What is the meaning of ovarian cysts?

According to Christiane Northrup, M.D., our thoughts and feelings are linked to our bodies through our endocrine, nervous and immune systems. Even unidentified emotions affect us and have physical effects. Unexpressed emotions are dis-eases in incubation.

Our bodies are wise. If we overlook our needs, they nag at us gently, at first. If we disregard the message, stronger communication is needed.

A condition, such as an ovarian cyst, is a communication, a special language, through which our bodies speak. These identifiable conditions tell us we need to heal from a deeper, often unconscious wounding that tells us we are never enough, that we are somehow tainted.

Dr. Northrup says that ovarian cysts and ovarian cancer are related to our creative power in the world. Ovaries are our seat of power, creation and creativity. When we are addicted to external authority or approval, an energy dysfunction can occur.

This dis-ease blocks us from moving forward. This can happen secondary to financial, physical, or emotional abandonment.

When our ovaries need to get our attention, they can change very quickly. A large ovarian cyst can grow in a matter of days when we feel controlled or criticized by others or when we control and criticize others.

Energy blockages that create ovarian cysts can also result from stress, which might not negative. It could be that a woman has a job she loves but is consumed by, leading to neglect of the need to rest. A cyst can result.

According to Dr. Northrup, left-sided ovarian cysts are symbolic of the wounded feminine.

Self-Care and Prevention Treatment for Ovarian Cysts includes:

• Acupressure
• Affirmations
• Crying/Grieving
• Diet
• Exercise
• Herbs
• Health Care Practitioner Choice
• Holistic Approaches to Investigate
• Reflexology
• Stress/Lack of Rest

 Acupressure (Gentle)

• Hold left hand on top of the cyst area and right hand on top of that for at least 5 minutes; more if possible
• Use the hand on the same side as the cyst and Hold the little finger with the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th fingers of the other hand; exert just the right pressure to balance the flow between the fingers and hold for up to 5 minutes
• Hold the ring finger over thumb or vice versa while watching TV or riding in a car

Affirmations

Louise Hay says that cysts are due to running an old painful movie, nursing hurts (rather than grieving and releasing them), and a false growth.

The affirmation she suggests for this condition is:

The movies of my mind are beautiful because I choose to make them so. I love me.

The ovaries are the points of creation and creativity.

The affirmation suggested for this is:

I am balanced in my creative flow.

Say or write these affirmations at least 20 times each day. Write them on 3X5 cards and place them wherever you’ll read them many times---mirrors, refrigerator door, dashboard, calendar, etc.

Crying/Grieving

Dr. Northrup says that surgically removing an ovarian cyst does not necessarily heal the energy blockage that created the problem. Make your surgery part of the healing process by staying with your feelings and accepting them, then releasing them to the universe to become pure positive energy.

Anger, disappointment, conflict and other feelings require an outlet. Allow yourself to cry about situations that have angered, disappointed or conflicted you. This can be immensely healing. Give yourself permission to grieve and let go. If you feel no one has ever loved you for the person you are, cry about that and release the feeling. Spend some quiet time thinking about the blockage in your ovary. Cry about whatever has created this block in your ovary function. Grieve the removal of your cyst and replace the area where the cyst was in your mind and visualizations with perfectly healthy tissue.

Diet

A vegetarian regime with no dairy food is recommended by Dr. Northrup.

Susun Weed recommends:

• herb vinegars,
• reducing intake of animal fats,
• using cinnamon on everything and chewing on a cinnamon stick to invigorate the blood and help regulate the menstrual cycle.
• increasing food sources of iron to help rebuild after blood loss: the best source is dandelion leaves. Get some seeds and grow them for salad in a pot inside or outside your door. They survive extremes of heat, cold, and lack of watering. Note: coffee, black tea, soy protein, egg yolks, bran and calcium supplements over 250 mg impair iron absorption; eat your dandelion salads with orange juice or milk to enhance iron absorption.

A recent study from the Institute of Research Pharmacology in Italy analyzed the diet over a ten-year span of 225 women with benign ovarian cysts and 450 women who did not have ovarian cysts. Women who consumed the most beef and cheese developed the most ovarian cysts. In contrast, consumption of green vegetables provided a strong protective effect. This study makes it clear that what you eat will influence whether or not you develop ovarian cysts.

Avoid the following because they interfere with immune system functioning:

• Bleached flour products
• Alcohol in any form
• Aspartame sweetener
• Glutamic acid found in MSG and other food enhancers
• High fat intake (fried foods, meat, chicken and turkey skin, cheese, whole milk)
• Junk Foods made from non-nutritious white flour and white sugar
• Caffeine
• Sodium nitrate (found in frankfurters, baloney and many other cured meats
• High protein intake, especially from meat

Dr. Vaillancourt suggests: Eat primarily fresh organic fruits and vegetables to cleanse the body. Omit meats, fish, fowl and all dairy products.

Exercise

Sexual stimulation and release (orgasm), alone or partnered is recommended by Susun Weed. Pelvic-floor exercises (Kegels) are a close second. Tighten, hold and release the muscles that stop urination. Do this daily up to 100 times a day while sitting in traffic, cooking, reading, watching TV or while in bed. This tones the entire female pelvic area.

Gentle exercise such as walking or Tai Chi may be best. Large cysts have been known to rupture with strenuous activity.

Herbs

Susun Weed, the herbal expert, recommends

1 or more cups a day of raspberry leaf infusion/tea

Tincture of liferoot blossoms, 5 drops daily, to tonify the ovaries, uterus, adrenals, liver and pituitary

Dr. Vaillancourt suggests a castor oil pack to rid the body of hardened mucus in the body which may appear as cyst, tumors or polyps. Castor oil packs can also help heal the area after surgery. The castor oil goes right through the skin, healing, lubricating, and drawing out toxins.

Procedure:

• Take a piece of wool or cotton flannel or a baby’s cotton diaper, and fold it into four layers thick, keeping the overall size big enough for the area to be treated.
• Place the folded cloth in a glass dish and pour castor oil over it until it is well saturated (can be used for up to 6 weeks)
• Wring out the saturated cloth so it is wet but not dripping
• Place the cloth over the ovary area and cover with a larger piece of plastic and then a small towel
• Cover with a hot water bottle and then a heavy towel to keep the heat in for 1-1 ½ hours
• Repeat for 4 days, then for three days rest, then repeat the process, continuing until good results are achieved.
• To clean the oil off the body, use a solution of two teaspoonfuls of baking soda to one quart of warm water
• Do not spill any on clothes, bedding or rugs; use baking soda/water to clean if you do spill

Another method to shrink even large ovarian cysts and fibroid tumors and other growths, heal vaginitis, and other vaginal uterine infections is:

·    At bedtime, mix two teaspoonfuls of Ichthammol black salve (drug store) with two teaspoons of vegetable glycerine (health food store), and make a paste

·    Tie a nylon string tightly around the middle of a cotton gauze pad leaving about a ten inch piece of string hanging; make sure the knots are good and tight

·    Saturate the gauze with the paste and insert it into the vagina up to the cervix, leaving the string hanging outside to enable retrieval the next morning

·    Wear a sanitary napkin at night to prevent leakage

·   Optional: douche after removing the gauze with one teaspoonful each of powdered Goldenseal and Myrrh (4 capsules = a teaspoon) into a quart of boiling water, cover and steep for 15 minutes

·    Strain and add one teaspoonful of apple cider vinegar

·    When cool enough use the douche

·    Do this for 5 nights a week

Health Care Practitioner Choice

Listen to your inner guidance and choose a health care practitioner who values and respects you and your inner wisdom. If birth control pills are suggested, be sure to ask about the dangerous side effects from synthetic hormones and/or look them up online at www.pdr.com

 Holistic Approaches to Investigate

Other holistic approaches that have helped some women include visualizing the ovary healthy and the cyst dissolving, and acupuncture.

Reflexology

The reflex for ovaries and fallopian tubes is on the outside of each foot, just under the ankle bone. Massage both feet with equal stimulation so congestion does not move from a congested ovary to a healthy one.

Lift your leg up on your lap or reach down and massage with the thumb, pressing just below and ankle and above the heel bone. If you need to, use your fingers under the ankle. Use a very gentle, rolling motion and massage the whole area under the ankle, concentrating on extremely tender spots. Massage on the inside and outside of the feet for only one or two seconds per spot to start. Build up to longer periods of time after massaging for only several seconds for the first few times. You do not want to overload your body when you start out. Use whichever hand works best for you.

Stress, Especially Work-Related, and Lack of Rest

Work may be loved, but when the need for rest is neglected, a cyst may result, according to Dr. Northrup. Ovarian cysts are often symbolic of the wounded feminine. When women try to imitate male ways of being in the world that don’t always fit with their inner needs, cysts may develop.

Sources/Resources:

For supplements and herb information, click on www.carolynchambersclark.com/id125.html

Mildred Carter. Helping Yourself with Foot Reflexology

Chiaffarino F et al. Diet and risk of seromucinous benign ovarian cysts, Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2003 Oct 10;110(2):196-200.

Betsy Ruth Dayton. High Touch Jin Shin Workbook I. http://www.hightouchnet.com.

Louise Hay. Heal Your Body, The Mental Causes for the Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way to Overcome Them.

Christiane Northrup. Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing.

Ronald J. Vaillancourt, MH, PhD. Simple Earth Solutions: Powerful Paths to Health and Healing Through Natural Remedies.

Susun S. Weed. Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way: Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90.