Most ovarian cysts are asymptomatic, disappear without medication and cause no harm. Medications for ovarian cysts, whenever prescribed, alleviate pain and pressure in the pelvic region and prevent the forming of more cysts by stopping the process of ovulation if it is a chronic problem. The best way to stop ovulation is to take birth control pills.

Initial medications for ovarian cysts

Since most ovarian cysts disappear within a couple of menstrual cycles, the medical practitioner might not prescribe any medication and keep the patient under observation to see if the ovarian cyst is getting bigger or disappearing on its own. An examination of the pelvis might be recommended after a few months to record any variations in size.

After a few menstrual cycles if the ovarian cyst still does not improve, the doctor could carry out tests to see whether any other type of growth in the ovary is causing this problem. At such times over the counter medication to relieve pain and the application of heat could reduce some of the annoying symptoms.

Ongoing medications for ovarian cysts

An ovarian cyst which persists through more than two menstrual cycles should be checked out. If an ultrasound shows the there is something amiss or you start exhibiting symptoms of cysts in the ovary, treatment has to start on you through medications or through surgery. Your gynaecologist could suggest that you keep using birth control pills for some time so that more cysts do not get to form.

Surgery as a Medication

If, despite medical treatment, an ovarian cyst which is functional but is causing a good deal of pain, refuses to go away, a surgery (cystectomy) through the use of laparoscopy (causing an incision which is small) could have to be done to remove it. However if an ultrasound brings out something unusual or the gynaecologist feels that there could be a risk of ovarian cancer, a surgery by way of a bigger incision in the abdomen through laparotomy may require to be carried out.

Surgery could also be needed to confirm the presence of ovarian cysts. And if ovarian cancer is suspected, surgery will also be required for gauging the state of ovarian growths. You must realise however that surgery does not provide a permanent solution in the matter of ovarian cysts. It can only work if it is used to remove the ovaries altogether.

What would require surgery are situations where the cyst or the ovary have been ruptured or twisted (torsion), where there is severe pain or bleeding, where the cyst is more than 3 inches or is pressing on some of the other abdominal organs, the cyst not going away although two or three months have elapsed since its detection and where these months have covered a couple of menstrual periods and finally, where the ultrasound has discovered something suspicious.

But although the application of surgery could prove effective for the treatment of ovarian cysts, some studies have also shown that it could lead to complications as well. These complications could include problems of access, of operative procedures and physiological complications involving pneumoperitoneum.

Surgery Choices

Whether the incision is small, such as in Laparoscopy or large, such as in Laparotomy, a cut will have to be made on the area of your stomach. Laparoscopy could be used for confirming the presence of ovarian cysts in women of child bearing age. And, at the time of the Laparoscopy, large, painful ovarian cysts could easily be removed, even though they might not be cancerous, without taking out the ovary.

Laparotomy, on the other hand, might have to be used if the cysts are too large to manage through Laparoscopy. Laparotomy would also have to be used if the woman has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer or some problems relating to the abdomen or the pelvic organs occur. If indeed cancer has been detected, the larger incision allows the surgeon to observe the affected area closely and, where necessary, remove the affected portion of the abdomen.

Factors to be thought of

A major consideration in the treatment of ovarian cysts is whether the woman concerned is menopausal or not, because the risk of cancer in the ovaries increase significantly in such women. So it is necessary to be extra careful when checking the ovarian growths of women past this stage.

In fact, many doctors would immediately suggest that the ovaries be removed i.e. oophorectomy if they find that cysts have developed on any ovary of a menopausal woman. However, the current trend of thought in medicine is not to perform surgery on women past menopause if the cysts are small and simple. Among cysts which are dangerous are the Unilocular cysts which are housed in compartments and have thin walls. These could be cancerous after menopause.

Holistic approach

The holistic approach is simple and causes the least amount of pain amongst the various forms of medication used to cure ovarian cysts and all sufferers would be better served if they followed this approach from the initial stages of discovery of these cysts. What the holistic approach believes in is "Prevention is better than cure". What this means is that the holistic approach lays stress on the approach which attempts to root out the problem of ovarian cysts at the very nascent stages. This is done by stressing on a person`s physical fitness and an increase in his optimism. The holistic approach has given a new meaning to ovarian cysts medication.