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Ovarian Cysts: Effective Cures

……A Primer

Important Disclaimer: The author of this book, in collaboration with a global research team, is actually a

medical doctor who has had a lot of experience in treating women with cysts over the past 25 years.

However, due to the crazies and litigious sort out there, this message is here to STRONGLY emphasize

that this e-book and/or any information posted on my websites are provided for informational purposes

only. Everyone is different and every situation is different which requires personal attention from a trusted

and licensed health care provider in your area. None of the information herein is a substitute for

professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or

other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or

anything you read in this or any other book or website. Never disregard professional medical advice or

delay in seeking it because of something you have read in reports such as this or on websites. If you think

you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, 911 or your local emergency service immediately.

Any statements regarding herbal and supplement remedies in this book have not been evaluated by

the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or

prevent any disease.


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 Copyright 2008 MyOvarianCysts.com

All Rights Reserved

This book is a FREE primer report to, Ovarian Cysts: Effective Cures, and is the

intellectual property of the author. Any attempt to copy, reproduce or claim derivative

works as your own is strictly forbidden without express written permission from the

author.

You are authorized to print one copy for your personal use. You are NOT authorized to

sell this report or any derivative work, but you may copy it and give it to friends. This

copyright notice will be enforced to the full extent of the law. If you downloaded this

report from any site other than www.myovariancysts.com or www.cureology.com we

would appreciate it if you could please report this to info@myovariancysts.com .


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 Top 10 Reasons YOU May Have Ovarian Cysts

• Because you went in for a routine checkup and your doctor “felt something”

This may be a “weird” answer, but there is a reason that Chinese medicine barely

addresses ovarian cyst treatment. It has been suggested that we spend too much time

doing pelvic exams and finding “normal” things that then lead to tests and treatments that

might not be necessary at all. Women get cysts all the time that come and go. It’s fairly

“normal” to get these, and unless they produce symptoms or are “tumors” they can often

be left alone. Find out which is which!

• Because you are overweight and/or are not eating “right”

Diet and the amount of body fat that you have is a very big contributor to hormone

imbalance in your body. This can lead to an androgen and/or estrogen oversupply,

which can lead to cyst formation. It is important for you to understand why and what you

can do about it.

• Because you have a “tumor” and not a cyst

Some ovarian growths or enlargements are not due to cysts which come and go. These

are called “tumors” and can be benign or cancerous. Ovarian cancer is relatively rare, but

your best shot at a cure is early diagnosis and treatment. The more common benign (not

cancerous) tumors may not kill you but they can cause a lot of pressure problems and will

not go away. These usually require surgery to remove them. You should know which is

which and what the least invasive way to get rid of them is.


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 • Because you have endometriosis

Endometriosis is a disease in which the tissue normally found inside your uterus

(endometrium) starts growing within your pelvis, including the ovaries. Just like it does

inside the uterus, the endometrium bleeds and sheds. When this happens in the ovary,

you form endometriotic cysts. These are treated differently, usually using hormones.

• Because you have something called PCOS

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a disease which is often associated with ovarian

cysts, androgen excess (e.g. facial hair growth), insulin resistance, obesity, endometrial

cancer and other diseases. Are you one of the 10-15% of women that has this complex

syndrome? The treatment is certainly far more complicated.

• Because you are stressed out all the time and don’t sleep right

Stress leads to production of stress hormones which can upset your hormone balance. An

entire science has been created to study this called Psycho-Neuro-Immunology.

• Because you are exposed to toxins called “xenohormones”

Toxins are all around us, but where are they? Xenohormones exist and are integral parts

of multiple common items we are exposed to every day. You should be aware of

generally where they are and how they affect you.

• Because your hormones may be “imbalanced”

There have been a number of theories which suggest you live in a state of “estrogen

dominance”. This is relative to the level of progesterone. Both hormones cycle during


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your reproductive years and go down after menopause. How does one even think about

artificially balancing this system?

• Because your ovarian cysts is not ovarian after all

There are other organs in your pelvis that can cause pain including your bladder and

intestines. Or it could be related to other gynecologic organs. For example, appendicitis

can be confused with ovarian pain.

• Because you have an ovarian infection which is causing pain and swelling

When infection occurs and travels up through the vagina, into the uterus and Fallopian

tubes, this can cause pain an ovarian abscess formation. The treatment for this is

antibiotics, but residual swelling can be cyst-like.


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Introduction

First of all, what are ovarian cysts, how did they get there and are they all the same kind?

If you did not ask these three questions, you may be on the wrong path towards getting

rid of the type that you have. If someone tried to treat you without explaining the

differences, you are working with the wrong health practitioner, whether allopath,

naturopath or homeopath.

Don’t worry. You’re not alone in having any of these cysts, but there are DEFINITELY

more than a few different kinds. Literally millions of women have various types of cysts

grow on their ovaries during their lifetime, sometimes once and sometime many times.

The key to successful treatment and prevention is to realize that there is no “one-size-fits-

all” type of “cure”, top secret or otherwise. That would be like saying that the best gas

for your car is also very good for washing the car and putting into your cooling system.

For the best chance of “cure” you have to look for what will work for the type of problem

and specific cyst YOU have!! You probably look for specific answers to specific

problems and questions in all other parts of your life, right? This is no different.

In order to help with the symptoms of cysts, while you are working on eliminating them,

you need to know WHY you are having the symptoms you are having. Otherwise, it’s

like trying to treat frostbite with ice packs because ice packs are good to treat other types

of injury. Doesn’t make sense does it? Ice packs might be good for treating various

types of sprains for example, but that does not mean they are good for everything.


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One more thing, most ovarian cysts can be successfully treated medically and naturally,

but ovarian tumors can’t. Tumors can be benign or malignant, but they NEVER go away

on their own and can threaten your life. This is a crucial distinction that you need to find

the answer to before wasting time or putting off a surgery that you might need. In some

cases, that surgery can save your life. On the other hand, you need to know enough to

avoid a surgery you may not need. You are about to learn about all of this and how to

find out what else you need to know to make the right choice for YOU!

By the way, my strong advice to you is to maintain some healthy skepticism about

anything you read. What is included in this book comes from reliable published

resources that I provide for you at the end of this book. You deserve to know if the

evidence for any given recommendation is GREAT, or so-so, or completely unclear or

unproven. It’s up to you what you do with that information. But you still deserve to

know. The research included in this book includes materials from the USA, Europe,

China, India…..essentially from the whole world, including mainstream and alternative

thoughts from all of these regions of our planet. I pulled out the best from everything I

could find for you.

Remember, this is a primer which is full of things you need to consider and contains

some guiding tips. However, for more in-depth explanations you might want to consider

the full version of the book, available for immediate download at

www.myovariancysts.com.


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Anatomy and Physiology Overview

How Your Organs Look and Work

Before talking about “cures” or treatments of any kind, it’s helpful to review how things

look and work normally. So, the first part of this book briefly reviews anatomy and

physiology of the ovaries, Fallopian (uterine) tubes, and uterus. These are your main

gynecologic reproductive organs and you should know them all well, but we’ll be

focusing on the ovaries, which is where cysts form.

Hormones

Hormones related to your normal reproductive and sexual function are called steroid

hormones and the building blocks start with cholesterol. Yes, you do need some of that

to keep your body functioning properly. Using very complex biochemical reactions,

including innumerable enzymes and co-factors, these hormones interconvert to all the

hormones you need. At any point along this chain of events, something could go wrong,

which affects your body in many ways including cyst formation.

The Female Reproductive Cycle

As you get close to puberty, you begin to release eggs as part of a monthly period, which

is called the female reproductive cycle. It’s also called a monthly menstrual cycle. Once

every 28 days or so, an ovary releases one egg into the Fallopian tube in a process called

ovulation. We will go through all of this here….so you know what is normal and what is

not and why.


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Physiologic or Functional Cysts

Follicular Cysts

Follicular cysts are hands down the most frequent types of cysts that occur in the ovaries.

These cysts can often be found more than one per ovary and measure from a few

millimeters (tiny) to a 15 centimeter (6 inch) cyst.

Figure 5b: 3cm Simple Cyst on Ultrasound (Source: personal archives)

Follicular cysts are not “tumors”, which are actual abnormal cell growths or lumps on the

ovary. You need to know the difference. Before deciding upon what treatment is needed,

it is crucial to understand the difference between different types of cysts and to

understand that some of them are not cysts at all. Some are actually tumors that are

hollow and look like cysts on an ultrasound or other scan. Rarely, some can even be

CANCER, and you do not want to mess around with wrong treatments for that. It’s far


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more effective and safer, to find a natural approach to treatment when you know what

you have!

How do you know if you have a follicular cyst? The best test is a pelvic ultrasound.

However, there are other scans you should also know about.

Why do follicular cysts form? The short answer is, although we can explain what is

going on, we don’t really know why it happens only some of the time. However, we

know enough to give you VERY good ideas about what you can act on starting right

now!

What are the most common symptoms of follicular cysts? In addition to the pain from

fluid or blood leaking out and the abnormal uterine bleeding (abnormal periods), other

symptoms can occur. Some of these are annoying, like a pressure feeling in the pelvis,

and some are basically surgical emergencies, like torsion. That is a twisting of the ovary

on it’s own blood supply. You should know about this and act on it rapidly or you can

lose one of your ovaries if you delay.

How are follicular cysts treated? The truth is that if you wait, almost all ovarian

follicular cysts will just go away. Surgery is not needed in most cases. The trick is how

you can make them go away faster and how to prevent it from happening again.

What happens if the cyst does not go away? While your doctor can take a good

professional educated guess, there is no way to know for sure if the persistent ovarian

cyst is a physiologic cyst or an ovarian tumor. But there are some pretty good signs that

you have a cyst rather than a tumor. You do not want to miss the boat and be treating a


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“tumor” with natural means that will never work. You can even risk your life, or at least

a bigger surgery if you delay. So, it’s VERY important to know what it what.

What about birth control pills? Do they help treat functional follicular cysts? The short

answer is no, they only help prevent future cysts from forming. How does this work?

There is a complex reaction between your body and the synthetic hormones in birth

control pills. They work. They do prevent cysts, just like they prevent pregnancy and

you should know how. There are also shortcomings of synthetic hormones and it’s

important to know those as well so that you can make the best decision for YOUR body.

Corpus Luteum Cysts

Another type of physiologic or functional cyst is known as a Corpus Luteum Cyst, or

CLC for short. These are less frequent than a follicular cyst, but can cause more

problems and emergencies, especially internal bleeding. Why do you need to know the

difference? Because your doctor is likely to throw names around that distinguish

between these cysts and the specific dangers and treatment options. These cysts also

produce different hormones that affect your body and hormone balance. If you don’t

know the difference you can be fooled into thinking something is safe when it is not or

into surgery that you don’t need.

You can get some of these cysts during pregnancy, and they are normal. The question is

how do you know if this is that kind of a cyst or something you need to worry about. It is

all based on what is seen on the ultrasound and symptoms and signs you may be having.


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So, how do you know if you have a CLC? A missed period followed by some spotting,

one sided pelvic pain and a pelvic examination which finds a tender ovarian mass suggest

that a persistent Corpus Luteum or CLC is the culprit. However, it is important to make

sure a pregnancy test is ordered because these same findings may be there because of an

ectopic pregnancy (tubal pregnancy). An ultrasound may not be able to tell these two

apart and the treatment would be completely different. Oh and there is another cyst

called an endometrioma that you need to know about. That is treated in yet another way.

When a Corpus Luteum or CLC ruptures, the amount of bleeding and/or pain may cause

this to be a surgical emergency. That’s unusual but there are medications and herbs you

may be taking that could make it much worse. You should get to know what these are

and what the problems might be.

Unfortunately, one third of women (33%) who have a problem with bleeding from a

Corpus Luteum or a CLC will have it happen again, possibly over and over. Knowing

what you can do to prevent these can save more than one trip to the operating room, or

possibly even your life.

By the way, pelvic pain with or without ovarian cysts being present does not mean the

pain is coming from a gynecologic organ. In other words, there are other things down

there in your pelvis. You could have appendicitis or other bowel problems that you

should know about.

If surgery is necessary because of bleeding, it is often possible to do it through a

laparoscope (bandaid surgery). Usually the ovary does not have to be removed. Only the

cyst is removed and bleeding stopped.


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If the cyst is NOT ruptured, there is no bleeding or torsion, then it is reasonable to avoid

surgery and “wait it out”. Why? Because surgery, no matter how small, causes scars or

adhesions to form. You want to avoid surgery if your doctor thinks it is safe based on all

of the things you just read about.

Theca Lutein Cysts

The least common type of physiologic or functional cysts are called Theca Lutein cysts or

TLC. The key difference is that these are usually multiple, on both ovaries, and occur all

at the same time. Each of these cysts can be 1cm to 10cm in size, so if there are multiple

cysts the ovaries can be massively enlarged; up to 20-30cm on both sides. How does this

happen? The answer is over-stimulation of the ovaries and you should know how this

happens so you can prevent it and/or avoid unnecessary surgery. Sometimes these can

even look like cancer to the untrained eye. Quite a scare, but usually you just need to ask

the right questions and in most cases it is not cancer.


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Endometrioma or Endometriotic Cyst

If you have endometriosis, the chances are very high that it will be growing on your

ovaries, forming cystic masses called endometriomas. Endomteriosis is a benign (not

cancer) condition or disease where cells and tissue of the same type that are normally

found inside the uterus (endometrium) start growing outside the uterus and mostly inside

your pelvis…..in the area that your ovaries and bladder and rectum are located. The

good news is that even though 70% of women with endometriosis have it growing on

their ovaries, only 5% actually develop a significant size endometriotic cyst that actually

causes problems.

How do you know if you have endometriosis and/or endometriomas? The only way to

know for sure is surgery and biopsies. However, ultrasound can be up to 95% accurate in

some cases. There are other scans that might also help and possibly avoid a surgery.

How are endometriomas treated? In most cases, the bigger question is how is

endometriosis treated? The answers is complex, depends on your fertility wishes and

requires a highly individualized patient-doctor discussion. The primary treatment

strategies for endometriosis and endometriomas are similar world-wide, stretching out as

far as China, but in China additional natural treatments are also options.


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PolyCystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

The term “PCOS” or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is perhaps one of the most abused

terms involving ovarian cysts on the internet. It does not simply mean that you have

multiple cysts on your ovaries. In fact, you may or may not have any significant size

cysts on your ovaries and no ovarian symptoms at all with this syndrome. Looking at the

cysts as the primary problem in PCOS is kind of like looking at the wrong end of a horse.

You could get kicked and hurt badly by ignoring the main problems.

Although having cysts on the ovary does NOT mean you have PCOS, the bad news is

that PCOS does affect up to 10% of all reproductive age women. You should know the

very detailed reasons you might have this so that you can prevent it and the cysts that

come with it. Physiologic or functional cyst formation, without the other findings of

PCOS, may depend at least partly on similar hormonal mechanisms. In other words,

there may be some overlap in how these cysts form and some PCOS related remedies

may work for you, even if you don’t have a diagnosis of PCOS.

Women who have PCOS often have other health related issues including obesity (over

50% of PCOS patients are overweight), insulin resistance/diabetes, abnormal lipid levels

in the blood stream, cardiovascular disease and endometrial (uterine) cancer. It used to

be thought that these were just coincidental, but they are actually highly related issues.

I don’t want to simplify this complex disorder too much. Mainly you should understand

that PCOS exists and the reasons for why it is more complex than just formation of


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physiologic cysts. There are both mainstream and natural options you can explore in

treating and preventing PCOS.


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Presumed Physiologic Cyst Treatment

I say “presumed” because PART 1 of a safe plan is to determine whether or not you

actually have a physiologic cyst. Fortunately, compared to physiologic cysts, a cancer or

even a benign tumor that looks like a simple cyst is far less common. Also, we are

talking about the management of the cysts themselves here. Additional health problems,

like the ones in PCOS, discussed in detail in the full version of this book, are in addition

to the step-by-step points of safe physiologic cyst treatment.

You should know whose hands you will be safest in depending upon the ultrasound

findings, your symptoms and physical examination. Some doctors are least likely to

operate on you when it is not required. Do you know who they are? Knowing who to

turn to while safely avoiding surgery is a prudent plan.


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Fallopian Tube “Cysts” and Para-Ovarian Cysts

Paraovarian cysts are cysts which come from tissues near and around the ovaries, like the

peritoneum or internal skin lining that we have which covers our internal organs. They

are usually very small and usually do not cause problems. Even though they are not

“tumors”, they tend to stay and slowly grow over years. You should know these exist

and what they are, so you can ask the right questions and avoid surgery you may not

need.


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 Tumors of the Ovary

Dermoid Cysts

A dermoid cyst is a benign cystic tumor also known as a benign cystic teratoma or

mature teratoma. Teratoma literally means “monsterous growth”, and is called that

because it may contain all sorts of tissues like glands, hair, bone, skin and hair.

Figure 7: Dermoid Cyst (Source: Wikimedia, Ed Uthman MD, public domain)

Dermoids are very common during the reproductive years, but can occur from infancy

and into the menopausal years. In fact, about 1/3 of all benign (non cancer) tumors of

the ovary found during the reproductive years are dermoid cysts. You should know what

these are, how they are different from physiologic cysts, what the best treatment is and if

they come back after the “wrong” treatment. Unfortunately, these will NOT go away


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with natural therapies, and you can get yourself in trouble waiting these out. On the other

hand, this does not mean you have to be rushed off to surgery. There is a golden middle

to the right decision and depends on a lot of factors you really should know about.


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Talking With Your Doctor(s)

Your doctor will be going through a process of what is called “differential diagnosis” in

their head, using what they know, what they researched for your specific case and all the

specific findings and symptoms you have, including examination and scans. This means,

they try to put it all together and decide what it is most likely to be in their professional

opinion. You should know enough to ask the right questions and, in this manner,

effectively co-doctor to your safest options and best health. Know what to ask by

knowing more about what might be going on with you.

If you are under the care of someone who wants to operate on you, who is not explaining

why you need surgery in a way that you can understand, there is only one thing to

do….RUN! Of course in an emergency, things get a little hectic and you should strongly

consider following the advice of a licensed physician who may be telling you that you are

in trouble, but you or your family should still have some idea of what is going on.

Likewise, if you are being asked to “wait it out”, ask what the risks are in YOUR

particular situation. Be proactive. It’s your body we’re talking about here. You owe it to

yourself to understand what is going on using the basics in this book, incorporating the

information about your situation which you should be getting from your doctor.


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Prevention

There are a number of ways to prevent physiologic or functional ovarian cysts from

forming, or at least reducing the chances that they will. The mainstream Western

medicine way to do this is by using “the pill” or oral contraceptives. There are quite a

few types out there and almost all are considered “low dose”. What is safe and what are

the possible side effects? You should know the difference to help you decide between

this and natural prevention options. Unfortunately, there are no bio-identical or “natural”

oral contraceptive pills to even consider, but there are still many other things you can do.


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Alternative and Complementary Options

First, let’s get a few definitions straight. You should know the difference between

“alternative” and “complementary”. Also, a word about “evidence” and “proof”. Please

remember that “hope” is not a good strategy to get anything done. You probably want

some idea of what the chances are that something will actually work rather than simply

hoping that it will because someone said so. Miracles abound, but they usually occur less

frequently than someone winning the lottery. So, that might happen to you, but while

deciding what you want to do you might want to know how you decide if you are going

to trust someone or not. Not everything that is written is true. Don’t get hurt. Don’t get

ripped off, but know how to seek the best options for you, mainstream and natural!!


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Natural Prevention Strategies

Are there alternatives to birth control pills for physiologic cyst formation? Yes, there are.

We have looked into what might be the best shot you have at deciding where to start.

This next point is VERY important. In making your decisions you might also want to

pay attention to whether or not there is some kind of evidence or proof that you won’t be

harmed by what you’re taking. Having said that, there are plenty of cultures around the

world where there are no synthetic hormone oral contraceptives and women have been

using natural techniques for years.

Nutrition and Diet

Treating and preventing ovarian cysts using healthy diets and exercise to lose weight are

mainly intended for those women with PCOS. You have seen how there are different

cysts and they form due to different reasons under different influences. But as noted

before, there may be some biochemical overlap between the condition of PCOS and

physiologic cyst formation with no other findings or symptoms. Because of this, a good

nutrition and supplement strategy will not hurt and may very well help anyone forming

physiologic cysts, PCOS or not. You should take some time in getting a nutrition plan

together than works for this and works for you. A diet you can’t hold to, won’t do you

any good. Also, some supplements can help, some can be a waste of time and some can

harm you. Learn which is which and why.


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Herbal Remedies

Herbs that have been recommended for cyst prevention, with little or no published proof

are: black cohosh, St.John’s wort, burdock, dandelion, mullein, red raspberry, nettles,

yarrow, vitex and Siberian ginseng. Chinese herbs include astragalus, ginger, dong quai,

cinnamon, rehmannia root, and scrophularia root. It is unclear what science would be

used to come up with a tailored combination and which would work the best, but these

are the ones recommended the most. It is important to know how some of these might

help, but it is also critical to know which side effects to watch out for.

Learn which Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal combinations from the Quing

Dynasty you might want to consider. There is more and more evidence of effectiveness

being published in modern TCM journals.

Estrogen Dominance and Bio-Identical Hormones

Ok, so what’s the scoop on “natural” progesterone which is used by many women to

“balance” their hormones? This is based on a theory of “estrogen dominance” made

popular by the late Dr.Lee, which suggested that there is too much estrogen at any point

in a woman’s life and that the real problem was a relative deficiency in progesterone.

What we know now is that women have normal progesterone levels during the

reproductive years. However, due to environmental and lifestyle factors, there may

indeed be relatively too much estrogen to keep a healthy balance. When the balance

falters, among other things, ovarian cysts form. But is there a way to truly “balance”

your hormones artificially? Yes, there might be several ways, by using bio-identical

hormones on one side and avoiding harmful xenohormones on the other. One might


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work better than the other but you should know why all of this is even an issue. It might

just be THE answer for you!

Natural Symptom Control

Compresses and Aromatherapy

Warm compresses are one thing and cold are another. Which one works and why?

HINT: Stick with the warm and some essential oils. There’s a very good reason for this.

Exercise

In order to optimize your body’s hormonal balance, especially if you need to knock off

more than a few pounds, a structured exercise program is one of the best things you can

do. In addition, yoga and tai chi specifically focus on stress reduction and improved

circulation. You simply can’t go wrong here and is tied in to the mind-body concept of

psychoneuroimmunology.

Do you know about a simple amino acid which, when used after exercise, can extend

your body’s natural endorphin pain relief for hours or more?


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Acupressure and Acupuncture

There are very specific trigger points along your body’s meridians which can help reduce

pelvic pain and PMS. For example, you might want to know where the Sea of Energy

point is located.

Psycho-Neuro-Immunology

We know that stress influences a lot of body functions and normal reproductive cycling is

one of them. This is not just a loose psychological association but rather there are very

specific scientific explanations for this, involving hormone balance. This all led to the

birth of “psychoneuroimmunology” (PNI) as a science. Of course mind-body has been

around for eons, but we are looking at bridging East-West these days for a more holistic

solution. This is a pretty hot ticket, but you have to focus.

Well, I could go on and on, and I do in the full version of this book. But you should be

getting the idea by now. There are many different types of cysts, not just one. This

opens the door to many different options, but some of them overlap. In the full version I

give you over 50 references which support what is described in the book.

Hope this helps give you an idea of where to start in eliminating and preventing your

ovarian cysts.


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Best wishes to you,

Dr. Vasilev

www.myovariancysts.com


www.cureology.com



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