Ganglion cyst on wrist - painful!!
If you don't know what a ganglion is here is the about.com page on them:
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/handwristsurg ery/a/wristganglion.htm
It occasionally would hurt a tad but it would go away in short time. It never impeded my life. Until about 3 weeks ago when it got a bit larger and now is so painful. It is hard as a bone.
Sometimes I am unable to even hold a can of soda or pick up my coffee mug with my left hand. I am popping ibuprofen to deal with it when the pain flares. The lump itself is still small but the pain radiates into my ring finger on occasion which is unpleasant. However, it is by no means totally terrible, in the grand scheme of pain it's fairly minor.
However, my friend recently had hers surgically removed, I am going to call her about it. She had it for the same length as I did. I think I need to see an orthopedist but I am afraid they will laugh at me (when it first appeared 12 years ago I saw one and he brushed it off as if "no biggie").
Does anyone have one and if so, have you had it removed? Do you live with it? Thoughts, suggestions, advice?
you can get it injected with steroids first before going to get it cut out. and just because they do cut it out doesnt mean it wont come back same as with the injection.
take supps for joint health and stop taking that ib stuff. take arnica montana 30 cc. it works better
for now they are going to tell you to splint it and take pain meds before cutting it out.
my s.o. did just those two things and his went away.
mine took a few master cleanses and supps. i still have it a bit but it was a cluster of occult cysts that i worked until my hand couldnt even hold a paper.
bad move on my part but i had to pay the bills.
ehh.. good luck. its annoying to deal with to say the least.
I've had one on the top of my left wrist since I was 13 (26 now, so for literally half my life). At first, it didn't bother me much. It was small and it could really only be seen if I bent my wrist down pretty far. Sometimes it would make my fingers feel achy, like you said (some people told me it sounded like arthritis).
When I was 15 or so, it had gotten pretty large and it was noticeable all the time. At least, at the time, I thought it would be considered large. I went and got it drained. It's an out-patient procedure with little to no prep and it's over very fast. If it wasn't for long wait times in doctor office's, you could go on a lunch break. The doctor injected me with a local anesthetic, which didn't do its job. However, I was a teenager, and he thought I was just frightened/being a baby by saying that I could still feel him touching my skin, and didn't feel numb at all, so he shoved the draining needle in anyway and began sucking the fluid out. That was the second worst physical pain I've ever experienced--the absolute worst was a three week long kidney stone ordeal many years later. It took about five minutes or so, and he filled two syringes with fluid from the ganglion. During that five minutes, I screamed and cried and it was everything I could do not to yank my arm away from him. I called him every name in the book, and used some very interesting combination of swear words. It was horrifying--probably for both of us.
But then it was over, and I was finally ganglion free, so it was okay.
Three days later, it came back. And then it got bigger than it had been before, as if it was ticked off at me for trying to get rid of it. There was no way I was going to ever get it drained again. So much pain, and so pointless. For three days? No way. So a few months later I underwent general anethesia and I got it surgically removed.
It was six weeks of recovery from the surgery. I couldn't type or work. I was allergic to the pills they gave me for pain and broke out all over in hives. My hand swelled to twice its size and went purple. It was almost a year before I could put enough pressure on my wrist to do a proper cartwheel. I still have a very noticeable pink scar and a small dip in my wrist where the ganglion was.
About a year or so later, it started coming back. However, it wasn't exactly where it had been before, but more to the right of the scar, and protruded more from my wrist than the first one had.
Over the years, when I have accidentally wrenched or banged my wrist, it would drain out inside my body, go flat for a day or two, then refill and come back the same as it had been. It hasn't drained itself in probably two or three years now. It is now very hard, very noticeable, and there is a second smaller nodule on the inside right of it, which is only visible when I bend my wrist. However, this ganglion in the spot it is in now (closer to the skin, not so far into the workings of my wrist), never hurts. So I don't care about it. If the ugly look of it bothers me, I just cover it up with a thick bracelet. But most of the time, people don't notice unless I point it out to them.
There is no cure for ganglion cysts. People will tell you to hit it with something heavy, some people will suggest a 'holy book' like a bible or The Koran. That might burst it and it might drain inside your body, but it will likely come back. More likely, you'll break a bone in your wrist and really have something to complain about (like a ganglion cyst isn't a bad enough problem to have!). So please don't do that. Some people might suggest MSM. This might be good to prevent ganglions and to offer some relief other inflammatory issues such as arthritis, but I've never heard of anyone actually curing an old ganglion with it. You could get it drained, but please make sure that when they inject you with the local, you really can't feel the doctor touching your skin. Don't let him/her drain it unless you are totally numb. Believe me, you don't want to make that mistake.
There is another method I have never tried, but that you might want to ask your doctor about: After draining, or during draining, they puncture the sac of the ganglion several times with the draining needle, coming into it from several angles. This has a possibility of collapsing the sac so that it can't fill with fluid again. It's by no means a definite fix, because the sac could heal itself, or a new sac could form, but I've read that sometimes this works. And as long as your local is working well, it shouldn't be painful for you.
I have met quite a few people with ganglion cysts (when you have one, you tend to notice them on others, as I'm sure you know). I have never met a single person who has had a ganglion surgically removed and not eventually had it come back (usually within a few months, but for some people, it takes a couple of years), or didn't end up just growing another one. I'm not saying that to discourage you from trying--if you and your doctor think it's a good option for you, go for it. I just want you to be realistic about your expectations.
If you are experiencing regular pain that is bad enough that you have to take pills for it, I would think that you should try something. I would say go for the draining and puncturing/collapsing of the sac (if your doc thinks it's a good idea) and see if you get some relief after that. Even if it did grow back, it's possible it might not come back in exactly the same place, and maybe it won't put that pressure on your tendons anymore, causing the radiating finger pain. I don't think that you should just suffer with the pain when there are things that you could try, even if they don't have a high probability of completely curing the cyst. You could be one of the lucky ones, after all.
I don't know what other information you might be looking for. If you would like to talk to me about this, I would be happy to e-mail you directly. I also could take a few pictures with my digital camera so you could see my cyst and scar if you think it would be at all helpful to your situation.
I feel for you and wish you the best of luck. Ganglions suck. And not in the fun way.
My momma had one when I was younger that she had to have removed (she was sad because she had to give up bowling.) She had the surgery done and it was successful but about a year ago she had to have it removed again because it had grown back. I was probably around.. seven or eight the first time and I was 19 the second time. Unfortunately, from what I understand, it's very common for them to grow back.
I think it would be best for you to go and talk to a doctor. If it's bothering you then it is a big deal. Assert yourself and make sure the doctor is aware of your discomfort.
:/
I had a ganglion cyst all thru high school and college. My wrist would be so sore. It sounds horrible, but I did manage to get it to go down by using the old book method. It worked. It hasn't been back for..... 10 years now. My doctor actually recommended trying the book smashing technique. The hard part was finding someone willing to hit me as hard as they could with a book. It hurt, but it beats (no pun intended) surgery.
You obviously have to do what you feel comfortable with. So I am not saying suck it up and whack it, just saying it worked for me.
you may think this sound crazy (don't worry I did too)..
I had one come out my sophomore year in college. it didn't hurt at first but began after a few months. When it first came out my mom (she is a RN) said give it sometime and it will reabsorb itself or you will have to have it cut out. Well, my dad (who thinks he knows everything, and sadly enough has been proving it to me every day) said to have someone hit the cyst with a heavy book. He said it may have to be hit twice but it will cause it to drain internally. Of course me and my hard head thinking my dad is nuts for this idea didn't do it. Finally my senior year in college I had enough. It got big, it was ugly, it was painful, and everyone thought it was disgusting. I went home aggrivated and got my fiance to hit it my Cost Management accounting book. He hit it twice not hard at all really and withing two weeks the thing was complete gone and has not come back nor have I had any problems... I am not suggesting you should try it.. just giving my weird story... BTW I hated accounting. That was the only time I ever liked that book..
I'm not ready to hit mine with a book yet.... but I have a international law book for when the time comes... ;D
all the above repeated complications is why i didnt bother with paying to have it removed.
i got a ganglion cyst when i was in 8th grade. im in 10th grade now, and still have it. it comes and goes. sometimes ill have it for months at a time, other times ill just have it for a few days. But it gets seriously painful. i have to get my wrist wrapped so that i am not able to bend it, so that i won't adjetate the cyst anymore. I'll get pain up my hand and into my fingers. ive also had pain up my arm to my elbow from it before. After it started hurting that bad i had my mom take me to the doctor, and they told me it was a ganglion cyst, and i could just leave it go, and it should just go away. but i told them that ive been doing that for over a year now. so i went to another doctor that actually removes them. and he said that he could remove it, but its small, the size of a pea, so he said i should just leave it go. but its so painful, i just want it removed now. i think im going to go to the doctor again, and tell them that it is not going away and it is giving me extreme pain and that i want it removed. i suggeest that if you have been having pain from it like i have, that you should just tell the doctor it is not going away, and that you would like to have it removed. =) Good Luck.
I'm in the "had a ganglion and got someone to hit it with a book" clique. Fortunately it worked for me and never came back so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.
Well, I am 32 and I have had one of these since I was about 7 or 8 years old. I didn't get much sympathy from my parents when I first complained about it. Thought I was just being sissy so I just dealt with it. When I turned 21, I finally saw a doctor about it and he drained it. Talk about some pain. At least it didn't last long. I have had 3 kidney stones (one took a month to pass) and gall stones that caused pancreatitis. That was the most painful. Anyways, the wrist is starting to hurt more often lately and I was thinking about doing something about. I don't want to do the draining because it didn't help much and hurt like you know what. A little worried about having surgery on the wrist since there are so many nerves and tendons in there. Plus, if it grows back, then what?!
Original Post by noonecared:
Well, I am 32 and I have had one of these since I was about 7 or 8 years old. I didn't get much sympathy from my parents when I first complained about it. Thought I was just being sissy so I just dealt with it. When I turned 21, I finally saw a doctor about it and he drained it. Talk about some pain. At least it didn't last long. I have had 3 kidney stones (one took a month to pass) and gall stones that caused pancreatitis. That was the most painful. Anyways, the wrist is starting to hurt more often lately and I was thinking about doing something about. I don't want to do the draining because it didn't help much and hurt like you know what. A little worried about having surgery on the wrist since there are so many nerves and tendons in there. Plus, if it grows back, then what?!
Don't worry about surgery, I had the one on my wrist removed under anaesthesia, it was no big deal. It didn't hurt much after, and it never came back. It's so worth it! ...definately better than draining. Mine just came right back after that too.
i had a ganglion cyst removed from the inside of my wrist twards the thumb side. a very common place for them.i had it removed in surgery in 1993. for 15 years it stayed gone and didnt bother me. over the last year it came back slowly. now its the size of amarble. when they cut it out in 1993 it was the size of a golf ball( im serious). in 1993 they took me in the surgery room,strapped my arm to a board. hung a sheet so i could not see what was going on. and gave me 4 -6 shots in it to numb it before they cut it out. i wanted the same thing done this time by the same doctor. he said no. must go to a specialist. he said theres alot of scar tissue inside now.i had an apt to see a spedcialist and he said he will do it but they have to give me ivee's and give me at least a mild sedative. alot of nerves in the wrist he said. i refuse. i dont want a sedative. just numb it. the cyst bothers me some when workingout,when bowling, when playing guitar hero. so last month the original doctor who cut it out in 1993 gave me a cortizone shot. 2 of them directly in the cyst( omg it hurt). it didnt do anything for it. he also said we can try another cortizone shot or even try to drain it. so i am gonna see if i can get him to drain it. im so not cool with being put under for this by a specialist. as for after i had it cut out in 1993. i was back in the gym 7 days later lifting again. no doctor wants to do it with me awake this time.and i refuse the hit it with w book thing.i recommend going to youtube and watching some of the ganglion cysts being cut out in surgery. in 1993 it took one hour on the operating table. im 31 yrs old now.
I've had my ganglion cyst my whole life, sometimes I used to be able to push on it, and make it go away with a lot of pressure. Lately its very painful and I cannot push on it anymore, doesn't work. I play guitar and this is probably the main reason it comes back. I have heard surgery is most likely unsuccessful....so I am going to try a local injection of cortosone.
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