A woman's reproductive system includes two ovaries. Among other things, the ovaries are in charge of creating two hormones, estrogen and progesterone. These two hormones are necessary to the normal reproductive functions and fertility of a woman's body. However, sometimes the ovaries can develop problems. Those problems can include cysts. 

Ovarian Cysts

A cyst is a sac that is filled with something, usually some kind of fluid. In the case of an ovarian cyst, the cyst is located on the outside of the ovary. Most ovarian cysts are non-cancerous. There are several kinds of ovarian cysts. They include hemorrhagic cysts, which are filled with blood, follicular cysts, that are caused when an egg isn't released properly, and dermoid cysts, which contain things that belong on other areas of the body, like skin or hair. 

Causes of Ovarian Cysts

There are several causes of ovarian cysts. One of them is obesity. The excess weight can cause a woman to have polycystic ovaries, which means that they have ovaries which have some kind of cyst on a regular basis. Another cause can be age. As a woman ages, her reproductive system starts to change. Peri-menopause can cause a woman's ovaries to start to develop cysts. Part of that is because the body can start to produce more or less hormones. 

Treatments of Ovarian Cysts

There are several treatment options for ovarian cysts. One of them is to remove one or both ovaries. This usually happens as part of a hysterectomy. A woman who has had both of her ovaries removed needs to have hormone therapy afterwards. The hormone therapy will be made up of the hormones that a woman's body would produce if she still had two functioning ovaries. Since removing both ovaries causes a woman to immediately start menopause, the hormone replacement therapy can treat some of the symptoms of the surgical menopause that a woman may be experiencing, like vaginal dryness and mood swings. It may not be necessary for a woman to continue hormone replacement therapy on a permanent basis, but only for a period of a year or two, until the worst of the symptoms that she is experiencing start to even out or go away.

Ovarian cysts can be a painful thing for any woman to go through. It's important to get them diagnosed and treated because they can be a sign of other problems in a woman's body. 

To learn more about hormone replacement therapy, contact a clinic like Central Iowa OB/Gyn Specialists, PLC.