Hi, I'm Janet, I'm 38 and I've been getting bartholins abscesses for about eight years now, maybe 5-6 per year. The first time I didn't know what it was, when it got painful I went to the doctor who took one look at it and sent me to the hospital to have it drained and Marsupialised (great name!), apparently that stops them from recurring some of the time. Unfortunately it didn't work for mine.
Since then I've just let them clear by themselves mostly, unless they get really swollen and take more than a couple of days in which case I get some antibiotics, like I did this afternoon. I don't actually know if the antibiotics work though or if the abscess just clears in it's own good time anyway, like most modern medicine, who really knows? The doctor today mentioned hospital if my current abscess hasn't drained by itself over the weekend, I think I'd rather still be walking like a cowboy on Christmas Day than have my mind whisked by a general anaesthetic so my fingers are well and truly crossed.
This website is fantastic, I wish I'd seen it years ago, it clears up a lot of the mystery and knowledge is power. The tips are great too, I do mostly the same as everyone else, hot flannels, long baths, I also use tea tree cream which I think probably does the same as witchhazel, it certainly stings just as much! My one extra tip would be that if you are having trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep try sleeping on your side, abscess side down, with a pillow between your knees. That seems to take just enough of the pressure off to make a difference.
I'm alarmed by the suggestion someone made about a link to a high sugar diet although it makes a lot of sense as high sugar levels in urine seems to be linked to other infections. I do have a bit of a chocolate habit, although since I don't drink or smoke I don't guilt out about the amount of chocolate I eat, however a girl's got to have a vice so if I have to give up chocolate maybe I'll have to get into shoe shopping!!!
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