ganglion cysts anyone?

[mykidsand_i]

When I was 19, I had a ganglion cyst on my LEFT wrist. The first treatment was to suck out the 'fluid' in it. It didn't work, so they did a surgery to remove it. NOW, I've got one on my right wrist and it's SUPER painful. I never thought I'd have the same problem with both wrists...

Anyone else have them on BOTH wrists? Or have bad pain with them? I remember some pain with my first one, it was more just a dull, annoyance. This time it's horrid. I can hardly bend my wrist or use a pen/pencil.

It is nothing more than a cyst. I just went to the specialist today for it and they did a bunch of things to make sure there wasn't more to it. He thinks I'll have to have it surgically removed again. I don't remember how long the 'recovery time' is...do any of you? Last time, they wrapped it in a '1/2' cast- with the top open, so I couldn't bend my wrist. Do they still do that? How long will it be in a cast?

 

[CruiserMom]

I have one now on my right wrist. It hurts some when I bend it, but most of the time it doesn't cause pain right now. My hand surgeon said that, oftentimes, when they first develop, they cause alot of pain. Then as the muscles and tendons stretch to go "around" the cyst, they don't cause pain anymore.

He said he never aspirates them with a needle anymore, they just come right back. I'm trying to decide if I should go have mine removed or not. The surgeon told me that the recovery time was similar to, and maybe a little longer, than carpal tunnel release surgery. He said it would be 4 weeks before I could lift anything heavy with my hand.

 

[golfgal]

I had one off and on for years-they though it was arthritis (my GP did and sent me to a rhumatologist). He said unless it is unbearable that he doesn't really treat them and that typically people end up knocking them off by hitting their hand on something. He did offer the suggestion to have someone take a book to my wrist-he was mostly kidding but he said it does work. It went away on it's own and I haven't had an issue with it in over 10 years.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

I have one on my right ankle, it's been there for about ten years.
I had an outpatient procedure about seven years ago, where the doctor cut it open and removed most of it. He then put in some kind of tincture that was supposed to kill the root of the cyst.
He said they almost always come back though.
And sure enough, it did.

I have seen a surgeon who recommended surgery to completely remove the cyst and its little "tentacles" which have grown around the nerves and tendons in my ankle.
Of course, he said I would be off my feet for six to eight weeks minimum.
I can't imagine being off my feet for that long, so I haven't committed to the surgery.

Good luck OP. I hope they are easier to get rid of in the wrist. I didn't even know they could develop there.

 

[AustinTink]

I had one on my right wrist for about 3 years, it eventually got smaller until it was gone. The doctor said their old "remedy" for it was "to whack it with a bible" I was like . I said no thanks, I'll live with it.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

MIL had one in her left wrist. They thought it was the size of a golf ball but once they got in there it was the size of a tennis ball! I couldn't imagine hitting it with a book!
I believe she said it was a 6 week recovery time.

 

[robinb]

I had a small one on the palm of my hand. It went away all on it's own.

 

[kellyg403]

I had one for several years in the top of my wrist. It became really painful, to the point I had a hard time driving because I had to actually bend my wrist when turning the wheel. I got the surgery about 5 years ago. I didn't have a full cast, just a stabilizer type thing that was wrapped in place for about 4 weeks. I recall the recovery time was about 5 or 6 weeks. Simply because once the wrap was removed I had a tendancy to baby the wrist. After being in one position for 4 weeks, it was really sore to move around. But, I was back at work in 6 weeks and good as new.

It has not come back yet. They did tell me there was no garuntee it wouldn't come back in that same area, but so far so good.

Kelly

 

[kristilew]

I had one off and on for years-they though it was arthritis (my GP did and sent me to a rhumatologist). He said unless it is unbearable that he doesn't really treat them and that typically people end up knocking them off by hitting their hand on something. He did offer the suggestion to have someone take a book to my wrist-he was mostly kidding but he said it does work. It went away on it's own and I haven't had an issue with it in over 10 years.

golfgal, these cysts are called "Bible bumps" in NC, because back in the day, the standard treatment was to give them a good whack with the family Bible!

 

[OK!]

Yep, I've got one on my left wrist right now. It's gotten less painful as time has gone by. At first, I thought it was my "normal" left wrist problems that stem from when I broke my forearm 9 years ago (it's still very stiff, hurts when it's going to rain, hurts like hell if I accidentally whack my hand against anything that causes it to bend backwards, etc.), but then I noticed the bump. It seems to get larger and smaller seemingly on a whim, but the pain's gotten less since January, which is when it was really bad.

FWIW, the doctor I saw back then gave me some kind of anti-inflammatory cream that had a HUGE impact on its size almost immediately. Unfortunately, I'm moving in 2 weeks and it's packed up with all of my nonessential medical stuff and I haven't the faintest idea where, so I can't tell you what the name of it was. If I remember once I get to my new place, I'll dig it out and let you know.

 

[Minniemama350]

I guess if you're worried about recovery time think of it this way: Which would be worse, 4 more weeks with the current pain or 4 weeks of not being able to lift with some pain also.

 

[cabanafrau]

golfgal, these cysts are called "Bible bumps" in NC, because back in the day, the standard treatment was to give them a good whack with the family Bible!

My roommate post-college had one on her wrist and her doc told her to hit it w/ a book. She did and it has never come back again.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have one at the base of my left middle finger that I noticed a few months ago when i was gardening. I don't know if it was there before I was doing all that digging or was caused by the trauma of digging. I noticed it when my hands started to burn from the manual labor. I was rubbing my hands and thought "WHAT THE?". The diagnosis made me feel better. It hasn't shrunk but it hasn't gotten bigger either. The Dr said if it didn't shrink I should go back for surgery but, truth is it doesn't bother me enough to justify surgery. Dr seemed a little gung-ho on that IMHO. Sometimes my hand gets a little numb or tender but I can deal with it. I'll give it at least another year to shrink before I think about going to the Dr again, a benign lump is less worrisome then surgery to me.

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

I'm wondering how many of you that have these cysts think they were caused from trauma to the wrist? I had a bad bicycle wreck as a child which is what caused my ganglion cyst. It was there for a couple years, then I accidentally jumped on it with my knee (typical kid playing rough) and it went away for a few years, but came back in my teens. When I was in my early 20's I had surgery to remove it, but it came back shortly afterwards. I can't remember that it has ever been painful. It's just ugly and I don't like how it looks. After my surgery, I was only off work for three weeks, and I had a physically demanding job.

 

[karenos]

Weird that OP posted this as my DH is having the surgery to remove his ganglion cyst tomorrow. His is on the back side of his wrist, near wear you would wear a watch. He said it wasn't very painful but that he was always rubbing it when using the computer or putting on clothes. His doctor (a plastic surgeon) said 2 to 4 week recovery.

karenos

 

[annegirl]

My dad has always had them in his wrists, my sister and I both do as well. It flares up occasionally. Mine is in my right wrist and when it comes around it hurts to bend it, doing things like pushups becomes impossible, and is not much fun but it goes away after a few days. Then a few months later it's back again. I just deal with it like I always saw my dad do.
I think I may have one on an ankle too because occasionally (around once a year) for the past few years my right ankle will get so painful I can't walk on it but doesn't look any different and goes away after a few days.
I have never even thought about getting it removed or anything since it is always temporary.

 

[mykidsand_i]

For me, mine have never been temporary. Once they come, they don't leave unless they are removed by a Dr. My labs all came back and the Dr. looked at my X-Ray from yesterday and what he thought was a golf ball sized cyst, is twice the size and he said that we could be 'dealing with infection' if it's not removed soon. That' great, infection is all I need.

I believe I'll be getting it removed surgically. Don't think there's another choice at this point.

 

[GeorgeG]

I had one removed from my right wrist about ten years ago. It was wrapped around a tendon. I think it was all better in just a week or so and hasn't come back.

 

[Lanshark]

I had one on my right wrist for about 3 years, it eventually got smaller until it was gone. The doctor said their old "remedy" for it was "to whack it with a bible" I was like . I said no thanks, I'll live with it.

My son has one between his thumb and pointer finger. Our doctor said it used to be called a Gideons cyst because they would whack it with a Bible to break the cyst.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I have one on my right wrist, but it doesn't bother me at all. It isn't huge, but it's been there at least 5 years. I showed it to my doctor, but she said she'd leave it alone at least until it starts causing problems or pain.