Hello Ladies
I'm sitting here gingerly typing this, yet another bout with the dreaded most horrible infected Bartholin's cyst. The description may get a bit icky but maybe this will help someone who may find themselves in a similar situation.
skip back 4 years. very active adventurous sex life with the one partner. we experiemented with shaving. I must have nicked myself. Lots of hot sweaty messy sex later and I was a bit tender but ignored it because that happens.
The next day - agony! My labia was swollen and puffy and down near the vaginal opening I could feel a lump the size of a golf ball. I could barely walk.
I visited a sexual health clinic, I figured that they'd know all about this kind of thing. She gave me a local anesthetic and then lanced my labia - nowhere near the actual lump mind, and sent me home with instructions to sit in a warm salty bath. I did, it got worse, I was in such agony, I felt like I had grown balls my labia was so swollen. I went to a different GP this time and he kindly syringed out all the pus that had accumulated within the cyst. Neither of them at this stage offered an explanation as to what it was. A dose of antibiotics and I was on my way.
2 years later a similar thing happened, but it was a public holiday night and there were no GP's to help drain it so I went to an emergency ward. They did the thing there - I had three nurses just about to cry watching me get drained without a local, that was a bit of amusement for the night. The next day I went to another GP and straight away she told me what it was.. an infected Bartholin's cyst.
The Bartholin's glands are located either side of the vagine and are pea sized glands which produce lubricating fluid. When you get horny that's part of where it comes from. sometimes one of these glands may get blocked and form a cyst. Usually this will just sit there and not cause any pain but you may notice the lump. For such a long time I thought I had just a deformed pussy due to this lump on one side.
Occasionally due to rough sex, or a nick while shaving or any number of other reasons this cyst will become infected and that's where the pain starts. If this happens to you see a doctor straight away! Immediately before it gets worse. If you can't get it seen to straight away go sit in a warm salted bath (I actually don't know what the point of this is but it's meant to help it drain - it's never worked for me).
As mine is re-curring I will be seeing an ob-gyn to get it it properly treated ie. he offered lasering it to prevent the cyst forming again, sounds good to me.
since apparently 2% of the female population will be afflicted by this at some stage I thought I'd share this story so if it happens to you you might have an idea of what's going on.
Cheers,
Julie