Has Anyone Been Treated For A Ganglion Cyst?

Lee

Lee

Senior Member
Location
Chatham, Ontario
I developed a cyst on my hand which while not really super painful is irritating. I had it one time before in the same spot but it went away. Not this time though, been there for several months now.

Two rounds of antibiotics with one doctor did nothing. I was told to limit my use of the hand for a couple of weeks, nothing, still there.

Another doc at a clinic has now ordered an X-ray and yet another much, much stronger dose of antiobiotics which put me into lala land as if I am not already there most of the time. Said it may need to be cut out. I do not like that idea one little bit.

Any advice?
 

Yes, and it will seem weird, but it's not...........Years ago, decades, I developed that on my wrist, on top of hand. I freaked when I saw it, happened so suddenly I was afraid the lump was cancerous. Two doctors teamed up and said I needed surgery. Since I was moving to England soon, I decided to wait to see a doctor not making personal money out of a surgical procedure. English doctor Laughed Out Loud, gave the same name to the condition but then went on to say the surgery suggested could have cost me the use of some fingers. "Use a heavy book," he said. Take a big book, or have someone else do it and whack the cyst. It will burst and begone. Not forever, it may or may not come back. Mine did, occasionally over the years & I used the same method. Google it for the pros & cons. Used to be called "bible cysts" as the bible was the heaviest book, or only book! that people had.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor but play one sometimes.
 
Pepper, thanks, that is my worry, the loss of use. This one is located on top of the hand at the base of the thumb.

I wonder if my heavy duty meat pounder would do the trick :D But I am such a big baby and that's going to hurt :cry:
 

I got one on the back of my left had regularly,
Lee, I always pressed it away with my thumb, it
never came back for a long time now.

A few years ago I got one on my left wrist, just
below the meaty bit of my thumb, my doctor said
that they cut them out if is a problem, anyway I
had just found Sea Buckthorn oil and I had mixed
some with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to make a lotion
because I read that it is good for the skin, I rubbed
it in daily, including my hands and wrists, after a few
weeks it had nearly disappeared, I can still feel it
under the skin, but you can't see it any more and I
stopped using the oil over a year ago.

Mike.
 
Yep...when I was in my 20's I got one on the back of my hand/wrist and when I saw my doctor he said to me, put your hand on the desk so I can see it.. I did, and he hit me hard with a heavy book!! What a shock.. but it made the ganglion disappear... and it's never returned...my bluddy hand hurt for a day or two tho' :oops:

Sorry you're having to have antibiotics and tests for yours Lee,,, not good...
 
Pepper said:
Yes, and it will seem weird, but it's not...........Years ago, decades, I developed that on my wrist, on top of hand. I freaked when I saw it, happened so suddenly I was afraid the lump was cancerous. Two doctors teamed up and said I needed surgery. Since I was moving to England soon, I decided to wait to see a doctor not making personal money out of a surgical procedure. English doctor Laughed Out Loud, gave the same name to the condition but then went on to say the surgery suggested could have cost me the use of some fingers. "Use a heavy book," he said. Take a big book, or have someone else do it and whack the cyst. It will burst and begone. Not forever, it may or may not come back. Mine did, occasionally over the years & I used the same method. Google it for the pros & cons. Used to be called "bible cysts" as the bible was the heaviest book, or only book! that people had.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor but play one sometimes.
Click to expand...
I wish I'd tried the book-whack method! I had mine removed, and then found out that the surgeon I had was renowned for operating while under the influence of alcohol :(

edit to add .. he was also known for leaving instruments inside people. Thank goodness it was just my hand he operated on.
 
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Lee said:
I developed a cyst on my hand which while not really super painful is irritating. I had it one time before in the same spot but it went away. Not this time though, been there for several months now.

Two rounds of antibiotics with one doctor did nothing. I was told to limit my use of the hand for a couple of weeks, nothing, still there.

Another doc at a clinic has now ordered an X-ray and yet another much, much stronger dose of antiobiotics which put me into lala land as if I am not already there most of the time. Said it may need to be cut out. I do not like that idea one little bit.

Any advice?
Click to expand...
Mine was surgically removed and it was no big deal. I have no idea why you were given an antibiotic. Doesn't make sense to me. A cyst is a growth, not an infection. Anyway, ask for removal, and the sooner the better. Ganglion cysts grow tendrils that wrap around and attach to the nearest nerves and veins and that's very bad. Mine, in fact, had hold of an artery by the time I had surgery and the surgeon had a really hard time getting it out.
 
So Pappy, are the stitches still attached to you
in the picture, or are they removed and in a bunch
in your hand or on the table?

Mike.
 
Pepper said:
Actually, @Lee, it doesn't hurt if only the cyst is hit. You've got to maneuver your hand on the edge of a surface, and get someone else to do it. It's gone so fast it's unbelievable.
Click to expand...
read up on dr google I had a similar not going to tell you where, nuff said.....baking soda past for a week and half or so walla mosty gone.....
 
I had a cyst on my back removed 25 years ago. It was there for many years & it was small & didn't bother me. Then it suddenly got very large & it hurt. The ER doc said these things can be here & not bother us, then our immune system decides to attack it. On the first visit, he numbed the area, cut & drained it & stuffed something in it so my shirt wouldn't get bloody. On the second visit, he did the same thing & that was it. No stitches or anything.
Then 17 years ago, I consulted several dermatologists to get rid of a solid lump on my ear. It was there for a few years. It wasn't causing any problems; I just didn't like how it looked. A dermatologist took it out in 15 minutes, 6 stitches & one return visit to take out the stitches. Only a little pain from the anesthetic; no pain after. The only treatment was to apply "Neosporin" 3 times/day. He said it was a "Lipoma" (fat tumor). He said we all have them but we can't see them unless they're near the skin's surface.
 
Murrmurr said:
Mine was surgically removed and it was no big deal. I have no idea why you were given an antibiotic. Doesn't make sense to me. A cyst is a growth, not an infection. Anyway, ask for removal, and the sooner the better. Ganglion cysts grow tendrils that wrap around and attach to the nearest nerves and veins and that's very bad. Mine, in fact, had hold of an artery by the time I had surgery and the surgeon had a really hard time getting it out.
Click to expand...
I had one on my wrist almost 40 years ago that was causing my ring and pinky fingers to go numb. Went in to have it removed in an outpatient surgery and in walked an Anesthesiologist to discuss putting me under.I was shocked-thought it would be done with a local. Convinced him not to put me under so they used a nerve block. Tourniquet at the very top of my arm combined with a local.Was supposed to take ten minutes.Well,turned out the cyst tendrils had wrapped all around the nerves so the surgery ended up taking 40 minutes.The pain of the tourniquet was AWFUL! Really wished I had let them put me under. Anyway,couple of weeks in a soft cast and I was fine. But,about a month ago,it came back. Think I`ll just live with it....
 
I had one on my wrist. We whacked it and now we have the COVID-19 virus floating around everywhere.

This is an example for how internet rumors can start. The sentence above is perfectly true, except that there are at least 10 years between the two events and they are obviously not connected. :)

Anyway, as other posters here have stated, it is nothing to worry about and whacking it with a large book can get rid of it. I don't want to say "will get rid of it" because I am not a medical person and therefore don't know what extenuating circumstance there may be to cause a different outcome.

Tony
 
Mrs. Robinson said:
I had one on my wrist almost 40 years ago that was causing my ring and pinky fingers to go numb. Went in to have it removed in an outpatient surgery and in walked an Anesthesiologist to discuss putting me under.I was shocked-thought it would be done with a local. Convinced him not to put me under so they used a nerve block. Tourniquet at the very top of my arm combined with a local.Was supposed to take ten minutes.Well,turned out the cyst tendrils had wrapped all around the nerves so the surgery ended up taking 40 minutes.The pain of the tourniquet was AWFUL! Really wished I had let them put me under. Anyway,couple of weeks in a soft cast and I was fine. But,about a month ago,it came back. Think I`ll just live with it....
Click to expand...
The reason they prefer to put you under is because ganglion cysts grow these teeny-tiny tendrils that wrap around nerves and veins. My surgeon had an oops moment when he nicked the main artery there; the one that's popular for suicides. Those tendrils were wrapped around it. I bled so much so fast it scared the heck out of him.

If you just live with it, you run the risk of a nerve or artery getting choked-off. That could result in nerve damage, or the tissue could start dying and cause sepsis and gangrene.
 
tbeltrans said:
I had one on my wrist. We whacked it and now we have the COVID-19 virus floating around everywhere.

This is an example for how internet rumors can start. The sentence above is perfectly true, except that there are at least 10 years between the two events and they are obviously not connected. :)

Anyway, as other posters here have stated, it is nothing to worry about and whacking it with a large book can get rid of it. I don't want to say "will get rid of it" because I am not a medical person and therefore don't know what extenuating circumstance there may be to cause a different outcome.

Tony
Click to expand...
LOL! Unfortunately some will believe it. Probably will be all over Facebook by tomorrow.
 
Pinky said:
I wish I'd tried the book-whack method! I had mine removed, and then found out that the surgeon I had was renowned for operating while under the influence of alcohol :(

edit to add .. he was also known for leaving instruments inside people. Thank goodness it was just my hand he operated on.
Click to expand...
Omg. Doctor from hell. 😬
 
I had a large ganglion cyst surgically removed from my right wrist back in the 1970’s which was painful and limiting my joint movement. Removal of the root or tendrils is the surgical challenge as otherwise the cyst may grow back. I had a skillful surgeon and a successful outcome, and do not regret having had the procedure...
 

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