I only became aware of the Bartholin's cyst two years ago when I developed one. It was quite uncomfortable to say the least. My gyn had me use a warm heating pad on the area of the cyst for about 45 minutes several times through the day and night. This enabled the gland to open and then it drained out by itself. I also had to use some kind of iodine (forgot the name) mixed with water (one part iodine to 3 parts water) as a sitz bath, i.e. I put the mixture into a spray bottle and sprayed into onto the open gland. This apparently kills any bacteria and prevents infection of the gland. Once the gland drained completely, it closed up. My gyn warned me that this might come back from time to time and to just check myself. As a precaution, I still apply the heating pad every now and again to just make sure that if there is anything building up, the warmth/heat might break it down. So far, I have been fortunate. The doctor explained that if the cyst does not open and drain by itself, the alternative is for him to go in and drain it and the other alternative would be removal of the cyst which gets pretty messy.

I hope this helps and hoping you recover soon.