Re: Recurring Bartholin's cyst/abscess

Having my 3rd Bartholin's cyst has not been fun. The previous occurences were 4-6 years ago, so definitely not a frequent problem, but a pain, nonetheless. The previous two times I had the cyst drained by my ob-gyn and had to wear a balloon catheter for a week or two. The balloon catheter was so uncomfortable, almost as bad as the cyst itself.
This time, I did not have health insurance and I remembered the price tag for my last out of pocket "surgery" for this same problem without insurance.

After a month of watching waiting for it to resolve on its own, it finally became painful enough for me to think about going to the doctor and footing a bill that I can't really afford right now. (The thought of a self-incision crossed my mind several times, but I am so scared of infection, it wasn't worth the risk to me)

A friend who teaches herbal medicines and healing at a local community college told me about blood root. I spent hours on-line reading everything I could learn about this root...Amazing stuff. Here are the most interesting websites, photos and videos I found about the subject:

http://www.cancersalves.com/introduction/introduction_contents.html


http://public.fotki.com/Anivoc/xxterra/


http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/bloodroot3.html


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5528328984547372206&ei=wpQjSdubCYfq-gGOvd3uCA&q=Hoxsey"


Anyhow, here is my experience in using blood root to resolve my bartholin's gland cyst. I was so excited to learn that there may be something non-medical that could resolve my problem I went to a local herb store called Leaves and Roots (on the web: http://www.leavesandroots.com
)and found Blood root in 3 forms: bottled tincture (extract with alcohol), powdered bulk in a 2 oz bag, and the root itself. I bought the powdered bulk for $8.20 and tea tree oil 1/3 fl ounce for $3.50.

I followed the recipe I got on-line here: 1 oz calamine lotion, 1 tsp tea tree oil , 1 tsp witch hazel, and blood root (I used 1 tsp). I soaked the cotton gauze and covered the back of the gauze with a little bit of plastic so that it would not affect the surrounding areas. In my opinion the tea tree oil was too much. After 3 days of suffering and feeling the cyst getting more and more irriated and painful, with the advice of my herbal guru friend, I changed my formula to simply be blood root and witch hazel on a sterile gauze pad enough to form a smooth paste. This did not burn as much as with the tea tree oil. Still miserable, I was ready to give up and go to the doctors. Since it was Saturday, I figured I will tough it out til Monday and continue the treatment.

I finally got relief today!!! There were no fireworks or any indication the cyst burst, other than the fluid leaking and the relief from the pressure.

I will continue using a sitz bath using tea tree as an antiseptic to help with the healing but, I promised my friend that if this worked, I would post it to help someone else out there that may not want to go under the knife for whatever reason.

It is not the quickest process, awkward to say the least, especially trying to get the gauze square positioned just right onto where the gland opening is located. But now that I have relief, I have to say it was worth it. Not to mention all the education about what an amazing power that is in this root. The cancer photos I posted above are simply amazing. I will find and buy some black salve to keep in the medicine cabinet. I look forward to learning more about blood root and other real remedies!

Cheers! I hope this helps! Tweet