pain still after bartholin cyst surgery

Hello,

I am 26 and have my 4th huge, infected Bartholin's cyst/absess in 2 years. The first two times they did surgical drainage and put in the Word Cathetor in and it did not work. I also had to have the cathetor reinserted several times each time because no matter how inactive I am in this phase, they seem to deflate. The last time I went to urgent care where the Dr. did surgical drainage. He did not put in the cathetor but he said he cut apart the fibers of the cyst and it would not return (they always say that). Two months later, it is back. I had it drained and my obgyn recommended I go for the marcupialization or gland removal this time. She went over the pros and cons of each, and initially recommended the gland removal becuase I have had such a bad time with the cysts coming back. After taking a look, she observed that I would not have a visible hole from the marcupialization since my cyst is so huge, deep and inverted she could do it inside. She then said we could try that first and if it reoccurs get the gland removed. For now she just drained and put in the cathetor to keep the area accessable for surgery once the infection heals. I am goign back for the pre-op next week but I am torn on which route to go. She says due to the size and complication of the cyst, either procedure will need to be done in the hospital under general anesthesia. With the marzup I should not need to stay in the hospital overnight, and with the remval I definately will need too. With the marzup I will be back to work a lot sooner (she said to plan to take at least 2 weeks off if it is removed). I am really torn because I DO NOT want this thing to come back, and I know the only way to make sure that doesnt happen is to remove the gland. But then, I will miss a lot of work and lose function of the gland. If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it. Thanks for reading.

Hi all,

I'm so glad I found this discussion board. It's been really helpful to read all the painful experiences. I first discovered my Bartholin's cyst on my left side in 1999, which was bigger than the size of a ping-pong ball. My doctor then gave me some antibiotics and it had popped that very day--a really painful and visually disgusting episode that I do not wish to remember (I remember not being able to walk, move, work, etc. for quite some time).

The cyst came back a few more times on the same left side, each time infected, and around this time I saw another Ob/Gyn who recommended that I had a "marsupialization," which I had in May 2003. The doctor told me that the procedure took about 20 minutes and it was quite successful, and that there was very minimal chance of its reoccurance.

Though I haven't had another cyst since then (knock on wood!), I feel like the area has never healed completely. Having sex, for one thing, is extremely painful (yes, since I've had the procedure in 2003, up until today), and I still do have tenderness around the area. I've been seeing a new Ob/Gyn for a couple of years now, and she doesn't really help much except for saying that any kind of procedure may leave a scar--which is something I already know! I used the sitz-baths in the past for a while, thinking that the discomfort would eventually go away, but it never did. This thing has had a tremendous impact on my life for the past decade -both physically and psychologically- and I have yet to find answers as to why it has taken this long to heal. Will it ever???

Any comments are welcome. Thanks for reading!

I had a reoccuring bartholins cyst 1-2 times a year for about 8 years. I had a horrible gyn when I was younger who never mentioned marsupialization or excision and just kept doing incision and drainages of the cyst. I finally had a cyst recently that turned into an abcess. An I&D was done and the incison closed up by the next day and the abcess filled back up. Over the next week and a half I had two marsupializations done. I was in so much pain I could not get out of bed. I finally went back into the ER with fevers and increased pain. They finally excised the gland, and apparently had to remove alot of tissue and place a whole lot of sutures. It's now five weeks post surgery and I still have to be careful how I sit and can not even imagine having sex. This has been the worst, most painful five weeks of my life.

Annie Sue wrote:

Hello, I'm 24 years old, and I had a tough time this year at the seaside in Croatia. In a matter of 2 days, my Bartholin's gland had swollen up extraordinarily and I had to go to the doctors in a foreign country. They first sent me home with a pack of antibiotics, but I was back the next day, the swelling getting even bigger and more painful. By the time I got to the hospital, I couldn't walk anymore. At the arrival there, 4 gynecologists took a look at it and couldn't believe their eyes. It says in my medical documents they gave me, that it was the size of a MAN'S FIST. So, I guess I beat the tennis ball huh? They immediately operated on me, I could just barely take off my shoes. They performed marsupalization and immediately as I woke up, I felt SO much better. I could sit up and walk! It was a miracle! This was yesterday. Now I'm searching the internet to find useful advice for the weeks after. I read about the sitz bath (thank you).. but is there anything else? Should I stay away from coffee, cigarettes or anything for that matter? When can I revive my sex life again? Any information will be helpful. Thank you all!

Hello,

it's me again. I have to say your posts helped me a lot last year, and I've successfully recovered from the marsupalization, using sitz baths a couple times a day. I completely healed in a month and haven't had any problems since then. Well, almost...

The swelling reoccurred this Spring and my gyn suggested I have it removed. I agreed eagerly as I realllly don't want the pain happening again. Thankfully, the cyst wasn't infected yet, so she was able to remove the whole gland. It was looking just fine until a couple hours later, when I felt excruciating pain. They told me that since the women in my family have troubles with blood coagulation, the cavity, previously occupied by the gland, was now filling up with blood. So they've put me into narcosis again (10 hours after the first one) to drain it.

Now it's been 6 days since the surgery. I can barely walk, can't sit down; I have to change ice compresses every 2 hours, take pain medicine every 6 hours and shower in cold water, otherwise the pain comes back. I have read that even after the surgery sitz baths are recommended, but since I have to cool my wound with ice, I'm a bit confused...

I'm also afraid that the wound might get infected with pus (since I have to wear underwear all the time holding in the compresses, not being able to get the wound a lot of "fresh air"). Does maybe washing out with chamomile tea help? Or salt water for that matter (since I've heard it's a good disinfectant)?

Thank you.

My name is Bridget and I am 21 years old now...I had a cyst removed in 98 or 99 and it was the size of a pop bottle lid or littl bigger...my dr removed it and put a ballon in its place to let it drain the rest of the stuff out...well it did...but it hurt so bad...since it had it removed I have always had like this hard spot right where the cyst was...the health dept said it wasnt nothing to worry about...but now i am having SHARPE pains in it..and now I found that it had turned BLACK...I mean black as an ace of spades.I am so worried and going to the dr monday I was wondering if any of yours had ever done this and what you all think it could be..because I dont think its normal that after this many years with no trouble other than mild pain every now and then..it just all of a sudden turned black as coal...please let me know of anything you might think of..thanks

I just had my bartholins cyst removed today and the doctor didnt go over the procedure very well with me. i was under the impression that my incision would be external, but i checked and i couldnt see any cuts. so it would appear that my incision is inside my vagina. did anyone else have this done? cause i was rather concerned to not see a cut.
i was told initially that i would be able to return to work tomorrow, but then in the operating room before they put me out, i was told i would be really sore for at least a week. but im not so sore that i cant walk. its mainly sitting that is uncomfortable.
i wish all of you luck as this is a really unpleasant procedure to have done.

Had a Bartholin's gland/cyst removed 8/12... and yes, it has probably been the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I probably went back to work too soon, about a week later, but everything checked out fine with my post op visit. I still have a stinky drainage, but it does seem to be tapering off and I have apparently lost some of my external sutures (due to swelling), so I anticipate having a slightly deformed scar. My biggest fear is that after all this, sex will be a nightmare. Fortunately, my guy is deployed until March of next year, but I don't forsee this being healed by then. Has anyone else had this drainage or sex without pain after having problems with the wound healing?

Had Bartholin's cyst removed on 11/09/09. First presented 16 years ago but swelling reduced after taking a course of antibiotics. Reoccured 5-6 times throughout the years but always treated the antibiotics. End of August while I was on holiday on a greek island it reoccured and I was advised to remove it right away. I came back to the UK, visited the GP who booked an outpatients appt end of October. He did not examine me - he did not prescribe meds. The cyst/abcess was as big as an egg. Rather painful. I visited A&E and I was told that it has to be removed asap via marsupialization. I was admitted to hospital - discharged the same day - prescribed antibiotics and went to work the next day. No horror story here. Slight discomfort for a few days. Drainage for about a week - you need to use panty liners. Stitches are still visible. Might have to wait up to 4 weeks before they dissovle. Had sex last night (10 days after the operation) very carefull and used loads of lubricant. Swelling is still there but not painful. I feel confident that as soon as the stitches dissappear I will be back to normal. I just wanted to share this with you because I read the reviews before I went for the op and I was slightly worried. I hope this helps.

I'm sorry that you had to go through that but it sounds like you're already largely back to normal. Are you still around to give us an update? I'd like to hear how you're doing now!

I will be having excision surgery for my Bartholin cyst at the end of this month. Very scared I was under the impression that they were only excising the cyst, but I got my paperwork in the mail today and it says "Bartholin gland excision." So I guess they are taking the whole gland?

My doctor says I will only need to be in bed for about 4 days and then can go back to work. This doesn't seem to fit what most of you are saying.

She's not recommending marsupialization because she says the cyst almost always comes back. BTW, I'm 27 with no kids yet. I always thought my cyst was about the size of a grape but my doctor says it's more like a ping pong ball.

Is excising the cyst only (instead of the whole gland) an option? I'm worried about sex after the gland is gone. Won't I be dry? Sex has always been painful for me, but then again, this cyst has been present for years (before I had ever even had sex) so maybe the cyst is the reason for the painful sex.

I'm SCARED.