shape
carat
color
clarity

Bartholin's cyst

YadaYadaYada

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
11,840
Man, I thought I knew what pain was but this was a whole new level of pain.

About a week ago today I noticed I had a bump down there and I thought maybe ingrown hair. Then after a few days it started growing!! Okay not an ingrown hair, did some quick searches online and it seemed to be a Bartholin's cyst. The article said they don't usually go away on their own.....great. It wasn't too bad during the week but then Friday it was extremely painful, like hard time sitting and walking painful. Decided to look up some natural treatments, one girl claimed that a mix of coconut oil and turmeric followed by baking soda and sea salt worked for her, basically make a paste and and apply until it works it's magic. All that got me was an odd smell from the turmeric and a greasy mess from the coconut oil.

At this point I was thinking I might have to go to the doctor, let's see what the potential treatment is.....oh they are going to lance it, a scalpel taken to my special lady parts :-o Nope, not doing that, I just couldn't fathom that even though I've been through two c-sections, they weren't actually cutting into my special bits down there.

Then I thought Epsom salt? That might work, so I sent the husband to CVS for Tylenol (which I never take) and the salt. Took a long hot bath that night and thankfully the next morning the duct that had been clogged in the gland opened and was draining!! Thank God the pain was a lot less too. Lots of baths over the weekend to keep it draining and it's almost gone this morning.

I heard these can be common so I figured I would share what worked for me. Not a doctor obviously and if there is an infection in the gland, this will not solve the problem but this is better than the scalpel idea :D
 

PintoBean

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
6,589
Brilliant - epsom salt bath! Sea salt if you didn't have any epsom salt, too, in a pinch! We always have sea salt, but not always epsom salt in house.
 

Puppmom

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
3,160
Ouch! So glad you've seen an improvement! I had Dequervain's tendonitis (sort of like carpal tunnel) after the birth of my youngest. It was so painful. After my second cortisone injection, my doctor had a talk with me. He wanted to look into surgery since it's not exactly reasonable to get a cortisone injection every six months for the rest of my life. He then mentioned some of his patients have success with Epsom salt soaks. He sent me home to sleep on it. I soaked my wrist nightly (or every other?) in Epsom salt for about a week. Dequervain's tendonitis gone! Just like that...never to return. That was 2 years ago.

The stuff works wonders!
 
Q

Queenie60

Guest
If this doesn't continue to improve, I suggest you see your doctor. No messing around with this stuff. Take care of yourself and good luck. :wavey:
 

msop04

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Messages
10,051
Yikes! We see a good bit of those here at the clinic (but, seriously, who the hell goes to an urgent care clinic to have *that* looked at??!!) :-o But I digress... They are pretty common. Good call on the salts bath, and I'm glad you've gotten some relief.

Fair warning, though: it will most likely come back, so if it does and is painful, you need to see your GYN. They are routinely removed if problematic. Here's to hoping it doesn't come back for a long, long time! :))
 

YadaYadaYada

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
11,840
Pinto-I always have sea salt too, but mine is in a grinder so I figured it would have taken me forever to grind enough for a bath, my husband was already referring to me as the crazy witch doctor can you imagine if he saw me doing that!

puppmom- Who knew that epsom salts could work for so many things? I've never used them until a few days ago, glad you got relief for your wrist pain.

Queenie-Thanks for the good wishes. I will def have it looked at if it starts acting up again.

msop- A walk-in clinic for this type of thing, oh my goodness I guess people will go there for anything then! I read that these things can come back even after being lanced and the thought of having the bits cut and then having to go through it again, more than I could handle at this point. I absolutely will make an appt if need be. Still can't believe you see these routinely at a walk-in though, but if you are in that much pain I guess you don't care where you go :D
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Messages
18,029
Ugh, I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with that! I had one for the first time in April and it took quite some time to find out WTF it was (after lots of unfortunate google searches, yuck). Mine also got pretty darn painful before it started to go away. Still not 100% that's what I had, but pretty sure based on the descriptions. It was a super unpleasant experience and hopefully it was a 1 time experience !
 

azstonie

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 1, 2014
Messages
3,769
Thank you for sharing, if I have one of those I will start with the Epsom soaks. I'm so glad you're better now.
 

minousbijoux

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
12,804
Thanks for this - I've learned something new here! :))

And so glad it worked for you - the alternative sounded pretty horrendous.
 

Matata

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
8,995
Is that what those darn things were!? When I was way younger I had those regularly for a few months. They always drained after I applied heat and I never went to a doctor. Intuitively, I knew something must have been blocked so I started using the pulse feature on a hand-held shower to rinse off and never had another again. I'm assuming the pulsing water keeps the ducts from becoming clogged. I don't "pulse" regularly, every other week or so.

The things we learn here....
 

Ally T

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
8,507
Epsom salts! Revalation!

I have sebaceous cysts occasionally. They come & go, apart from a tiny one on my shin, on my cheek & in my hair. They never bother me, but I had one like you last year & Jesus wept!! Came up over night & by 11am I couldn't walk or sit or stand. Agony doesn't describe it. I ended up with an emergency doctor appointment & needed antibiotics to clear an infection, but I resist taking those as much as possible.

Shall get salts next time! Thanks for the tip & I hope you never get another one!
 

MJ_Mac

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 19, 2014
Messages
607
Years ago my doctor told me to use a sitz bath and epsom salts. I just did a regular bath. She said if that didn't work the next step would be antibiotics and last resort is lancing. Thank goodness there was no lancing involved and the warm baths took care of it. I had become a shower person after years of being a bath person and maybe that's when it developed (?) - don't know.
 

Yimmers

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
1,144
Yes, use sitz baths and epsom salts to keep it clear. I ended up at the ER and had one drained. Didn't even know what it was until I was at the hospital. I don't recommend it. Taking an injection when you are swollen is extremely painful, and even worse, the damn doctor began cutting before the anesthetic kicked in. I had to scream at him that I wasn't numb yet.

So, do what it takes to avoid what happened to me.
 

monarch64

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
19,214
Stephanie, I had never heard of this until you posted about it! I'm going to start a separate thread, but I wanted to say that if yours comes back and you decide to have it excised, you need to approach your doctor about her/his training. Did you know doctors are trained to avoid nerves when performing surgeries on or near male genitalia, but they are not trained to avoid those of the female anatomy? Be very discriminating as far as who you choose if you ever have it surgically removed and have that conversation.
 

YadaYadaYada

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
11,840
monarch64|1474463439|4079182 said:
Stephanie, I had never heard of this until you posted about it! I'm going to start a separate thread, but I wanted to say that if yours comes back and you decide to have it excised, you need to approach your doctor about her/his training. Did you know doctors are trained to avoid nerves when performing surgeries on or near male genitalia, but they are not trained to avoid those of the female anatomy? Be very discriminating as far as who you choose if you ever have it surgically removed and have that conversation.

You know Monarch between your post and Yimmers I am hoping to the heavens that I don't get another one. I can't imagine having the numbing medication wear off or not work effectively :-o

I look forward to reading your thread, it will be helpful for a lot of people I think because when you are in that much pain you're thought process and decision making ability is definitely compromised.
 

monarch64

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
19,214
StephanieLynn|1474467424|4079198 said:
monarch64|1474463439|4079182 said:
Stephanie, I had never heard of this until you posted about it! I'm going to start a separate thread, but I wanted to say that if yours comes back and you decide to have it excised, you need to approach your doctor about her/his training. Did you know doctors are trained to avoid nerves when performing surgeries on or near male genitalia, but they are not trained to avoid those of the female anatomy? Be very discriminating as far as who you choose if you ever have it surgically removed and have that conversation.

You know Monarch between your post and Yimmers I am hoping to the heavens that I don't get another one. I can't imagine having the numbing medication wear off or not work effectively :-o

I look forward to reading your thread, it will be helpful for a lot of people I think because when you are in that much pain you're thought process and decision making ability is definitely compromised.

My thread is up, and it is more about female anatomy and all the ways it has been ignored, denied, and in some cases erased from history. It ties in with this because I am sure there are many people who are uncomfortable even discussing B's cysts because they are far less informed than they think they are, and have been conditioned to think it isn't polite discourse. Anyway, here's a link to my thread:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/artist-sophia-wallace-and-the-cliteracy-project.225692/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/artist-sophia-wallace-and-the-cliteracy-project.225692/[/URL]

I worry that it will be reported and shut down. I have witnessed a man on this forum declare female genitalia to be gross and disgusting, under the preface of not being attracted to women. That language is part of what has kept women all over the world oppressed, made to feel they are lacking, dirty, or should feel shame because of their bodies. So I really hope that tolerance happens here and that there can be some discussion without people deeming it "inappropriate" or just never reading or responding. Fingers crossed.
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top