10 facts you should know about ovarian cysts

10 facts you should know about ovarian cysts

Unless you’re hoping to have a child, you probably don’t give your ovaries much thought. So it might be a little unsettling to realise that around the time when you’re menstruating, there’s a good chance that you’ll develop an ovarian cyst and never realise it. But before you freak, know this: It’s usually harmless. Still, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t learn more about what’s going on inside your own body every month. And in some cases, ovarian cysts can cause pelvic pain and more serious complications. Here’s everything you should know about this super-common cyst.

Since biology class was a long time ago, here’s a quick primer: Inside your pelvis, your uterus is flanked by two ovaries, each one roughly the size of an almond. During your childbearing years, one of your ovaries will swaddle an egg in a fluid-filled space called a follicle, then release the egg into a fallopian tube about once a month. That follicle basically self-combusts afterward and is absorbed into the body. Want more? Check out the best foods to fight ageing here

Pretty easily, actually. “Your body basically sets you up to get ovarian cysts,” says Dr Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine. If the follicle doesn’t release the egg, then it can grow bigger and develop into a follicle cyst. Or, you can also develop what’s called a corpus luteum cyst, a cavity that forms after the follicle ruptures and releases the egg. These cysts can bleed and cause pain the pelvic area. Usually, these things disappear in under a few weeks and are pretty small (often about 1 to 2 millimeters), but it’s possible to have a larger cyst that can measure into the inches, too.

Oftentimes, you won’t. Many functional ovarian cysts won’t trigger any symptoms, and “the vast majority of the time, they go away on their own,” says Dr. Minkin. And in case you’re wondering, follicle cysts don’t often cause any changes to your menstrual cycle.

Ovarian cysts can turn up at a routine gyno visit—doctors might find the bigger ones during a pelvic exam or spot them after a luckily-timed ultrasound. But other women will experience symptoms from their cysts—mainly pain in the pelvic or abdominal areas—and those are the patients that usually wind up in their gyno’s office. “Most of the ovarian cysts I find [in my practice] are from patients who tell me they’re experiencing pain,” says Dr. Minkin.

There are also more severe symptoms of ovarian cysts, like a fever, nausea, and vomiting. Those are all signs that you may have an infection, and you should get to a doctor ASAP. But one of the scenarios that worries experts the most, says Dr. Minkin, is when the cyst causes an ovary to “twist,” which could not only cause an infection, but could cut off the blood supply to the ovary, which can cause permanent damage. It’s a problem known as adnexal torsion, and it’s just as serious as it sounds. If that occurs—and it’s not common—you’ll likely feel a sudden pain in your abdomen and may also have some nausea. If this happens, you’ll want to let your doctor know about it right away as it’s considered a medical emergency.

Oftentimes, your doctor will confirm that you have a cyst after giving you an ultrasound; the image of the cyst shows up on the scan. But it’s also possible that, if you’re in pain, your gyno will suspect that you have a cyst based on your symptoms alone. Either way, your doctor might decide to take a watchful waiting approach, and simply monitor the cyst for a few weeks or month. “We try to avoid operating on someone unless we have to,” says Dr. Minkin.

You might need to go under the knife, especially if you’re at risk for “twisting,” says Dr. Minkin. Your doctor might also consider it if the cyst has lingered for longer than three menstrual cycles, it’s bigger than 4 inches, or if there’s any suspicion that the mass could be a tumor. If you do need surgery, you’ll likely undergo one of two procedures: a laparoscopy or a laparotomy. Both will require general anaesthesia. Want more? Check out the best foods to fight ageinghere

Maybe. If you’re not pregnant, then taking birth control pills might help. “They suppress ovulation,” says Dr. Minkin, and that might prevent a cyst from forming in the first place. That said, birth control pills won’t help a cyst go away faster, according to a 2014 study. In the past, some doctors recommended BC as a treatment option for ovarian cysts, but the researchers of the 2014 study said that this advice was based on less-than-stellar data and that a better strategy was that of watchful waiting.

About 7 per cent of women may have this hormonal disorder, according to a 2004 study in the Journal Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Like its name implies, people with the condition can develop multiple ovarian cysts. They also can have irregular periods, trouble getting pregnant, and symptoms like a deepened voice and increase in body hair (both of which tend to show up when a person has high levels of male hormones). But keep in mind, this is a hormonal syndrome—it’s not synonymous with having multiple cysts during your lifetime.

Most of the time, cysts develop in pre-menopausal women. But it’s still possible to get them as you age, perhaps especially in the earlier post-menopausal years. In fact, one 2010 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology concluded that they might be fairly common. Want more? Check out the best foods to fight ageing here