Issues after Bartholin's Gland Abscess Lanced

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I've been experiencing bartholin's Gland Cysts since October 2016. Originally the cyst would show up about 2cm in diameter (small), being slightly unfortable but never causing problems. It would eventually go away on it's own with sitz baths and massaging. Every time they went away they would return within 3 day which started to cause scaring within the gland wall.

My most recent one showed up on May 2, 2017 and on May 18, 2017 I ended up in emergency because it doubled in size and the labia was extremely swollen. It was definetly infected.

The emergnecy doctor that lanced the BG absess said that there was a small portion within the gland that shew was unable to squeeze out - a dense material. She placed a words catheter and told me to see the Gyneochologist and I have an appointment for June 8th, 2017. Has anyone experienced the hard material within the gland even though the BG was lanced and drained? What are the re-occurance rates for someone who's had reoccurring BG cysts on a regular basis?

 

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4 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi OneDuckie

    i am new to this BC experience so can't help you too much just sympathise.

    for about a month I felt a lump in my outside labia and the lump felt like it had a hard root?tracking down from it next to the vagina.

    Anyway it wasn't painful at that stage. Then when we went on holiday to a tropical island it decided to turn into an abscess. It grew to about the size of a hens egg and I got a fever. The local doctor put me on antibiotics and told me to wait till I saw a head on it. Walking and sitting was painful but I believe the walking in granny steps helped it too burst as I noticed the skin was starting to tear in one spot. I used Lucas paw paw cream to soften it so it wouldn't be too painful. 

    After the thing burst I went to the local doctor who lanced it or cut it a bit more to stop it closing up.Very painful as he didn't give the local anaesthetic enough time to work!,

    i kept some gauze on it and kept changing it. 

    Its one week now and it's it's much better but I feel a small hardness still there?

    The doctors say it's a BC but can it swell up on the outside labia as opposed to the inner one?

    Does it always come back ? Thanks for the remedies too!

     

    • Posted

      Did the local doctor put a word catether in? It is possible that the hardness you're feeling is the thickened wall of the gland itself. That happened to me. I was on antibiotics for a week (4 times per day) and that helped get the infection away. But the word catether plays a vital role in allowing the gland wall itself to heal, without it a BC is more likely to return.

      From what i read, best practice is to keep a word catether in at least 10 days. This allows the gland to heala and according to research results in a 2% to 25% reoccurance rate which is a lot lower than if the BC burst and a word catether was not placed. I can't tell you if its true for me as Im about to have my word catether removed this Thursday (which will be week 3 of having it in).

      Make sure you do the Sitz baths twice a day. They are extremely helpful in keep it clean and disinfected. 

       

    • Posted

      Thank you One Duckie for that information. I'll sure do it next time.

       When my Abcsess burst the only thing the doctor did was lance it a bit more and squeeze it.

      i was on a tropical island with very basic medical options , it was not flash.

      Coming home four days later my Gyno mentioned all the other options like stitching it open and having a drain put in all under a general anaesthetic which sounded better than my experience anyway. She said most woman prefer to be under general anaesthetic with a drain put in.

      She said it was too late to reopen it now and said I needed to stay on the antibiotics to ensure it healed up okay. I was given some cream too to apply on it. 

      It's kind of hard on the underlying layers of the skin. A five centermeter patch. But no marble like lumps.

    • Posted

      Hey Jule44, 

      They recommended for mine to be lanced under general anaesthetic but i had my lancing procedure done with just a local and a couple of muscle relaxers. Needless to say a needle into the vagina was not fun at all but it did freeze everything and then i didnt feel a thing.

      The thickened layers of skins could just be from the infection and irridation of the gland wall. That happened to mine. after 7 days of antibiotics and sitz baths everything for me was almost back to normal and completely back to normal in 10 days.

      The only difference is that tomorrow i have the catether removed (3weeks from placement-YAY). So i'm not sure if that makes a difference. I admit i only did sitz baths twice a day for 10 days then stopped because everything was normal even though i was told to do it for the 3 weeks, i just ran out of time in the day....

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