Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Ganglion Cyst

At least once every quarter, for all of the years I have been in practice, I see a patient with a swelling on their wrist, ankle or foot.  This common problem is a ganglion cyst.  These cysts are located on tendons and occasionally are tender but more often just seem to develop painlessly for no reason.  The tendon sheath may rupture suddenly or slowly and allow the fluid to bulge out.  The swelling is filled with a thick gelatinous substance called synovial fluid and it can feel spongy or firm. 

Most ganglion cysts can be diagnosed just by vision and palpating it.  If they are on extensor tendons, they might bulge more when the joint is moved and disappear when it is flexed.

A majority of ganglion cysts disappear without treatment.  If it is painful, the doctor might aspirate it with a needle.  About 1/4 of patients will have a recurrence after removal and aspiration can be tried again.  Surgical removal is needed only if it is painful or causes numbness in the hand or fingers.

There is no way to prevent a ganglion cyst from occurring.  In the old days a patient would undergo "bible treatment".  Grandma would whack it with a heavy bible.  We don't recommend that any longer.

19 comments:

Pet Medication said...
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Toni Brayer, MD said...

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body lift guide said...

Ganglion cysts occur most commonly on the back of the hand in the wrist joint and can also develop on the palm side of the wrist.

Frank Irwin said...

Huh. This must be what I had on the top of my wrist. It just went away on its own, thankfully, because I don't own a bible.

Canada Drugs said...

Unfortunately for ethical bloggers, this is becoming far too common and so I am deleting them when I see them.

Jack said...

Chances are the calcium supplement you are taking now is a rock source of calcium. The label will say "calcium carbonate", which is nothing more than limestone. AlgaeCal Plus contains an organic, plant-sourced calcium form derived from a unique South American marine algae called Algas Calcareas™.

Jack said...

Chances are the calcium supplement you are taking now is a rock source of calcium. The label will say "calcium carbonate", which is nothing more than limestone. AlgaeCal Plus contains an organic, plant-sourced calcium form derived from a unique South American marine algae called Algas Calcareas™.

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Frank Irwin said...

I like extra ganglion cysts in my cabbage soup.

Anonymous said...

Please stop hitting yourselves with bibles and dictionaries!! Start drinking aloe vera juice. An ounce or two a day cures a great many things including cysts.

www.guipuzcoa-3d.com said...

It can't really work, I suppose like this.

Ethan said...

This will not succeed in reality, that is what I think.
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