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Ovarian Cysts After Hysterectomy

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PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) was originally named ?Stein-Leventhal Syndrome? after the two doctors who classified this disease back in the 1930s, having found polycystic ovaries to be the number one symptom in their patients. It was considered the defining symptom to diagnose what is now called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

Medical research has come a long way since then. New discoveries are made everyday and improved technologies surface to help us find answers.

Typical symptoms of PCOS are menstrual issues, lack of or inconsistent ovulation, ovarian cysts, hormonal imbalances, skin conditions, excess hair growth and/or loss of hair, depression, mood swings, infertility and changes in weight ? just to name a few. As you see, PCOS is properly categorized as a ?Syndrome? meaning ?a complex of symptoms that together indicate the existence of an undesirable condition or disease.?

Having said that, a woman can have all, some or even none of these symptoms present to live with PCOS.

You may be thinking ?How can that be if Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome indicates cysts on the ovaries? It implies polycystic ovaries right in the name! Wouldn't that mean I would have to have cysts to have PCOS??

Absolutely not. Remember, the term ?PCOS? has been used for decades ? before we knew that PCOS begins in the endocrine system and that reproductive issues are only symptoms of the underlying cause, insulin resistance.

Polycystic Ovaries

Polycystic Ovaries or PCO is a symptom and in many cases, its own diagnosis, not the defining issue of PCOS. In fact, a female at any age can have PCO ? regardless of their medical conditions or lack thereof. Cysts are natural and are not always considered alarming. The cysts become of medical concern when they are long-lasting and problematic.

You may be the victim of an unknowledgeable doctor if (s) he dismisses PCOS because you don't suffer from polycystic ovaries.

PCOS is diagnosed using, at the very minimum, two tools. Blood work and medical history are absolutely vital. In some cases, a pelvic or abdominal ultrasound is used, and some doctors perform a laparoscopy. Whatever approach your doctor decides to use, make sure they are using more than one medical method for diagnosing.

If a doctor looks at you, without doing any test, and tells you that you do or do not have PCOS, seek another opinion. I would encourage you to find an Endocrinologist or a Reproductive Endocrinologist for this particular disease as PCOS is linked with insulin resistance.

If you are a woman with PCOS, with polycystic ovaries, you have several treatment options available to you.

1) Treating the PCOS ? This is always a must, not just for the cysts but for your body as a whole. I strongly recommend a health care protocol including the basic needs: nutrition, exercise and support to help the process and remain focused. Many, including myself, have also used or needed supplements to help the process along. Let's face it, our bodies do not function properly and usually need something to tell our system "hey, this is what you are supposed to do.? That said, I highly suggest the very popular system called the Insulite PCOS System at www.pcos.insulitelabs.com.

2) Ovarian Drilling ? This is a medical procedure performed with a laparoscopy and you do not have to have cysts to have it done. The purpose is to burn away any cysts and/or part of the ovary with hormonal build-up. The benefits can last up to 2 years - if not more! I had this procedure done in 2001 and will do it again if necessary. Before my ovarian drilling, I was lucky to have my menstrual period every 3 to 4 months. With the surgery, Metformin, eating healthily and exercising, I have been regular and ovulatory ever since.

3) Medications (i.e. Clomid, injections) ? If you are trying to conceive, this is another option. These medications can help you ovulate. You can also use medications even if you do not want children; just make sure you use other methods of birth control such as condoms, diaphragms or abstinence. For some, once you ovulate, it's like kick starting your body into motion. The benefits can last up to 6 months or more.

4) Having a baby ? Yes, believe it or not, this is an option. The same applies as the previously mentioned but the lasting effects can be much longer - for some women, it has been said up to two years!

I hope you feel more confident about dealing with ovarian cysts. For some women, it can be utterly painful, others might not even know they have them. Dealing with them is quite frustrating, I'm sure. Knowledge is power!

Ovarian Cysts After Hysterectomy

In the post-menopausal group, I would say 50 percent of those are going to have a cancer risk associated with the cyst, and certainly as one gets older than 50, that increase goes markedly up. Certainly if a 75-year-old woman came in with any type of cyst, that should be looked into aggressively. So the problem in management really is when you have a prepubital girl who comes in and has a documented large cyst, you're going to operate. The post-menopausal woman is going to be followed very aggressively and most likely, she's going to be operated on. The key in management is, the challenge is, well how do you manage the reproductive age group? Which is the majority of where these cysts show up and we'll talk about here, that in a minute.

But I want to say something about the size of cysts. And a cyst depends on your definition. We've already said that a cyst is a fluid filled sac, but how big is it? Clearly it's any size, but most likely a cyst is going to be visible if it's about a centimeter. What is considered as a cyst that bears watching is usually something at three centimeters or greater. And if you have a cyst six centimeters, which is for the non-metric group, sometimes I have to check myself, the, it's about a little over two-and-a-third inches. If a woman presents with a cyst that's two-and-a-third inches, that bears definite watching and rather aggressive management. Indiana University trained Obstetrician Gynecologist, Christopher Freville suggests that certainly very large cysts have the necessity for more aggressive, aggressive management.

When you we have a woman with a cyst who has let's say something less than ten centimeters, it's just noticed. Unless we have substantial pain with that, and again that's one of the criteria we're looking at the age of the woman, we're looking at the size of the cyst and we're looking at the symptoms. Obviously if the woman's in excruciating pain, and we've got a documented cyst, well that bears investigating quickly, perhaps surgery, active imaging because it could be a complicated, complication of the cyst, which we'll talk about. If the cyst in most cases is say less than ten centimeters, and there are no severe symptoms pain associated with it, then most of these can be watched for a period of one to three menstrual cycles, so up to 90 days, come back periodically, have another exam and see if these resolve. Because most of them are going to be the functional cysts, the cyst associated with the period that we talked about in the first category.

Does that mean that you're monitoring them over two or three menstrual cycles that they could well reduce in size after that time?

Absolutely, many of these will go away spontaneously. But as part of the management process, it depends on what is the goal of the reproductive age patient. Again, we've already eliminated the children, they're going to be, they're going to have surgery, most likely. We've already - because there's no reason for a child under the age of 12 to have a cyst, we've already said that the woman over 50, if she has a cyst, say a six centimeter cyst and she's stopped her periods, we could watch her one or two cycles but most likely, it's not going to be a leftover renegade cyst, if it persists more than that, and she needs to have further testing beyond the ultrasound. She needs to have a surgery to actually go in a small incision can be made above the pubic bone a laparotomy and to remove it.

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About Author

Both Aaroah Sunil & Hilary Templeton are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Aaroah Sunil has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dental Implants, Marketing and Communications and Fitness. Angi Ingalls has been living with PCOS since she was 8 years old. Her support for women with PCOS began when she was 15 and started her own personal outreach and education program to both the medical community and her peers. On moving to Connecticut in Ma. Aaroah Sunil's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.

Hilary Templeton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Video, Womens Health and Beauty Procedure. Hillary Templeton gives advice to women of all types of ovarian cysts on her website. Click here for more information on .. Hilary Templeton's top article generates over 14800 views. to your Favourites.

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