Anyone had a ganglion cyst in the wrist?

[Kim]

I'm a physician and I whacked my brother-in-laws cyst on his wedding day about 20 years ago. It has not returned. The trick to whacking with a book is a small hard book like "The Cat in the Hat" is perfect. Hold your wrist out slightly extended. The hacker needs to think follow through just like you would when hitting a tennis ball. It works. Sometimes it cures forever. It is cheap and does not hurt but a little.

 

[rbernie]

I had one on my right wrist for most of my teenage years. The docs drained it regularly (using giant needles to suck the fluid out) but it never went away. They eventually chopped it out.

As Correia pointed out, it made doing push-ups a real pain in the tuchus.

 

[GunnySkox]

*quiver* Good God Almighty. Maybe I'm a powderpuff, but the whole concept of having someone smash my wrist with a book in order to _burst_ a _fluid filled sac_ in-freaking-side of me gives me a case of the jibblies so huge that nothing but a monsterous dose of muscle relaxers and Cold Ones could put the kibosh on.

~Gunny
Note: "Jibblies"(tm) from Strong Bad Emails, I don't take muscle relaxers, and my Cold Ones are Caffeine Free Diet Cokes (mmmm, Hypertension...)

 

[hobbeeman]

I worked with a neurosurgeon from "the old school" who told me about the book method. I added my own twist by striking my arm/wrist on my headboard whilst performing callesthenics with my wife. I never felt a thing, and the cyst has never returned.

 

[joab]

My uncle had one in his ankle when he was a kid the doctor smacked it with a copy of Gray's Anatomy.
Turns out it was a tumor

Mom, the RN, told me about it when I smacked mine with a ball peen hammer after many years of pussyfooting around with it

Who would imagine that a broken wrist could hurt less than a little ole cyst.
The cyst has never come back but I only have less than 50% range of motion in that wrist now. It was worth the trade

 

[dzimmerm]

I had one also

It was on the inside of my left wrist. I went to the doctor who told me about the bible method and then proceeded to poke it with a big needle. Apparently there was no fluid to find as none came out. I basically ignored it after that and about 2 months later it just went away.

29 years later and it has never returned.

The strange thing about it was I am pretty sure I got the cyst from playing Asteroids and Space Invaders. The cyst was right where my left hand contacted the game machines right next to the fire button. I was pretty good at both games and firing rapidly was the technique that worked well. I laid of the games and I think that helped the cyst go away by itself.

"Doctor doctor, it hurts when I do this!?
"Don't do that"

dzimmerm

 

[senior]

cyst

had the same cyst type years ago on same wrist, never found the reason for it, but doctor dug the sucker out, deep , almost half way into my wrist, said u have to get ALL of the sack or it will return, after a few days in a sling and taking care of it, never had another problem! Just a word of advise, make damn sure he gets it all out dont just drain it or it WILL return as i've had a couple of others they did that to and they did come back

 

[gm]

I have cysts all over my frame,including 2 quarter sized cysts on my spine which the surgeon wont remove yet because of the risks, the pain is there so I know how you feel and I have had a few removed and can say Im glad I did.

If you can, get it removed.Its really not painful to do and usually takes about 20-39 minutes in an office to do.the cyst will be sent off for study to see if it is cancerous which is by far the most painful thing to do..waiting.

 

[nextjoe]

Went to see my doc yesterday. He confirmed that it's a ganglion cyst and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. Soonest I can get in? Exactly one month from now. Not sure what to do at this point. This thing is interfering with my typing and mousing, and I'm on a computer at least 10 hours a day.

I'm thinking about trying the book again.

 

[MillCreek]

If it is large enough, deep enough in the wrist, or close enough to sensitive structures like tendons, nerves, bone or blood vessels, that your primary care physician has referred you to an orthopedist, I advise against trying to whack it with a book. You might end up doing more damage to yourself.

 

[DCR]

Glad you're going to the Orthopedic surgeon to have it removed. Had mine excised from my left wrist (thumb side) 5 yr. ago - couldn't even pick up my toddler son it hurt so bad. I also had to wait nearly a month; Doc told me to take 3 ibuprofen 3x/day (9 total; more if it hurt REALLY bad) until the surgery. You may want to ask your doc if anti-inflammatory meds might help you until then, and if so, what dose. Best wishes!

DCR

 

[EVIL5LITER]

After dealing with mine for a few years, painful enough that I had to wear a wrist brace for most of my senior year in high school, I finally had it surgically removed after an unsuccessful attempt at having it lanced with a gigantic needle.

That was about 8 years ago, and it has not come back yet, so I hope I'm in the home free. It took about six months before I finally got the full range of movement back into my wrist. I did not go to physical therapy.

The surgery was definitely worth it though.

 

[armedandsafe]

I had one develop on the back of my left ring finger, from opening lineman's pliers repeatedly with that finger. Doc sent me to hand specialist and he cut it out while I watched him. He had to dig in pretty deeply and move some stuff out of the way, but he got it all. It actually hurt less than when they took the lead shotgun pellets out of the back/side of my neck.

Pops

 

[yy]

STOP!! No surgery!!!

I know from personal experience that you can get rid of the sac without surgery. Sometimes (not often) a chinese doctor knows more than western doctors.


All you need is to massage a couple acupressure points on your elbow. There's a little chinese-medicine explanations, but I just care that this works.

---find and massage this point---
follow the V of your bent elbow (either arm). to the outside (pinky side) of your arm is a depression at the bony part of your elbow. Massage the region between this depression and the V of your elbow. You'll know if you hit the right spot. It should feel sore when you massage it with your fingers.

You can massage this pressure point on either arm and it'll cause this wrist sac to be re-absorbed into your body.

You might also massage where your tendons attach to your bones near your elbow. If it feels sore, rub it. Just don't over kill your arm, okay? Think relaxation massage. A doctor will no doubt tell you that massaging your tennis elbow will worsen the problem _if_ you annoyed your muscles. Do not overkill.


pm me with any questions.


besides, this should work in a week. What's another week if you can avoid the big bucks and scar of a surgery?



Edited to add:
I just read through the thread. OMG, you guys are in pain and will try anything :eye pop:. my herbalist thinks of these wrist cysts as stoppages of chi. My martial-arts coach thinks of them as inflammations due to misuse. Either way, my chinese doctor who trained in martial arts and bone techniques advised me of the accupressure point that relieves the symptom.

my personal experience was thus: My right wrist grew a big peanut-sized bulb on the back of my hand where my index bone met my wrist. this was near the surface. It would feel real _sore_ if I use my wrist for weight, like bench-lifting or punching. It'd get painful after using the computer keyboard.

Then before I decided to schedule for surgery, I went to the chinese doctor who was my *mom*'s doctor. (I didn't want anything to do with superstition and folk remedies. I was so *scientific*. Little did I know how broad my brush was). So I followed the advice. The massage dispersed the sac completely, in under two weeksl. The pain went away in about a couple of days.

I don't care if "chi" is an accurate model of human physiology/anatomy. Or if accupressure points are "only placebo". As a scientist, all I care about is the observable, replicable result. And this stuff is replicable.

my cyst came and went for about a half year. each time a week's worth of massage sent it away. Then after that half year, the cyst never came back.

No surgery. No pain meds. Just that point in the crook of the elbow.

Mind you, this point can cover a lot of cysts on the wrist, even on the elbow (as in tennis elbow). And you don't need to rub near your tennis elbow. You can rub the pressure point on the opposite elbow. But if you have a persistent cyst despite the massage, PM me. I'll consult with the chinese doctor to find you another pressure point. I'm offering this with no strings attached as my homage to medicine buddha who, in stories, toiled to end all suffering. esp. the needless kind.

--replicability--
I just recently (3-months ago) advised another young person who had this cyst. She massaged as I described. Her cyst went away in a week. She was thrilled that she did not have to suffer a scar on her wrist.

 

[461]

I had one on my left wrist surgically removed 20 years ago, and then it reappeared 10 years later and had it removed again. If it doesn't come back pretty soon I guess I'll have to let the second surgeon claim victory!! In seriousness an Orthopedist should make the determination on your cyst as they are all a bit different and really depends a lot on whether it's between the wrist bones or outside them a sto whether the "Book Method" can be used safely or even effectively. Good luck to you and recover quick so you can get back to shooting.

 

[Beren]

In my late teen years I developed a cyst of some kind on my wrist. I believe it developed - or at least aggravated - when I slipped and fell on some ice. After evaluations, the doctor elected to slice it out. Well, he's a surgeon, all he knew was a knife. Plus I think he wanted to see it.

Anyway, here I am years later. No perceptible degradation in the use of my left hand, nor has the cyst ever recurred. There is a nice scar on my left wrist, however.

In the last few years I've started noticing lipoma bumps, which are far more aggravating.

 

[mfree]

After breaking my arm badly enough when I was 12 that the cast stayed on for 6 weeks, I developed one on the back of my hand where the end of the cast lay.

Fortunately for me it never really hurt, as in that location there was nothing for it to press on. It went away by itself. It was neat though, watching it move under the skin when I flexed my fingers.

 

[Malamute]

I've had them come and go several times over the years. The doc first said to "keep an eye on it". Someone told me about the book thing, I tried it and it worked.

Over time, they came back a couple times, but I just firmly, but not too hard, wacked it against the wall and they went away. It's been maybe 10 years or so since the last one.