Ovarian Cysts Can Be Eliminated
What is an Ovarian Cyst?

Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs or pockets within or on the surface of an ovary. The ovaries are two bilateral organs, each about the size and shape of an almond, located on each side of your uterus. Eggs (ova) develop and mature in the ovaries and are released in monthly cycles during your childbearing years.

Symptoms

You cannot depend on symptoms alone to tell you if you have an ovarian cyst. In fact, you will likely have no symptoms at all. Or if you do, the symptoms may be similar to those of other conditions, such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy or ovarian cancer. Even appendicitis and diverticulitis can produce signs and symptoms that mimic a ruptured ovarian cyst.

Still, it is important to be watchful of any symptoms or changes in your body and to know which symptoms are serious. If you have an
ovarian cyst, you may experience one or more of the following signs and symptoms:

Menstrual irregularities

Pelvic pain is a constant or intermittent dull ache that may radiate to your lower back and thighs

Pelvic pain shortly before your period begins or just before it ends

Pelvic pain during intercourse (dyspareunia)

Pain during bowel movements or pressure on your bowels

Nausea, vomiting or breast tenderness similar to that experienced during pregnancy

Fullness or heaviness in your abdomen

Pressure on your rectum or bladder, or difficulty emptying your bladder completely

Sudden, severe abdominal or pelvic pain

Pain accompanied by fever or vomiting

Causes

Your ovaries normally grow cyst-like structures called follicles each month. Follicles produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone
and release an egg when you ovulate.

Sometimes a normal monthly follicle just keeps growing. When that happens, it becomes known as a functional cyst. This means it started during the normal function of your menstrual cycle. There are two types of functional cysts:

Follicular cyst. Around the midpoint of your menstrual cycle, your brain's pituitary gland releases a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH), which signals the follicle holding your egg to release it. When everything goes according to plan, your egg bursts out of its follicle and begins its journey down the fallopian tube in search of sperm and fertilization. A follicular cyst begins when the LH
surge does not occur. The result is a follicle that does not rupture or release its egg. Instead it grows and turns into a cyst. Follicular cysts are usually harmless, rarely cause pain and often disappear on their own within two or three menstrual cycles.

Corpus luteum cyst. When LH does surge and your egg is released, the ruptured follicle begins producing large quantities of estrogen and progesterone in preparation for conception. This changed follicle is now called the corpus luteum. Sometimes, however, the escape opening of the egg seals off and fluid accumulates inside the follicle, causing the corpus luteum to expand into a cyst.

Although this cyst usually disappears on its own in a few weeks, it can grow to almost 4 inches in diameter and has the potential to bleed into itself or cause the ovary to twist, cutting off its blood supply and causing pelvic or abdominal pain. If it fills with blood, the cyst may rupture, causing internal bleeding and sudden, sharp pain. The fertility drug clomiphene citrate (Clomid, Serophene), which is used to induce ovulation, increases the risk of a corpus luteum cyst developing after ovulation. These cysts do not prevent or threaten a resulting pregnancy.

Western Medicine Treatment
Treatment depends on your age, the type and size of your cyst, and your symptoms. Your doctor may suggest:

Watchful waiting. You can wait and be re-examined in one to three months if you are in your reproductive years, you have no symptoms and an ultrasound shows you have a simple, fluid-filled cyst. Your doctor will likely recommend that you get follow-up pelvic ultrasounds at periodic intervals to see if your cyst has changed in size. Watchful waiting, including regular monitoring with ultrasound, is also a common treatment option recommended for postmenopausal women if a cyst is filled with fluid and is less
than 2 centimeters in diameter.

Birth control pills. Your doctor may recommend birth control pills to reduce the chance of new cysts developing in future menstrual cycles. Oral contraceptives offer the added benefit of significantly reducing your risk of ovarian cancer, the risk decreases the longer you take birth control pills.

Surgery. Your doctor may suggest removal of a cyst if it is large, does not look like a functional cyst, is growing or persists through two or three menstrual cycles. Cysts that cause pain or other symptoms may be removed.

Some cysts can be removed without removing the ovary in a procedure known as a cystectomy. Your doctor may also suggest removing
the affected ovary and leaving the other intact in a procedure known as oophorectomy. Both procedures may allow you to maintain your
fertility if you're still in your childbearing years. Leaving at least one ovary intact also has the benefit of maintaining a source of estrogen production.

If a cystic mass is cancerous, however, your doctor will advise a hysterectomy to remove both ovaries and your uterus. After menopause, the risk of a newly found cystic ovarian mass being cancerous increases. As a result, doctors more commonly recommend surgery when a cystic mass develops on the ovaries after menopause.

Anti-inflammatory medication or steroids to decrease inflammation.

Ice or cryotherapy can also be used to decrease swelling of the joint.

Injections - Corticosteroid injection directly into the joint can be used to suppress inflammation and thus, decrease pain.

Surgery - Cartilage injuries or unstable cartilage can be treated surgically.

Debridement - For debridement, the unstable cartilage is removed using an arthroscopic shaver, after which resurfacing can be
performed in a variety of ways.