The female organ that makes the body's reproductive hormones and eggs is the ovary. A pair of ovaries is found in the lower part of the woman's body called the pelvis. Sometimes they do not work right. A cyst is a balloon-like sac that is filled with fluid or core solid material. It develops in or on an ovary. A cyst can be as small as a dime or as large as a basketball. Most women will have a cyst at least once in their life, although not every one will need treatment.

You may not know that you have a cyst, or, there may be any number of these signs:
* pelvic pain, sharp and sudden, small and nagging, or with sex,
* a change in your period,
* swelling in your waist or below,
* a change in your bowel habits, from diarrhea to severe constipation, and rarely
* unnatural growth of hair or breasts.

If you have any of these signs, you should see you health care provider. There are many different forms of cysts that need different treatments. The most common kind of cyst forms during the monthly cycle and disappears with your period. These do not usually need treatment.

Some do not go away each month or cause a lot of pain. Blood tests and an ultrasound, a test using sound waves to study the organs, may be needed. These tests help tell if the cyst has any cancer or infection within. The cyst may need to be removed by surgery. The ovary will be left to heal. If there is any question of cancer, the ovary will be removed with the cyst for complete evaluation. Further surgery and drug therapy may be required. This is not common in young women but happens more often as we age.

Today, much surgery in the pelvis is done with an instrument called a laparoscope. This is a telescope-like tool that gives a close-up look at the organs. Different tools can be used with this that allow a doctor to do surgery and remove these cysts. Less pain and recovery time makes this a useful procedure for checking and treating noncancerous cysts of the ovary.

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