comes from moving around. The pain goes away after lying down for a about a half hour.

I moved to another city and my new gyno did a marsupilization right away. I was in the OR, took about 2 hours to get home and I have been free of the cysts since! The healing was not bad at all compared to the cysts and I was able to work after a week. I still take baths a few times a week and I keep it clean.

Good luck to you and definitely get with a doctor if you can since these have a high chance of reoccurring without professional excision.

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