Such an awkward and embarrassing title right?? I know, and unfortunately I live with the problem.
These were the exact words that I had typed into the Google search box when I first felt this small pea-sized lump growing at the sides of my ladyhood. I was 20 (2012) at that time. I felt worried, anxious and even paranoid, what was this thing?! Was it just a pimple or could it be something more serious? Why does it hurt when I press on it?
I am writing this post after much deliberation because there is no reason for me to proclaim this embarrassing problem to the world. But now, I realized there might just be a reason. There will be a reason if someone out there like me also typed these words into Google only to come upon website after website of medical information but what you and I both really need is comfort, solace, companionship – knowing that someone else is also going through the same problem as I am and I do not feel so alone anymore. There was no such sharing of this problem online (not to mention offline because who would tell you that she has this problem in her vv?) What I hope my sharing will do is to provide you with information of what I have been through (*of course please do not take what I said as the accurate and ultimate truth for I am no doctor, but merely a sufferer just like you*).
The first time I felt the rounded lump, I thought that it was only a small pimple but a few days passed and it grew bigger to the size of a pea where I even felt pain when I was peeing. I began to suspect that it might be a Bartholin’s cyst after researching online for days. Below is some information I extracted from http://www.patient.co.uk/health/bartholins-cyst-and-abscess which you may have already read or can read more about.
What are Bartholin’s glands and what is the Bartholin’s cyst?
Bartholin’s glands are a pair of small glands that are just next to the lower part of the entrance to the vagina. Each gland is about the size of a pea. Unless diseased or infected, you cannot normally see or feel these glands, as they are within the soft tissues (labia) next to the entrance to the vagina. Each gland makes a small amount of mucus-like fluid. The fluid from each gland drains down a short tube (duct) called the Bartholin’s gland duct.
If the Bartholin’s gland duct becomes blocked then a fluid-filled swelling (cyst) develops. The size of a cyst can vary from small and pea-like to the size of a golf ball, or even bigger in some cases. The cyst may remain the same size or may slowly become bigger. The reason why a Bartholin’s duct may become blocked and lead to a cyst is not clear.
The description really seems to match what I felt was growing in my vagina. To my dismay, I woke up one day (just a few days after the lump first formed) to find that this lump had grown so big that it covered approximately half of my ladyhood. It felt tender and it hurt so bad when I had to pee. I went to the general practitioner’s immediately (I was adamant about seeing a female doctor) and she diagnosed that it could be the problem of Bartholin’s cyst as well. She told me that since the lump had swelled until this big, I had to do a minor surgery immediately to drain the fluid in the pus. My goodness, I do not want to scare you but it was a really painful procedure, I can’t even recall if local anesthesia was applied because it was really painful. But I wanted to get rid of the cyst immediately so I beared with the pain no matter what. After the operation, the doctor prescribed me with some antibiotics and cream and the wound healed within a week. Once again, I am no expert, I am merely sharing my experience and I have again extracted information from http://www.patient.co.uk/health/bartholins-cyst-and-abscess about the details of the surgery if you are interested. To the point where this lump had become so big, the surgery has to be carried out so although I know that you are worried and afraid, know that someone has gone through it and you and your vv will feel so happy afterwards because we’ve got no embarrassing lump down there no more!
A small operation might be needed (CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR, DO NOT JUMP INTO CONCLUSIONS PLEASE!!)
The main aim of the operation is to drain any fluid or pus. This relieves symptoms. In addition, another aim is to minimise the chance of the problem happening again (recurring).
Marsupialisation
A small operation called marsupialisation is the traditional treatment used to treat a Bartholin’s cyst or abscess. It may be done under general anaesthetic. However, it can also be done under local anaesthetic when the overlying skin is numbed with an injection of local anaesthetic. A small cut (incision) is made into the cyst or abscess just inside the entrance to the vagina. Any fluid or pus drains out. The cut is widened to about 1 cm. A few stitches are then used to stitch the inside lining of the cyst to the overlying skin. This then creates a small new permanent opening for fluid to drain out of the gland.
Initially, the opening that is left is like a pouch – hence the name of the operation. However, the opening gradually becomes smaller and soon the opening becomes tiny and not noticeable. But this new opening is, in effect, like a new tube (duct) which allows any fluid that is made by the gland to drain.
A course of antibiotics may be prescribed if pus is drained from an abscess. However, antibiotics are not always needed once the pus has been drained.
Marsupialisation is usually successful. In only a few cases does the problem recur if this procedure is done. If a simple cut is made to drain the fluid or pus without then doing a marsupialisation, there is a higher chance that the problem will recur at some point.
As with all operations there is a small chance of problems. For example, infection of the wound occurs in a small number of cases following marsupialisation.
I wish my story ends here but sadly it doesn’t. Over the course of the next months and even until now, this problem of “pimple-like thing in vagina” still recurs for me. Fortunately, none of them was as serious as that first one, but you can imagine how paranoid and anxious I feel every time I feel a lump because I worry that it might escalate into a Bartholin’s cyst again. I have consulted 3 different doctors afterwards when the lump stays for more than 2 weeks (if it disappears before that, then I do not see a doctor) and the doctors’ diagnosis are similar – that the appearance of lumps in the vagina are generally bacteria infections caused by hair follicles at the vaginal area and these bacteria already exists in your own skin. The doctors usually prescribed me with a week of antibiotics, a cream to apply at the lump and a wash to be used when I was bathing and then the problem will go away. What frustrates me is that it keeps recurring, perhaps once every 2 months, and although it disappears on its own most of the time, I still worry every single time.
What I can advice you to do is to visit the doctor (either a general practitioner or a gynaecologist) for advice because these lumps may mean different things for different people. For me, it could be an infection or a cyst but for you, it could be the same or something else that is more serious or perhaps not even serious at all. So see the doctor when you feel these abnormal lumps growing at your vv, don’t wait till it grows so big (like mine during my first time) then you might need a surgery instead of just antibiotics. (Of course you prefer antibiotics right?)
I sincerely hope that my sharing had offered you a little bit of solace and to give you a bit more comfort, apparently many women face this problem because the gynaecologist whom I visited say that many women see her for such problems! Let’s support each other through this journey and I hope that you will be willing to share your worries, frustrations, joy, anything with me too ❤
zayleaaelyaz 