Recurring Ovarian Cysts: Understanding Causes & Options

Question
Hi I am a 28 year old looking for answers ive been to drs throughout the years and no one seems to have any clue.  My story is as: when i was 17 I found that i had a cyst on my ovary the size of a grapefruit, the dr. said the only option i had was to take out the entire ovary along with the cyst...over the years i have continued to have problems with rupturingcysts on the remaining ovary...then in feb. of this year we found another cyst the size of a foot ball (i think the dr. said 15mm) with multiple septations, they removed that one no cancer thank god and now 6 months later i am again in pain going to a different dr b/c mine moved to fla. and now i have another cyst 2mm i think im going for laproscopy again but i still never seem to get answers as to how to prevent them or what causes them to not dissolve on their own.  I know that if i go on birth control it will stop the ovulation process so i wont have the cysts at all, but right now i am scared and sick of no answers ... i have not had my period since july 12 and only have half and ovary do you think that my the cyst is destroying my ovary i dont knowhow any of this works i have been trying to get answers and noone seems to know anything to get down to it they only want to feed me meds and not get to the heart of it have you ever heard of recuring ovarian cysts or what causes them to not dissolve like they should or make them grow so big?

Answer
Ovarian cysts recur many times, normally. When you get a cyst, it usually "pops" two weeks later and you never are aware that you had one. However, sometimes a cyst can fail to pop and continues to grow. Usually we do not remove the cyst unless it is greater than 6cm in diameter, because if allowed to grow more, it can cause "torsion of the ovary" which can lead to blood clots and lots of pain. If the cyst is less than 5cm, we usually leave it alone (even if you have pain) and give you analgesics. I don't understand why your doctor told you that the only option was to take out the entire ovary along with the cyst. Most of the time, if the cyst is large, we can takeout only the  cyst. Only if the cyst is so attached to the ovary that it can't be removed without injuring the ovary do we take it out. There is no way to tell this prior to surgery. Therefore, we usually plan only to take out the cyst. Your period can be induced for you using Provera 10mg twice a day for 5 days. The cysts that you are describing do not appear to be very large.