Introduction

I am a 23 year old female living in the UK.

I have had one Cyst for two years and previous to my recent troubles, for 18 months it remained marble size with no pain and with no complications.
Two days ago I had a Marsupialization.

I have set up this blog to hopefully share information and positive commentary on my experience as there are a few gaps online when it comes to the details, I found some need to knows absent on the large amount of forums regarding Bartholin's Cysts. I also felt that there was a lot of negative feedback, I hope that during my recovery, I have some positives to offer. It's an unpleasant enough experience just having a BC, let alone wrestling with the negative outlook portrayed online.

 For the purpose of this blog the Cyst will be known as BC as I dislike the full word and typing it.

First and foremost, if you are in the UK and your Cyst is not causing you any serious bother, I highly recommend reading the forums! I believe due to the medical system in the US, or lack of, that they offer a lot more home remedy information and tips as unfortunately, there is no NHS to do things for free on a whim. I found the following useful, well, had I found them whilst in my early stages, they may have been invaluable:

-Sitz Baths - google them, they can reduce the size and often assist you in self-draining at home
-Silica - a supplement you can buy in Holland&Barratt (or similar) which helps keep BC at bay
-Warm Towel Compress - Like the Sitz bath - helps with self-draining

^These are just a few tips I found that may apply to those who haven't reached infection/abscess stage

I should note that if you experience ANY pain, redness, tenderness, increase in BC size, to immediately go to your Doctor. IMMEDIATELY. Antibiotics can work very quickly and successfully. In my next blog I will detail my own BC experience, I just felt that the information contained in this first blog may be more useful to the initial viewer as I appreciate not everyone gets to infection/abscess/draining/surgery stage.