The mind goes to two places immediately, and both of them are worse than the usual answer. The usual answer is plumbing — a duct the width of a thread, blocked.
You find a lump near the opening of the vagina that was not there last week. The mind goes to two places immediately, and both of them are worse than the usual answer.
The usual answer is a blocked gland.
Where it is and what it does
There are two Bartholin glands, one on each side of the vaginal opening, roughly where four o'clock and eight o'clock would be on a clock face. They are small, they sit just under the skin, and their job is to release a small amount of fluid for lubrication. Each one drains through a duct about the width of a thread.
When that duct blocks, fluid backs up behind it and forms a cyst. That is the entire mechanism. It is plumbing, not infection and not anything you did.
Cyst or abscess, and why the difference decides everything
These two words get used interchangeably and they should not be, because one of them usually needs nothing and the other usually needs a procedure.
A cyst is the blockage on its own. It is a soft swelling on one side, often the size of a pea or a grape. It may be mildly uncomfortable when sitting or during sex, and frequently it causes nothing at all. Plenty are found by accident and some are never noticed.
An abscess is what happens when that trapped fluid becomes infected. The change is not subtle. It becomes hot, red, visibly swollen, and tender out of all proportion to its size — painful enough that sitting down, walking, or wearing jeans becomes the problem that organises your day. It can develop over as little as a day or two.
The practical rule: a lump that is uncomfortable is a different situation from a lump that is agonising. The second one needs to be seen now, not next week.
It is not a sexually transmitted infection
This is the fear that brings most people in, so it deserves a direct answer. A Bartholin cyst is a blocked duct and is not transmitted by anyone. You cannot give it to a partner and a partner did not give it to you.
The reason the question is not entirely misplaced: when an abscess forms, the bacteria involved are usually ordinary skin and bowel organisms, but gonorrhoea and chlamydia are occasionally among them. So a clinic may take a swab when draining one. That is checking what is in this abscess, not an accusation about how it started — worth knowing in advance, because having a swab taken in that moment can feel like an implication when it is simply thorough.
It is also not caused by poor hygiene, and washing more will not resolve it. Harsh soaps and intimate washes make the surrounding skin worse, which is a separate problem covered in our guide to vulvar itching and skin conditions.
What not to do
Do not squeeze it, and do not try to drain it yourself. This is the single most common piece of self-treatment and it reliably makes things worse. The gland sits in soft tissue with a rich blood supply; pressing bacteria deeper into it is how a contained abscess becomes a spreading infection of the surrounding tissue. A needle from a pharmacy is not sterile in any sense that matters here.
Do not expect a pharmacy to solve it. This one is specific to living in Korea and catches people out. Antibiotics are prescription-only here — you cannot walk into a pharmacy and buy a course the way you might elsewhere. A pharmacist can give you painkillers, which will take the edge off and will not touch the cause. If you have been managing this for several days with painkillers from a pharmacy, that is not a treatment plan, and the delay is the only thing it is achieving.
What actually helps
For a small, painless cyst: often nothing. If it is not bothering you and it is not growing, leaving it alone is a legitimate plan.
For one that is mildly uncomfortable: warm water. A shallow warm bath several times a day, ten to fifteen minutes, or a warm compress held against it. Heat encourages a blocked duct to open on its own, and a fair number resolve this way within a few days. This is the one piece of self-care that is worth doing properly rather than occasionally.
For an abscess: it needs to be drained, and this is not a situation where waiting rewards you. A small incision releases the pus and the relief is usually immediate and dramatic. Antibiotics alone are not the answer for a collection that has already formed — they may be given alongside drainage, but they do not substitute for it.
Because a simple incision lets the cut close over and the duct block again, drainage is often done in a way that keeps a channel open while it heals — a small catheter left in place for a few weeks, for instance. For cysts that keep returning, a procedure that stitches the cyst wall open permanently is the usual next step. Which approach fits depends on the size, how inflamed it is, and whether this is the first time, and it is a conversation for the consultation rather than something to decide from reading.
When to be seen urgently
- Fever alongside the swelling
- Redness spreading outwards into the surrounding skin
- Pain severe enough that you cannot sit or walk
- A swelling that is growing quickly over hours
Our guide to after-hours care covers getting seen outside clinic hours.
One exception worth stating plainly
Almost every Bartholin lump is a blocked gland. There is one circumstance in which it should not be assumed to be, and it is the kind of thing a guide ought to say directly rather than leave out for being uncomfortable.
A new lump in this area after around the age of 40, or one that is hard rather than soft, or one that does not settle with the usual treatment, should be examined rather than treated as a cyst on the strength of its location. The great majority of these still turn out to be ordinary. The point is that it is a question answered by examination, and occasionally a biopsy, rather than by assumption — and the assumption is the only part that is risky.
Does it come back
Sometimes. A proportion of people have one and never another; a proportion get recurrences. Having had one does not mean anything is wrong with you, and the recurrence rate is one of the reasons the permanent-opening procedures exist.
What does not reduce recurrence: washing more, special soaps, or dietary changes. If something is being sold to you on that basis, it is being sold on a misunderstanding of the mechanism.
What it costs here
Examination and drainage fall under the ordinary NHIS structure for covered treatment, with the patient share applying. A procedure done in the clinic is billed differently from one needing an operating theatre, which is the main thing that moves the number.
Bring your ARC and NHIS card. As with other gynaecological care in Korea, you can book directly without a referral. Our cost and insurance guide covers how coverage works for residents more generally.
Saying it in Korean
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 질 입구 여기에 혁이 만져졌어요 | There is a lump here at the vaginal opening |
| 한족만 부었어요 | It is swollen on one side |
| 만지면 많이 아프고 뜨겁게 느껴져요 | It is very painful to touch and feels hot |
| 앵아서 있기 힘들어요 | It is hard to sit down |
| 언제부터 이런지 여쭤보세요 | Ask me how long it has been like this |
More in our medical Korean guide.
Being seen in English
This is a short consultation and a quick examination, and the awkwardness of describing where the lump is and how bad the pain is in a second language is out of proportion to how simple the problem usually turns out to be. It is also a condition where people wait — out of embarrassment, or because they assume it is an infection they caught — and waiting is what turns a manageable swelling into one that needs draining.
At Yoonho the consultation and any procedure are handled in English. See our clinics, read our guide to seeing a gynecologist in Korea, or message us on WhatsApp or KakaoTalk.
Related guides
- Vulvar itching and skin conditions
- Seeing a gynecologist in Korea
- STI testing in Korea
- After-hours gynaecological care
Common questions
Is a Bartholin cyst a sexually transmitted infection?
No. It is a blocked duct in a gland beside the vaginal opening — not transmitted by anyone, not given to a partner. A clinic may still take a swab when draining an abscess, because gonorrhoea and chlamydia are occasionally among the bacteria involved, but that is checking the contents of this abscess rather than an implication about how it started.
Can I squeeze or drain it myself?
No, and this is the most common self-treatment that makes things worse. The gland sits in soft tissue with a rich blood supply, and pressing bacteria deeper is how a contained abscess becomes a spreading infection of the surrounding tissue. Warm baths are the self-care that helps; pressure is not.
Can I get antibiotics from a pharmacy in Korea?
No — antibiotics are prescription-only here, which surprises people used to buying them over the counter elsewhere. A pharmacist can give you painkillers, which ease the pain without touching the cause. Managing an abscess for days on pharmacy painkillers achieves nothing but delay, and an abscess that has already formed needs draining rather than antibiotics anyway.
Will it come back?
Sometimes. Some people have one and never another; some get recurrences, which is why procedures that keep the duct permanently open exist. Nothing about recurrence indicates something is wrong with you, and washing more, special soaps or dietary changes do not reduce it.
Is a new lump there different after 40?
It is approached differently, yes. A new lump in that area after around 40, or one that is hard rather than soft, or one that does not settle with usual treatment, should be examined rather than assumed to be a cyst from its location alone. The great majority still turn out to be ordinary — the point is that examination, and occasionally a biopsy, answers it instead of assumption.
Ask about General Gynecology
Our English-speaking team in Seoul can talk through your situation and what a visit would involve. No referral needed.
Medical references
- NHS. Bartholin's cyst
This guide is general information for foreign residents in Korea, not medical advice. Coverage, costs, and treatment depend on your individual case — please confirm details with the clinic and your insurer.