Do I Need a Surgery for an Ovarian Cyst

Do I need a surgery for an ovarian cyst? Before we answer this question we need to understand what is ovarian cyst and how are they formed.

Ovarian cysts are a collection of fluid within the normally solid ovary. Although ovarian cysts are an extremely common gynecological problem, however because of the fear of ovarian cancer, cysts become a cause of concern among women. Still it is imperative to know that vast majority of ovarian cysts are not cancerous or cancer.

Though they may cause a slight discomfort like pain in the lower abdomen on either side depending on the position of cyst, the good news is that usually cysts do not need a surgery. They will disappear on their own without any treatment. At the same time one need to remember that there are some benign cysts which will require treatment as they do not go away on their own. And these benign cysts in very rare cases can prove to be cancerous.

Coming back to the question whether an ovarian cyst requires a surgery or not - the need for surgery will be dependent on the type of cyst diagnosed by your gynecologist. There are two types of cysts and they are benign cysts - those which go away on their own and cancerous - those which require immediate surgery to prevent further problems.

This difference of whether the cyst is benign or cancerous is very important to your health and well being. This difference will decide whether you need a surgery to remove your cyst or it will dissolve on its own in the blood stream. Cancerous cysts should be removed as soon as possible. This said there are some benign cysts like endometriomas and dermoid cysts which do not go away on their own and require treatment.

Apart from this there are no chances of benign cysts to turn into cancerous. So if you have a benign cyst then you don't have to worry about it turning cancerous. Hence two months wait for the cyst to disappear is not risky.
So when is surgery needed to remove an ovarian cyst and what are the alternative methods to remove the cyst?

Surgery is only considered necessary when the cysts appear to be cancerous in sonogram, if it is causing severe pain, or if it continues to grow and does not disappear in about eight weeks. Usually a benign cyst should go away in eight weeks but if it has not then a surgery is needed to remove it.

According to the various studies conducted in the field cysts that don't decrease in size and persist for more than eight weeks have an increased likelihood of being abnormal. Abnormal does not mean cancer but an abnormal growth of cells within the ovary which if not removed can cause discomfort or even destroy the ovary. And in very rare cases these cysts may be cancerous hence early detection and removal becomes fairly compulsory.

This said the treatment of ovarian cyst is largely dependent on the type of cyst present and the symptoms you have. In addition to the fact that whether you are pre-menopausal or post menopausal, if you are pre-menopausal and if your cyst is not bothering you at all then the best option is waiting for it to dissolve within four to ten weeks. And in case you have bothersome symptoms or if there is a slight hint of cyst being cancerous it should be removed immediately.

Even then one should remember that the vast majority of ovarian cysts are benign, the presence of an ovarian cyst is a usually a non-worrisome occurrence in women.