A cyst is a formation that is non-cancerous and therefore does not pose a real threat to the health of a person. Of course, this is not valid in all cases of cysts in the body and some of these can cause enough discomfort that means it has to be surgically excised. Ovarian cysts are something that every single, fertile woman is prone to. This is because of the basic mechanism of egg development in the ovaries and the fact that even a moderate hormonal disturbance can trigger a cyst occurring. Follicular cysts are quite normal and though they develop, they get ejected from the body just as easily with a menstrual period. The more problematic cysts are endometriod cysts or chocolate cysts. These need surgery, or if found early enough, can be treated with progesterone treatments and ejected. The other type of cysts arises due to many cysts in diseases like PCOD.
All cysts will cause a minor disruption of the menstrual cycle with symptoms much like those that you are experiencing right now. The ideal course of action now is to go for an ultrasound or trans-vaginal scan to locate and correctly diagnose the cyst. Since this is your first delay, your prognosis is for a positive recovery in most likelihood. All you will have to do is to take some progesterone based treatments according to the exact schedule prescribed by the doctor. You should be lucky enough to eject the cyst in the first two menstrual periods and be completely fine again. The golden rule that you should always remember is that if you are not pregnant and your cycle is delayed, immediately get a trans-vaginal scan done and show the results to a doctor. Once a cyst occurs, it can occur again and requires constant monitoring till menopause.
answered by G M