What to Do If a Bartholin Cyst Ruptures

Pressure inside a fluid-filled cyst may create an opening in the skin or blocked duct. Clear, cloudy, blood-streaked, or pus-like fluid may come out, and pressure-related pain can ease as the swelling decreases. Natural rupture does not confirm that the entire cavity has emptied or that an infection has cleared.

The opening can close while fluid remains inside, so the lump may refill. Thick pus, an unpleasant smell, warmth, marked tenderness, and surrounding redness are more concerning for an abscess than simple drainage and warrant medical review.

Wash your hands, allow fluid to escape without pressing, then rinse the vulva gently with plain warm water. Pat rather than rub, place a clean unscented pad in your underwear, and change it when damp. Avoid inserting anything into the opening or applying antiseptics and fragranced products unless a clinician recommends them.

Pause activities that rub or strain the sore area, including penetrative sex, until drainage and tenderness have settled. Note whether the lump is shrinking and whether the fluid, pain, or skin changes are improving. A clinician should assess a lump that remains, returns, or has an uncertain diagnosis.

Contact a medical service promptly for fever, chills, feeling faint or very unwell, rapidly increasing pain, spreading redness, continuing heavy bleeding, or swelling that interferes with walking or sitting. Persistent pus or foul-smelling drainage also needs review. Have any new or changing vulval lump after menopause examined.

Ask whether the cavity has drained adequately, whether the appearance suggests infection, and how long local tenderness may reasonably continue. If this has happened before, discuss methods that create a lasting drainage opening, their aftercare, and how recurrence would be managed.