What symptoms are caused by ovarian cysts?
Most ovarian cysts are never noticed and resolve without women ever realizing that they are there. When a cyst causes symptoms, pain in the belly or pelvis is by far 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). How are ovarian cysts diagnosed? Sometimes ovarian cysts may be noticed by a health care practitioner during a bimanual examination of the pelvis. If a cyst is suspected based upon the symptoms of physical examination, imaging techniques are used. Most cysts are diagnosed by ultrasound, which is the best imaging technique for detecting ovarian cysts. Ultrasound is an imaging method that uses sound waves to produce an image of structures within the body. Ultrasound imaging is painless and causes no harm. Cysts can also be detected with other imaging methods, such as CT scan or MRI scan (magnetic resonance imaging). How can the
