Painful Ovarian Cysts

Ovarian cyst is a common occurrence in women, particularly during the child bearing age. It is believed that almost every woman will have ovarian cyst once in her lifetime. These cysts are tiny sacks with some fluid content and are located either inside or on the surface of the ovaries. Usually, ovarian cysts are considered harmless. However, some of the cysts may turn cancerous if left untreated and can be painful. Thus, painful ovarian cysts should not be ignored.

Main Causes of Painful Ovarian Cysts

Pain from ovarian cysts can be felt in the lower stomach region. If the cause of the pain can be identified, the treatment of the painful ovarian cysts becomes easier. The pain may get too serious to be ignored, mainly due the following two reasons:

Increase in Size of the Cyst
When the size of the cyst grows to an abnormally large size, say 10 cm and more, then it can gives rise to a pain in the lower abdomen. The pain may be confined to only one side or get extended to both sides of the abdomen. In such cases, it could happen that the cyst may turn into a tumor. The symptoms of this condition include acute pain, pressure on the urinary bladder, as a result of which it becomes difficult to relieve oneself.

Torsion of the Ovarian Cyst
Due to twisting of the ovarian cysts, sometimes the fallopian tube may get twisted as well and give a severe pain to the pelvis. In some people, the pain can be for just few minutes and in others, a dull pain would continue for a number of days. This kind of pain is often identified incorrectly as the pain experienced during the menstrual cycle. This is observed quite often among the teenagers with abnormality in fallopian tube. Painful ovarian cyst during pregnancy can occur due to the twist of the cyst and it is usually removed surgically without causing any harm to the unborn baby.

Types of Painful Ovarian Cysts

There are several forms of ovarian cyst. Most of the times, ovarian cysts are not painful. In certain cases, when some kind of complication arises, one can experience pain from ovarian cyst.

Hemorrhagic Cysts
This type of the ovarian cysts are very painful. They are also referred to as haematocyst, bolld cyst or haematoceles. The common symptoms of hemorrhagic cysts are pain on the right side of the lower abdomen and heavy bleeding. This type of cyst is formed when there is a breakage in any of the blood vessel in the system. The blood thus released, gets into the ovary and forms a clot. Due to breakage in such a cyst, a large amount of blood may flow into the abdominal cavity.

Endometroid Cyst
The main cause endometroid cysts is endometriosis. This type of cyst is formed when a small part of the endometrial tissue ruptured after bleeding, gets deposited in another area and grows in size. As more and more blood is accumulated in the tissue, it becomes dark brown in color and thus is also known as chocolate cyst. This condition gives rise to a severe and persistent pain. The pain becomes unbearable when such a cyst breaks down. The fluid content of the cyst may get transmitted into the uterus, bowels or the pelvis.

Polycystic Ovary
When a number of follicular cysts are developed inside the ovary, it is called polycystic ovaries. Health care professionals are not yet sure about the exact cause of formation of this type of ovary. It has been assumed that genetic weaknesses or lack of certain hormones are responsible for the formation of this cyst. This cysts do not have a regular growth, but when they increase in size, they may become quite painful. The symptoms of this cyst has similarity with endometriosis or diseases of pelvic inflammation.

For temporary relief from painful ovarian cysts, you can apply warm water on the cyst for some time. Vitamin supplements can help in the reduction of the pain. However, it is advisable to completely treat the problem of painful ovarian cysts, so that it does not recur in the future.