pain still after bartholin cyst surgery

i've been dealing with this for about 3.5 years now too, am 44 and my doctor said mine is very "deep" and firm, i'd had a marsupialization 3 years ago but just had a major flare up a week and a half ago. had to be hospitalized to get intravenous anti biotics, stayed for 4 days. oral antibiotics for a week, but i'm still "feeling" it. it's so depressing to think this could be ongoing for ? long........what course of action have your doctors prescribed?
regards,
t

I have been having this happen to me as well. I had mine lanced in the beginning of October and I am still in extreme pain. It started to swell again in the beginning of Dec and I am still in excruciating pain again... My Dr thinks there is nerve damage. It burns and stings and is sore and I have the sharp pains as well, will the horrible pain be here forever? Please this has been hell I can't live my life in a sitz bath with hot packs down there!

I'm relatively young (16, in fact), and got my first bartholin's abscess about a year ago, in December 2007. To be honest, it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I couldn't sit, I couldn't walk, I felt the pain no matter what I did. To make it worse- I had to participate in a walk-a-thon to help those who are hospitalized. Oh, the irony. But, after that, I went to the OB/GYN and I got lanced. My OB/GYN at the time said it was the worst one that she saw in 20 years. My entire left lip was swollen about 2.5 inches larger than normal. Insane, correct? I forget how many fl ounces of puss she got exactly, but I do remember it was about enough to fill a small cup. Gross. I couldn't walk for a while, I looked like a duck. I was a duck in excruciating pain, that's for sure. I went commando in pajama pants for a while. Oh boy, did that help, considering I was in school, and sitting and walking a lot. I wouldn't have been able to deal with the pinching of tight underwear or jeans.

A couple months later, I flared up again! I wouldn't say this one was as bad, because it was probably the size of a golf ball instead, but, it was still almost as painful. Lance number two, here we come.

And, a couple months later, guess what happens? This time it was a little smaller than a golf ball. Lance number three, welcome.

And, a couple months later, a fourth one! Haha, funny, right?
This one was also the size of a golf ball. My lip swelled up and everything. Remember, this wasn't even in the time span of one year. So, I went to the doctor, again, and, they said they would schedule to lance it in a few days. That's the first time I've never had it lanced immediately. The doctor also said to try to make it rupture on it's own by taking warm baths. I thought she was crazy, so, I didn't listen at first. Then, I decided to give it a try. I took a bath, got dressed, and went to petsmart with my boyfriend to buy his little sister a goldfish for her birthday. I was waddling like a duck, and, while I was in petsmart, I began to feel a very sharp pain that wouldn't go away. Like my hardheaded self, I ignored it. So, we bought the fish and I waddled my way back to the car.
I sat in the car and felt a huge jab on the left side of my vagina.
"Okay, that's it. Let me check this out."
So, I stuck my hand down my pants, and, immediately,
"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!"
Puss and blood, all over my hand. Luckily we were close to home, so, I went home and changed. But, other than a little more draining throughout the day, that a pantyliner helped, I felt normal again.
This time, oh, this is funny, a WEEK later, it swells up again. Oh joy, oh joy. My doctor said that was that, it had to be removed.
So, I prep for surgery. No ibuprofen or stuff like that for two weeks. No herbs, including herbal tea. Guess what I like to drink every single day of my life? Arizona green tea. I thought I was in hell.
In September I got my surgery, sat in the hospital bed, got told all the information I needed, went in the big room with a lot of machinery, then they counted down from five. I was out at three. All of a sudden I'm awake, and,
"Did you do the surgery?" I try to get up and..
"OW. You must have."
The wonderful news though, I could walk. And, not only that, at an angle, I could sit! They put me on oxycodine, and some antibiotics, I was honestly fine. It's been about a month and a half, no sex, and sutures are still there. But, I stopped getting sharp pain all the time. That stopped after about a couple weeks. Then for a while it would be the occasional pinching. Now it's just when she gets touched the wrong way, but, she has to be hit kind of dead on, or hard in order to feel a lot of pain. My doctor said the sutures would be gone in a couple more weeks, which totals out completely to two months after surgery, and then after the sutures are gone, I can do whatever I want. I haven't gotten another cyst, and, they were in very close increments, plus, the healing process really isn't so hard. I was back to school immediately, and, just in pain for a little while. But it's no where near as bad as recurring cysts/abscesses.
Get the surgery, trust me!

*sigh* gosh you guys have made me feel awful. i got my first cyst in September of 2008...had no idea what was going on down there! Went to the dr and was told it was a cyst caused by blocked glands, got numbed with a needle and decided to get the catheter put in since it had to be cut open anyway. Dr told me this procedure should take care of it. YAY!! :-D catheter stayed in for 3 weeks then came out at the end of September. I could walk again, sit again (which is what i do for a living...sit at a desk doing cust svc work) i felt great!! ...that is I did until the week before last when I was taking a bath and noticed a lump in the exact same spot!! >:( so i waited and put it off finally went to the dr last week because the darn thing got bigger and started hurting again. Of course the dr said IT'S BAAAAAAAACK!! so I was given antibiotics and ibpro, which helped the first couple days but now the pain is so unbearable that I do not think i can wait for the referral they are sending me in the mail. I cannot put pressure on my right side at all and I think I am going to take a trip to the ER because it has grown to cover the whole right side of my goodies and is scrubbing against the other side :'( so i guess i'm going to take you gals advice and have the surgery

I had never even heard of Bartholin gland before I showed up at the emergency doc's on Sunday (with a golf ball size lump) - he did a very painful & rigorous internal and sent me away with some antibiotics, by Monday night I was back at A&E (by this point it was hanging outside my body and right along one lip) and Tuesday morning I was being admitted to the Gynae ward (now swollen across the top as high as my csection scar) - by Tuesday afternoon it was all over!

This was yesterday & I came home this morning - I cannot recommend marsupialisation highly enough - I'm still walking like John Wayne but oh, the relief! :-D

i first got the bartholin gland cyst on 1/31/09, i was in so much pain that i had to go to the urgent care and the doctor did not know what was going on. he said it was from me shaving down there and an ingrown hair was growing inside instead out growing outward. i thought he was right so i went home. the following monday, the cyst was the size of a grape. walking was painful and sitting was even more painful. wednesday 2/3/09 rolls around and the pain has gotten worse and the cyst grew to the size of a golf ball.. i could not walk or sit at all!!!! driving was even painful!! i went to the gyno and had it cut and drained immediately. this is the worst pain i have ever felt in my life. they numbed me with lidocaine but i felt everything!!!!!! even when they numbed me with the needle, it hurt so bad!! then when they cut me with the scalpel, i felt it and it was NOT a good feeling at all. i was literally crying!! right after they cut the cyst, most of the blood and pus came gushing out. the doctor then put a word catheter in to keep the cyst draining. the whole time the catheter was in, it was very uncomfortable walking, standing, sitting etc everything was soooo painful!!! i had a hard time sleeping. i only had the catheter in for 1 day and the following friday i got the catheter removed and this was also painful!!!! right when he removed it, more pus and blood came out, but it was a sigh of relief. i felt so much better when he removed the catheter. i went straight to work after the gyno appointment. everything was back to normal BUT everytime i take showers, i feel down there and i still feel a small lump down there. i hope and pray that it does not come back because i would not want to go through this pain ever again!!!!

I think the name of Bartholin cyst removal procedure is cystectomy.

I have had Bartholin cysts removed a total of 6 times. I am scheduled to have a marsupialation in 2 weeks. I am very nervous about it. The pain doesnt too much scare me, it's the fact that I have to have a catheter or 2 weeks. Can someone please tell me what to expect. My email addy is _[removed]_

well last Tuesday, i went to the doctor thinking a had avaginal boil of some sort.. I had felt the lump in my vagina lip about 2 months ago, but ignored it. it didn';t hurt i didn't know what it was.. and plus since i got laid off i didnt hav any insurance.. i was still having sex probably 5 times a week until Monday night i notice its huge and swollen now.. It hurts to lay down, sit, walk and even drive. My gyno lanced it with no lidocaine , i felt everything.. then he put a catheter in.. I have been in severe pain. :'( . i wasn't prescribed any antibiotics or painkillers. luckily i had my own Vicodine. so today my catheter falls out after been in place for 8 days. so far, i feel much better,.. but its only been 1 hour so far, I just looked down there and where the doctor lanced m,y cyst, the cut is still open.. I'm about to take a sitz bath and a painkiller and see what happens later??

Please someone tell me when i will be able to have sex again???

i'm 24 and i'll be getting marrried in 4- 1/2weeks....

I have been having a problem with bartholin cysts since 2003. The first time I ever noticed it I t swore I had cancer and was going to die. I had an acorn sizes lump on the left side of my labia, so I had my mother drive me down to planned parenthood since I didn't have a gyn that I went to. They told me it was a cyst gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. They seemed to help so I thought nothing of it. I kept getting similar ones once or twice a year. Just a lump, with a little bit of pain but nothing I couldn’t handle.

Until last November. I had just gotten a new boyfriend, and after being abstinent for over a year, I figured it was time to get back in the saddle so to speak. Within 2 days after my cyst flared up to bad that I was having trouble walking. So I tried to go back to Planned Parenthood, but they wouldn't see me because I didn't make an appointment. My only option then was to go to the ER. So I go in and after 5 or so hours they take a look at it and the say they want to drain it and put a word catheter in it. So they numb me up and put the catheter in and everything and send me home with NO CARE INSTRUCTIONS. The first time I had to go to the bathroom I thought I was going to die, it was so painful, that I sadly enough had to start going to the bathroom while in the shower. A day later the catheter falls out and I went back to the ER for them to fix it. This time they didn't numb me. The DR actually had the balls to tell me that I had a great scream and that I should audition for a horror movie. Again a day later I cough too hard and the damn thing popped out. At this point I kinda just said screw it I have a gyn app in two days I’ll just see what they say.

So I go to the gyn and she takes a look @ everything and she said it all seems fine, but that if it happened again that they would think about removing the gland and having read up on it that was defiantly not something I wanted.

Fast forward to April and imagine that it came back. So I grin and bear it for awhile praying that it would just clear up with the help of every home remedy I could find. after 2 weeks it was so inflamed that I was the size of a ping pong ball, I could hardly walk, sitting was out of the option, so I broke down and went to the gyn. he took one look at it and said I needed to go to the ER because they weren't prepared to handle draining a cyst of that size, and he said he'd call the ER and let me know that I was coming in.

I get to the ER start to sign in and before I even see the triage nurse, I get called into a conference room with one of the hospitals gyn's, where she tells me that there is nothing that they could do for me right then and there because they want to do this procedure called a " marsupialisation ", which I had never heard of, and it needed to be done in the OR and there was no way they could get me in then. So she gives me pain killers and tells me that someone will get in touch with me.

After 4 days no one called me, so stated making calls myself and it turns out no one had passed on the information. So finally I get a surgery date scheduled for a week later, equaling over three weeks in horrible pain. I was stuck in bed, I couldn't move, and just let me tell you daytime TV sux.

So I go into the DR for me PreOpp appointment, and that is when they finally look at my medical history. "Red light" I have a heart problem, I can't have surgery until I get clearance from my cardiologist. Now I’ve been stuck in bed all week, if I had known I needed this clearance I would have been making calls trying to get an appointment, now w/ the short notice I can only get an appointment on the day of my surgery. That won't work, they cancel my surgery.

At this point I’m crying every 15 minutes either from pain or stress. No one seemed to want to work with me to get this taken care of. And now it has gone from a cyst to an abscess. so I go back down to the hospital and basically tell them that I was not leavening until I got admitted, got the tests and the clearance for me heart, and got this taken care of.

The admit me and start doing everything that needs to be done. Now I am absolutely terrified of needles, and they are setting up the IV w/ a morphine drip. I told the nurse that I didn't feel right, that it hurt when they put the morphine and she told me it was ok it was just the "wave" effect of the morphine going into my system. I still told her it didn't feel right but I figured she must know what she was talking about. So I get my room and everything and threw the night I kept hitting the morphine button and every time I did it hurt, called in the night nurse. She took one look at it and immediately had someone come in to put a new IV in. it turns out the original IV was not in my vain and that all night the morphine and saline was just pumping away into my arm. Joy!!

Cut a really long story short. Got the clearance from cardio, the cyst burst in the hospital, had to wait another week for surgery and now it's been two weeks since I had the marsupialisation, and I’m allot of pain. I go back to the Dr's tomorrow. Wish me luck.

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.

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