Woman who are in their childbearing years are commonly prone to having ovarian cysts. The symptoms of ovarian cysts can go undetected because many woman are not aware of what is going on with their bodies and often times the symptoms of an ovarian cyst will mimic other conditions.
Endometriosis and an ectopic pregnancy are a just a few of the conditions that will cause an ovarian cyst to be misdiagnosed. Pelvic inflammatory disease as well as appendicitis and diverticulitis are other unlined conditions that are often mistaken for the condition when it is actual an ovarian cyst.
Because the symptoms can be misdiagnosed it is good to recognize what they might look like. To name a few, ovarian cyst symptoms can come in the form of irregular menstruation, pelvic pain in the lower back before and after the menstruation, pelvic pain during intercourse, nausea, vomiting as might be experienced during pregnancy.
Ovarian cysts symptoms are general found during the normal pelvic exam due to them being without many symptoms. It is during this exam that the doctor will feel the ovaries and usually feel a lump or swelling on them that will alert them to the possibilities that there may be a cyst formed or forming.
Once this is detected the doctor will usually order one or more tests to be performed that will help to determine first if it is actually a cyst, if so the size of the cyst, its shape and where it is located. This can mostly be determine by performing a ultrasound that will project the body's images from sound waves.
The doctor may also order a hormone level test to rule out possible of the growth being hormone related. The doctor may also order a pregnancy test to rule out the possibilities of the the female being pregnant which can cause some swelling on the ovaries.
Depending on some of the preliminary tests the physician may also order a blood test that can measure whether the identified cyst is cancerous or not. The blood test performed will help to measure cancerous antigen levels that will be present in the body if the cyst is cancerous. If the cyst is not cancerous then the blood test levels will indicate this by producing lower numbers showing that the cyst have noncancerous cells.
Cancerous antigen can also go undetermined because other illness may cause a false negative or positive. If endometriosis is a present illness, this may produce a false reading for the antigen levels that may or may not actually be present in the body. This may bring about the need for more tests to be performed in order to get more exact results.
Find Out About Complex Ovarian Cysts And What You Need To Know About Complex Ovarian Cysts