What Women with Grapefruit-Sized Ovarian Cyst to Do Is Just to Poo, Doctor Suggests

Ovarian cysts are closed, sac-like structures within an ovary that contain a liquid or semisolid substance. "Cyst" is only a general term for a fluid-filled structure, which may or may not represent a tumor or neoplasm (new growth). If it is a tumor, it may be benign or malignant. The ovary is also referred to as the female gonad. Recently, a doctor suggests a woman with grapefruit-sized ovarian cyst that she “just needed to poo”.

Caroline Ballard, 26 years old, went to the hospital when she started experiencing excruciating abdominal pain. However, doctors told her that he was in agony because she "had to poo." Ballard's mother asked medics if her daughter's pain was caused by cysts actually, the doctor dismissed that point of view.

The doctor claimed that Ballard would be "rolling around on the floor in agony" if it were in fact a cyst. “The X-ray showed nothing suspicious except for the fact that she had to empty her bowels.” said the physician.

Since the pain persisted later that week, Ballard got an ultrasound and the result revealed four large cysts on her ovary, one of which was the size of a grapefruit. Thus, she had to undergo an emergency operation to remove the cysts that the doctors initially missed.

"My doctor delayed treatment, and what annoys me the most is that she told me it was just a poo," Ballard says.

Unfortunately, cases like this all happen too often. Cysts are sometimes resulted from endometriosis problem, in which tissues that typically line the inside of the uterus growing outside the uterus. Endometriosis is a common disease that can be found in women.

Most ovarian cysts are never noticed and resolve without women ever realizing that they are there. When a cyst causes symptoms, pain in the abdomen or pelvis is the most common one. The pain can be caused from rupture of the cyst, rapid growth and stretching, bleeding into the cyst, or twisting of the cyst around its blood supply (known as torsion).

For women with ovarian cysts, it’s suggested to accept treatments as soon as possible or the best treatment time maybe delayed just like Ballard’s story. The surgeries are the most common treatment, however any surgery, as we all know, can cause physical damage to some extent. Thus, some herbal medicines, like Fuyan Pill, may be a better option for patients. This pill can help cure ovarian cysts by promoting the circulation of blood and Qi so as to remove the cysts to relieve the pain.