Vaginal Cysts

There are a few common types of vaginal cysts:

• Epidermal inclusion cysts: When there is an injury to the vagina like in the case of childbirth, the tissues present on the surface of the vagina are trapped inside the skin. This leads to the formation of an epidermal inclusion cyst.
• Bartholin’s cysts: The Bartholin's glands are a pair of pea-sized glands found at the entrance of the vagina. If the secretions of the Bartholin duct gets trapped in the duct, they lead to Bartholin’s cyst formation. 
• Mullerian cysts: These cysts are also the result of injury to the vaginal wall during childbirth.
• Gartner’s duct cysts: They are also known as mesonephric cysts. These cysts are the result of tissues that remain in the pelvis after a miscarriage.

There are some swellings in the vagina which can be mistaken for cysts:

• Benign tumours: They are rarely found in the vagina and appear as a bunch of cysts.
• Cystoceles and rectoceles: These are small bulges that are visible on the vaginal wall which appear due to the pressure during childbirth.

In the majority of cases, vaginal cysts do not have any symptoms except for a mass in the vagina. But in the rest of the cases, the common symptoms of vaginal cysts are:

• Vaginal discomfort
• Swelling or a mass in the vagina
• Dyspareunia (pain during sex)
• Pain while urinating
• Vaginal bleeding (rarely)

The causes of vaginal cysts can be:

• Injury to the vaginal wall during childbirth
• Blocked gland ducts like Bartholin's gland duct
• Miscarriage
• Endometriosis, a condition in which tissue from the uterus starts growing elsewhere in the body.

Vaginal cysts are diagnosed by an obstetrician-gynaecologist (ob-gyn) by

• Pelvic examination
• Ultrasound
• Biopsy of the cyst or the liquid oozing out of the cyst

The treatment of vaginal cysts includes:

• If the cyst is small in size, the doctor may ask you to soak your lower half in a tub full of warm water three or four times a day for four days. This will help the infected cyst to rupture and drain on its own.
• In the case of Bartholin’s cyst, the doctor may have to remove the clog from the Bartholin gland duct opening to avoid the collection of the gland secretion in the future. 
• If the cyst is big in size and is painful, the doctor may surgically remove the cyst. The surgery is done under local anaesthesia and the patient is discharged the same day. 
• The doctor may prescribe some antibiotics and pain killers for dealing with the infection and pain.