Most women have never heard of, or are even aware that they have two small glands located on each side of the vaginal opening, called The Bartholin’s Glands. These two glands secrete fluid that helps lubricate the vagina. If you’ve never had a problem with them, and you don’t know someone who has, then you’ve likely not heard of them. For those women as unlucky as I, that have had problems with one of their Bartholin’s glands (or both), it’s hard to forget that they exist.
The most common issues that women may have with their Bartholin’s glands are cysts and abscesses. Sometimes these glands can become blocked and a cyst can develop. Symptoms may include a lump near the vagina opening, with or without pain, discomfort while walking, sitting, or during sex, and fever if it is infected. Treatment for the cyst depends on the size, if there is pain, and if it is infected. Sometimes the cyst may just be monitored if it is not causing any issues. Home care such as sitz baths can sometimes resolve the issue for you. If the cyst becomes infected, it will abscess and start to cause pain. Treatment could be as simple as antibiotics and sitz baths, while larger more complicated abscesses may need some sort of surgical intervention. If surgical intervention is needed, a marsupialization usually resolves the problem, but it can reoccur.
I wanted to write specifically about Bartholin Gland cysts because I have experienced this on an extreme level. For those that know me, and those that follow my blog, you would know that I suffer from chronic illnesses, and get a lot of weird, rare, abnormal, or unexplainable medical conditions. Well, my Bartholin’s Glands story is on the extremely rare side, but I wanted to share so that if anyone else is going through a similar situation, they can know that they are not alone!
In the spring of 2014, I discovered a significant mass near my vaginal opening on the right side. It was painful and felt like a hard bulge that seemed to be an inch or two possibly in size. As I manage multiple medical conditions, I immediately book in with my doctor who refers me to a local gynecologist. When I go to see the gynecologist, they seem perplexed as it is not a “normal” presentation but thinks it’s a Bartholin’s Gland abscess. I’m instructed to take antibiotics for 2 weeks and to return promptly if it doesn’t resolve the issue. When I return shortly after the course of antibiotics, they decide to refer me to a colleague, another gynecologist in town. At this time I didn’t know how LUCKY I was to be under the care of the new gynecologist (for anonymity we’ll give the alias Dr. V).
Dr. V did an exam and agreed it was not a common presentation, and given my complex medical history she wanted to order an MRI to get a clear picture. The MRI showed a 2cm fibromuscular mass and we decided on marsupialization as the best course of action.
I had surgery in the fall of 2014. Everything went well except that I had some abnormal bleeding during surgery, and the mass was actually 4cm….about the size of a golf ball. The mass was deep in the gland as opposed to near the surface of the duct where it usually is. As weeks went on I could feel new sharp pain. An ultrasound showed a hematoma (a collection of blood outside of blood vessels), and scar tissue, and we discussed the possibility of another surgery to clean up the hematoma and cut out scar tissue.
The pain persisted, and so I had surgery again at the beginning of 2015. Since there was abnormal bleeding the first time, Dr. V decided to pack the wound after this surgery and a nurse would come to my home to repack the wound every day.
The nurse came and didn’t have the proper supplies, and opted to use different supplies than they laid out by Dr. V. I started to bleed a lot. The nurse reassured me that it would stop and then left to go to her next patient. The bleeding didn’t stop. I got rushed back to the hospital by ambulance where Dr. V met me and tried to stop the bleeding. She was unable to control the bleeding and had to rush me into emergency surgery. I was released from the hospital a few days later and went home for recovery.
I continued with regular follow-ups. The pain improved as I healed. Later that year I started having pain again. Dr. V ordered an MRI and my right gland had another mass about 2cm, and an unidentifiable artifact; and now my left gland had a tiny mass also. The left side was not bothering me, so we chose to leave it alone. I had my 4th surgery in the late spring of 2016. I decided to have my right Bartholin’s gland completely removed with the mass during this surgery, as I did not want to have another surgery. I was dealing with nerve pain from all of the surgeries. The surgery went well, as the bleeding was more controlled thanks to the management of a hematologist. The mass was another 4cm, and there was a tiny hard ball behind the gland wall (the unidentifiable object) that explained the new pain.
By early 2017 the mass in the left gland started to grow, and in early 2018 I had surgery to remove the mass and excise the gland, as I did not want any more surgeries. Having so many surgeries on such a delicate area has left me with permanent nerve pain, and has changed how everything looks. While going through all of this I would google and try to research, but there is nothing out there aside from the standard Bartholin’s gland cyst and abscess. I’m an A-type personality, I need to research and absorb as much as possible to make educated decisions. It really made me feel alone at times. I ended up posting in one of those medical chat threads, I can’t remember the name anymore, and I received numerous messages in the thread of other women who were going through similar unique experiences and were grateful to read my post and no longer feel alone. Now, I felt it was time to share this story on my blog, as it is a big part of my journey and what helped mold me into the person I am today.
If you experience any symptoms that you feel could be related to a Bartholin’s gland cyst or abscess please see your doctor or gynecologist for an exam. Remember that this condition is usually uncomplicated and can sometimes be resolved with simple home care methods.
If you want to read my detailed experience of bleeding out at home and the journey to discovering I have a bleeding disorder, watch for updates on my upcoming blogs!
* This post is for general informational and educational purposes only, please see our full DISCLAIMERS page for more information
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