Burst Already!!!

One week ago today my Bartholin's cyst flared up for the first time. The following day I went to the gyno to have it checked out because I wasn't sure what it was. At the time, it was a bit uncomfortable but not painful, and was probably the size of a marble. The doctor said I had two choices: have it lanced right then and there or go home and see if it got better. He said that he could not give me Antibiotics because it was not infected. Not only did lancing it scare the hell out of me, but he also said that it was so small that he was afraid he might not hit the gland. I opted to go home.

Over the past week, the discomfort has gotten worse and the cyst has gotten larger. It is still not nearly as large as some of the horror stories I've read about online. It is probably about the size of a small egg. It is painful right now but I think that is mainly due to the stretched skin that has dried out from the many sitz baths I have taken. It hurts like hell to walk and move in certain positions.

For the past week I have used hot, damp washcloths on the cyst every once in a while, and have taken sitz baths 2-4 times daily, just starting to add Epsom Salts two nights ago. I started taking three silica pills a day three days ago. I started using the 1 oz calamine lotion, 1 tsp witch hazel and 1 tsp tea tree oil mixture I read about online last night. After feeling the pain of sitting down on and standing up from my office chair yesterday at work, I decided to call in sick today and spend the whole day trying to get this damn thing to burst.

I have literally read everything on the internet pertaining to Bartholin's cysts, and I have tried almost everything I have seen as far as home remedies go. I am trying to avoid going to the ER or the gyno to have this lanced because I have read that it is a painful process and a painful recovery, and that it still tends to reoccur once it is done.

Does anybody have any advice for me? Should I expect it to take more than a week to burst on its own? Can you feel it when it bursts? Tweet