Bartholin gland removal

just just had surgery four days ago I'm looking for any advice about recovery and what is considered normal any advice about recovery and what is considered normal during it.

I have a huge bruise between my legs the size of my fist and can hardly walk.

plus still quite a bit of blood at times.

any any advice is most welcome.

I'm scheduled for gland removal surgery next week and reading these comments is making me rethink this whole thing. Has anyone had their period while recovering? I'm due to get mine just a few days after my surgery.

how awful is this going to be?

reading these other stories i think Gynaes downplay this suregry too much i was told i could go back to work the next day, ended yp needing 2 weeks off. i am now 5 months post op and sex is still uncomfortable. The subsequent lack of lubrication soesnt help! It does make me angry that none of this was explained to me . over 15 years my cyst only had 2 flare ups, the last one the worst. but the change in my sex life makes me wonder if surgery was worth it. have others taken 6 months or more to recover to 'normality'? thanks

Hello everyone im, Tia.

It took me so many Internet searches to actually find something on this Bartholin gland. my son is 13 now the first time I experienced a Bartholin’s cyst was when I was about eight months pregnant. during this time it was drained which continued many times after that over the years always coming back I’ve been on many antibiotics to treat the cyst as well. this year April 6, 2021 I finally got the Bartholin gland removed.

The first few days suck but u get pain killers as expected. I did not have a catheter. The first two days I bled really heavy. I could not and did not want to move around much or sit any type of movement is uncomfortable and somewhat painful. so driving is definitely out of the question The ride home wasn’t so bad maybe because I was still numb and took painkillers before leaving the hospital. I ordered a BBL pillow from Amazon to assist me with using the bathroom because sitting on the toilet could be uncomfortable and painful. however today April 11, I have only a bit of discomfort but no Constant pain experience some sharp pains now and again in my private area & i’m still a bit sore you’ll definitely need some wet wipes and depending on how much you bleed some chux pads. overall rating my pain level from 1 to 10 and 10 being extreme pain I would give it a 6. right now I’m just more sore down there than anything else.

omg here i am accessing this thread yet again. got my 4th cyst turned abscess a week ago and was hoping it would drainlike the last two did but no. Went into urgent care to have it i&d'ed but the NP was aggressively adamant as soon as she walked in about how i needed my gland removed. she said ill get you an appt in the next few days. i said "to get it removed??!!??" and she said no for a consultation. i said uuuuuhhh ok what about the pain im in now?!? wtf?!? its like dhe didnt want to do it like it was a waste of time. she also told me ADAMANTLY that it wasnt infected. she finally aspirated it and said "oh well i guess i was wrong" when she drew out 15cc of fluid/puss/blood. what in the hell is going on ?!? its 2021 and we cant figure this out?

they say antibiotics dont work because it cant get into the actually cyst/abscess pocket. why not have a packing with antibiotic impregnated into it? or ill go in every day for a week (or more!) and let you inject it with an antibiotic!!! and of course this same kind of issue is happening to TONS of people with abscesses in different places and the problem is never resolved. its lunacy to me.

im afraid of jumping the gun with the gland removal but it sounds like thats what ends up happening to all of us once we acquire this problem. has anyone who has had the removal experienced vaginal dryness post operation? also when googling they make it sound like the surgery is an oupatient procedure and no big deal but thats not what i am reading here.

Hello guys

I have a concern I want to know has anyone else experienced. so since my Bartholin gland removal the healing process was fine. But, have noticed a foul smell and my ph in a vag is normal according to my gynecologist. I have discharge not a lot but enough that I CAN SMELL THE FOUL SCENT. I do not want to seem like i am running to the doc for every little problem. However, i have had this vag all my life and we are very familiar with our normal scent. I am becoming very frustrated because I feel is though something is wrong however my GYN is telling me something very different and suggesting that this is my natural scent. I feel it now she’s putting me off and not really listening to my concerns. has anyone experienced the same problem in regards to smelly discharge or have any foul smell down there after surgery? PLEASE HELP ME I AM GOING INSANE..!

Hi everyone. Well, I had my bartholin gland removed 5 days ago. I am feeling quite good now, though there is still some pain which is managed with prescription ibuprofen and local lidocaine (see below). The purpose of my note here is that I wanted to share a happy experience to alleviate any fear that one may be feeling going into this surgery and any useful tips. I am being totally honest here - The recovery is really not that bad, so fear not! I was walking around right after the procedure and the days following (meds were key!).

I appreciate everyone's honesty on the site and I'm sorry where it was difficult.

My gland was infected on and off over 30(!) years - with 3 drainages during that time. The 2 most recent drainages were in the last month. Since I have diabetes and the infection/abscess was causing uncontrolled glucose levels, it was recommended that the gland be removed, even though I was trying as hard as possible to find other solutions. There is not much info on the web about this removal procedure - and wow, I was scared going in (and I don't get scared often!), especially after reading the comments here and hearing about all the potential major bleeding (which I later learned actually does not happen so much during surgery since the area is cauterized).

First of all, I went with a GYN surgeon specialist (not someone who was primarily focused on general OB/GYN doing surgeries only sometimes). I did homework to find one who has the recent experience (ask how many s/he performed in the last year) and skill (do they spend much of their time in surgery?) to do this type of procedure, since it's not a regular procedure (even though other GYNs say they can do this procedure - but without the practice, they cannot perfect it). My surgeon's focus was more major surgical GYN procedures, so a bartholin removal was considered 'less' serious to her. She was excellent.

Just 36 hours later, there was no bleeding. I am still walking around like a cowboy with legs spread apart and on ibuprofen since there is still moderate pain and I will definitely continue to need a donut for a few weeks, I think, but things are feeling better daily. What has also helped with managing the pain is using neosporin with lidocaine in the general outside area and not on the incision area - for that extra step to keep any bacteria and infection at bay. Plus, the lidocaine locally really helps! This was recommended to do by another doctor friend, off the record, and it worked for me. I will start sitz baths in another day or so.

Also, my incision and sutures are in the inside - not outside. I think this has helped tremendously with the recovery, since the wounded area is not external where more vulnerable. I hope everyone gets treated this way. It's hard to know since again, there is not much info on the web but one (less experienced) GYN that I consulted earlier made it seem that the incision would be on the outside and it would be very painful and bleeding could be severe and that I should take disability for 6 weeks while I recover (since I'm in finance and have to sit for my computer). I was so freaked out hearing this!

Finally, for the anesthesia, I was put under moderate sedation not general anesthesia which I was glad to learn about after the procedure. I didn't want to be wiped out numb for a week afterwards.

Hope this helps in some way. Good luck and if you have questions, feel free to reach out. I'm located in the Northern California Bay Area.

Hi, ive recently undergone bartholin glanf removal thursday . was wondering if there is any more information on healing? what is sex life like now? im still young so worrying this will affect my future? will i still have lubricant?

i have also developed a small almost ball of skin hanging from the area, is this normal? its making me really upset 😦