I have one. I’ve had it about six years. My GYN said, “If it’s not bothering you, you don’t need to do anything.” Well, it’s slowly gotten bigger, and now it’s starting to bother me. In terms of size, I’d say it’s bigger than a regular marble but smaller than a shooter, if that makes sense.
One GYN said it was a sebaceous cyst. Another said it was a Bartholin’s gland cyst. I’ve looked at it, and IMO, it has the characteristics of a sebaceous cyst.
From what I’ve read, removing a Bartholin’s gland cyst is not so straightforward as a sebaceous cyst – that whole “marsupialization” thing, which may well sound worse than it actually is.
So, do any of you have experience with having one of these removed? The “botheration” I’m experiencing from the cyst is still slightly less than my apprehension about having someone take a scalpel to my vulva. (Actually, my apprehension about having someone stick a needle in my vulva to inject anesthetic is worse than my apprehension of the scalpel.)
I don’t have any experience with this personally, but I googled this and learned a lot of new stuff. I would think you should get it treated if it is bothering you. Especially if it is just a sebaceous cyst, it sounds like it should be pretty easy to treat. And it’s better to get it treated now, in case it gets infected in the future. Good luck to you!!
Hi, it’s me again. I have been looking at more links and found this article, with actual photographs of the insertion of a catheter. Definitely NSFW - photos of surgery on genitals (I broke the link):
I really don’t want to be a fearmonger, but the phrase “it’s just a cyst, don’t worry about it” sets off alarm bells, since that’s exactly what I was told for about a year (Baker’s cyst, in my case) regarding a lump on my knee. Long story short, the doctor was staggeringly wrong and it was much more serious, but I’m fine now. But because “it’s nothing to worry about” was exactly what I wanted to be told (and was told it on 5 or 6 occasions), I ignored warning signs that should have been obvious. Had the lump not started causing other problems (pinching off nerves), I might have kept listening to bad advice until it was too late.
I am not a doctor (though I have played one on television), but any lump that sticks around that long and starts getting bigger should be taken seriously, IMO.
I won’t go into details, but getting it removed is less botheration than you would think. In my case, the physician’s assistant who removed it was very gentle, not just in that incident, but any time he had to physically examine me, which helped a lot. Be sure to take minipads or panty liners when you get it done, as that area just doesn’t bandage well.
One of my girlfriends had one removed and it has made for a great, horrifying story.
(And the removal was apparently less bad than the cyst - she had a cyst where the GYN lost profession demeanor with “oh my” - and hers appeared suddenly.
I believe someone on this board had a story about a Bartholin’s gland cyst that ruptured; I would imagine that’s a whole different set of complications though.
Very longterm recurrent Bartholin gland cyst sufferer checking in here. I’ve had probably ten of these fucking things over the past fifteen years and they suck hugely. I’ve looked into marsupialization and removal of the offending gland, but decided against surgery as the doctors advised me that A) even with the insurance I had at the time my share would have been about $3000 (currently I have NO insurance :eek: ) and B) there are a LOT of Bartholin glands down there and just because one gets removed doesn’t mean another couldn’t blow up in its place. So every couple/three years I get one, go have it lanced and packed, and take my antibiotics. I have a couple of bits of advice on the lancing procedure–if it’s even vaguely possible have them lance it from inside the vagina and a bit higher up the walls, because there are no nerve endings up there and it doesn’t hurt nearly as much. Also, the packing doesn’t get caught in your undies nearly as badly, and there’s less scar tissue formation in areas that DO have nerve endings. Removing the packing isn’t nearly as icky or painful as you’d think, so actually the worst part of the whole experience is everything leading up to the doctor visit. As I’ve quipped way more than once “it’s a sad thing to be HAPPY that someone’s sticking a knife into one’s privates!”
To help prevent the occurrence in the first place, always wash after sex and when showering don’t be afraid to get a rough washcloth up into the vagina a ways and scrub–it’s a little uncomfortable at first but I’ve noticed since I started washing my naughty bits this way it’s cut down significantly on the rate of recurrence and it’s now been about four years since the last one (knock wood!)
I’m surprised… based on the descriptions of the procedures from the links I gave above, the marsupialization and insertion of the Word catheter are described as a relatively simple, routine in-office procedure. But then again, I guess I’m not that surprised hearing about such high charges for something simple…
I wonder why they had you pack yours, when it sounds like the catheter procedure would have been a better choice.
These things sound awful - I sure hope I never get one!!
They tried that catheter thing but it wouldn’t stay in properly and actually made things worse. Marsupialization doesn’t necessarily preclude it ever happening again so I figured why go through the extra pain and hassle? The surgery to just completely remove the gland was what they wanted three grand for and it would have required hospitalization, although they did say it wouldn’t necessarily require an overnight stay if I handle anesthesia well, which I usually do barring some puking. Even so, they were careful to let me know that with my history it wouldn’t be too out of line for the next gland in line to take the place of the one that blows up, and the idea of spending THAT much money with no real assurances of a cyst free future was so not an option for me!
I think I’m just one of those lucky people for whom the simple solutions are not meant to be! Heck, most women who get these things never have a recurrence, so I’m already an anomaly out of the chute. :rolleyes:
My very limited experience with vaginal cysts (one girlfriend) is that they tend to come in packs and that it didn’t cause any problems for her. I have also had cysts on my scalp removed by a talented plastic surgeon, and then had a couple less irritating ones (much smaller, not itchy) pop up in almost the exact same places. They’re tricky buggers. I wouldn’t count on any procedure having a permanent effect. One thing you might do, though, is have one cyst removed and sent to the lab so they can see if there’s anything troubling inside it. That way you can have the problem fixed if it’s serious, or be a little more at ease that there’s nothing to worry about. JMHO.
Actually you’re pretty normal since a lot of women who just have the cyst lanced end up having it come back. The word catheter or the marsupialization procedure are more likely to give a permanent cure since they’re designed to create a new hole for the fluid to drain out. Without making a new drainage hole, it’s quite likely to get backed up again and make that awful cyst.
It’s a shame that the catheter didn’t work the first time, but you might want to look into a second opinion on that. It’s been my observation that the catheter’s success rate varies depending on how experienced with it the doc is. A lot of docs don’t do many word catheters because they do mostly marsupializations instead, so when they try to place a catheter they may not place it well.