How to Treat Bartholin Cysts at Home (Plus, When to Seek Medical Care)

• Soak in warm water for 15-20 minutes 3 or 4 times a day for 3-4 days to encourage the cyst to drain on its own.
• Leave the cyst alone and it will usually go away by itself. Don't squeeze it, poke it, or attempt to drain it yourself.
• Seek medical treatment if your cyst is swollen or painful, as it could be infected and require prescription antibiotics to clear it up.
• If you have surgery to drain the cyst, keep the area clean and refrain from vaginal penetration for 4 to 6 weeks until you've completely healed.

At-Home Treatment

Take a sitz bath several times a day for at least 3-4 days. Run warm water in the bath—just enough to cover your lower body when you're sitting. Sit in the bath for 15-20 minutes, then get out and pat yourself dry. This ensures the entire area surrounding the cyst is clean, which can prevent infection. The warmth also encourages the cyst to drain on its own. Add a scoop or two of Epsom salt or sitz salt to make your sitz bath even more beneficial. The salt helps calm inflammation and promotes drainage.

Hold a warm compress to the area to encourage drainage. Soak a clean cloth in warm water, then hold it to the area for 15-20 minutes. The heat encourages the cyst to drain. This can be helpful if you're not able to take a full sitz bath—for example, if you're at work and only have a few minutes but want to help your cyst heal. A warm compress can also provide relief if the cyst is causing pain or soreness, or if the surrounding tissue is sensitive or inflamed. Don't add anything to your compress—just water! The tissue around your vagina is extremely sensitive and essential oils, fragrances, and other substances could make your situation worse.

Take an over-the-counter (OTC) pain reliever if you need to. Bartholin cysts can occasionally be painful or uncomfortable and an OTC pain reliever, such as naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), or acetaminophen (Tylenol), can help you feel better. If your cyst causes you pain when you're walking, sitting, or doing certain activities, take a pain reliever—you don't need to suffer. Follow the dosage instructions on the bottle and don't exceed the maximum dosage. If OTC pain relievers aren't helping enough, call your doctor.

Avoid any sort of vaginal penetration while the cyst is there. This includes penetrative sex, but it also includes using tampons or doing anything else that puts pressure on your vulva and the walls of your vagina. This could cause the cyst to become infected and rupture, which can trigger a life-threatening immune response called "sepsis." You want the cyst to drain naturally, not become infected. Avoid non-penetrative activities that cause pressure as well. For example, riding horseback can put pressure on your vulva and cause the cyst to rupture, even though there's no penetration involved. Also avoid bath or skin products with fragrances or chemicals that might cause further irritation to the cyst and the surrounding tissue. You can't transmit a Bartholin cyst to others—that's not why you're avoiding intercourse. At the same time, they can be caused by an underlying sexually-transmitted infection (STI), so go ahead and get tested if you're concerned about that.

Leave it alone for 3-4 days (and then, call your doctor if it doesn't improve). Since Bartholin cysts tend to drain and heal on their own, the best thing you can do is let it be. Do what you can to keep it from getting infected, including sitz baths, and let nature take its course. After 3 or 4 days, if you're not seeing any improvement, go ahead and give your doctor a call. If your symptoms get worse and you're experiencing severe pain or a fever over 100 °F (38 °C), the cyst may be infected—get medical treatment as soon as possible. Your doctor can usually diagnose a Bartholin cyst with a simple exam. They might ask you how long you've been having symptoms or if you've ever had a Bartholin cyst before. Depending on your sexual activity and medical history, your doctor might recommend that you get tested for STIs. This isn't because a Bartholin's cyst is evidence of an STI—just that sometimes these cysts can be caused by STIs.

Getting Medical Treatment

Take a full course of antibiotics to clear any infection. If your cyst is infected—this is also called a Bartholin gland abscess—your doctor will prescribe a full-spectrum antibiotic to clear the infection. Make sure you take the full course, even if the symptoms of infection go away. Otherwise, the infection could quickly return. If the infection responds to the antibiotics, your cyst will typically drain on its own once the infection is gone. If it doesn't, your doctor might recommend surgical drainage.

Get your cyst drained if it persists after antibiotic treatment. In most cases, the cyst will drain itself once the infection has cleared—but sometimes it doesn't. If its existence is uncomfortable or painful for you, your doctor might recommend surgical drainage. Surgical drainage is typically an in-office procedure and can be performed with local anesthesia or twilight sedation. You'll go home soon after, although you should probably take it easy for the next day or two after. Talk to your doctor about what to expect from the procedure—they can answer any questions you might have and put your mind at ease.

Consider a marsupialization procedure if you have recurring cysts. This permanent procedure creates an opening to keep the gland draining properly so the blockages that cause cysts don't continue to occur. If you feel as though you're having problems with Bartholin cysts more often than not—say, the cyst is gone for only a few weeks and then comes back—this procedure might be beneficial for you. Talk to your doctor about it and see what they recommend. Marsupialization is a little more involved than surgical drainage. You might go home with a catheter inserted in the opening—that's just to make sure the incision doesn't close up in the first few days after surgery.

Plan surgery to remove your Bartholin's gland if treatments aren't effective. If you've had cysts surgically drained several times and they keep coming back, your doctor might recommend gland removal as a last resort. This procedure is extremely rare in practice and typically isn't recommended at all for patients under 40 years of age. Gland removal is typically performed in the hospital under general anesthesia. While it's typically same-day surgery, your doctor might want you to stay there overnight to recover.

Recovering After Surgery

Take sitz baths as recommended by your doctor or surgeon. Within a day or two after surgery, sit in a tub of warm water for 15-20 minutes. Your doctor will tell you how often you need to do this—usually, at least 3-4 times a day. The sitz baths help keep the surgical site clean and prevent infection. Don't skip them! They're an extremely important part of your recovery and healing process.

Refrain from vaginal penetration for 4-6 weeks. If you have a catheter, vaginal penetration is a no-no until the catheter is removed, at a minimum. For more extensive surgery, you're looking at longer. This includes not only penetrative sex but also using tampons. Returning to vaginal penetration after a surgical procedure might be uncomfortable. Just take it slow and use additional lubrication if necessary.

Take pain medication as needed. OTC pain relievers may be enough for you, but your doctor might also prescribe narcotic pain relievers. If you've had any kind of surgical procedure, those might work better than OTC pain relievers. If you're taking narcotic pain relievers, don't drive or do anything that requires careful attention while you're on the medication. It's a good idea to have someone with you while you're taking narcotic pain relievers, just to make sure you stay safe.

Maintain good personal hygiene practices. Keeping the general area clean and always using condoms when you have sex is good practice anyway—but if you've had a Bartholin cyst, hygiene is even more important. Doctors don't know exactly what causes Bartholin cysts, but it does seem like good hygiene can help prevent them from returning. Since Bartholin cysts can be linked to STIs, practicing safe sex could be one way to prevent Bartholin cysts or keep them from returning.