I am a girl who will be 13 years old next month, so I was born in 2001… It turned out that I had a cyst and on May 1st she was removed… it was an 8 cm cyst! and she had also popped open just before the operation. But is that normal at my age? Kind regards, Femke
Answer
Dear Femke,
A cyst on the ovaries (I suspect that from your question) can indeed occur at a young age.
The first times that your ovaries are stimulated by hormones from your brain to produce eggs, you may stimulate an egg cell, but no ovulation occurs. Such a cycle without ovulation is quite normal for the first few years after your first period. Those egg cells create a cyst that continues to grow slowly, because your brain continues to stimulate until ovulation occurs. Given that this does not occur, such a cyst can sometimes become very large. This can be very painful, give pressure in your lower abdomen and sometimes even cut off because it rotates around its axis. This is called a torsion and can happen with cysts usually between 5 and 10 cm. This can sometimes be a reason to puncture the cyst.
After a few years, your monthly cycles will be better regulated and an egg will be released each time, so you will form no or certainly fewer cysts.
It’s nothing to worry about.
Kind regards,
Answered by
dr. Jasper Verguts
Gynecology Obstetrics
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
.