Has anyone ever had a ganglion cyst?

They used to call them “Bible Bumps” because they would get rid of them by having the minister slam those old, gigantic church Bibles (the ones that held the birth and death records for the whole village) on them. You could try that. Or, I had one that went away on its own after a few years. Oh,yeah, it hurt at first, but stopped hurting after a few months.

I had one on my right wrist. I slammed a book (actually it was a huge bible lol) on it and it popped. It never came back :)

@wtfrickinfrack No way. Really?

@wtfrickinfrack Awesome.

Had one on my right wrist. I ignored it for six months and it just went away.

All sick call Corpsmen learned to smash these with a PDR.

oh – forgot to mention that I almost passed out because it hurt so bad when it popped… just a side note in case you consider my technique ;)

@wtfrickinfrack I figured it wouldn’t feel very good. I’m queasy just thinking about it.

They can be aspirated, and they will come back about 50% of the time. I don’t recommend slamming a book on it as the fluid will then leak all over the surrounding tissues and cause inflammation. Definitive cure is a surgical removal.

I had one on my left wrist. Unfortunately it didn’t go away and aspiration with a needle didn’t work either. I finally got it operated on. I had to deal with some stretching of scar tissue afterwards, but now it’s great. Before the survey, I couldn’t do push ups because I couldn’t get my wrist to 90 degrees.

@DrC I can’t do pushups either. I have to do them on my fists. I might consider aspiration or surgery, but I was really hoping for a more natural method. I like the “going away” one. :)

I have one now. He went away for a few months last year, then came back. He’s been hanging around long enough, I’d probably miss him if he were to leave again. My doctor mentioned aspiration, but there is a large vein between the cyst and my skin, so he suggested ignoring it since there is not usually pain.

One of my yoga teachers had a painful one deeper in her wrist and eventually opted for surgery. Recovery has been long for her (over a year), and it’s difficult for her to do many arm balances. She regrets the surgery. Just sayin’.

@ru2bz46 Thanks. Good to know.

Mine would go away and then come back. I finally got it to go away for good by smashing it with a book even though I had doubts about the method myself.

These are tricky. You can have them aspirated – which is a temporary fix to remove the fluid. There’s a high likelihood it will come back.

You can have it surgically removed, which is a small procedure but requires that the surgeon highly thorough and get out all the roots of the cyst – otherwise it will just grow back again.

You have to decide how much of a pain in the neck it is for you, and if it obstructs your movement. If it’s a problem just get it removed. Make sure the surgeon knows what they’re doing though!

ganglion cysts are just a build up of fluid. a doctor isn’t going to suggest slamming a book on it but that’s the most common cure. slam at your own risk.

My sister got one from wearing one of those magnetic bracelets that are supposed to help you with pain.

It took about eight months, but it finally did go away.

Thanks for all your advice / support. I think I’ll try leaving it for a while. It’s annoying and it does cause discomfort and mobility issues, but it’s not enough to have surgery or slam books.

@sevenfourteen Years ago,my Dr. not only suggested slamming it with a book,he in fact did so with a huge medical book. It didn’t work. I ignored it and it subsided on it’s own.

@YoH ouch all that work for nothing? That’s rough.

yeah

@sevenfourteen If it subsided, it did work.

Yes. If you drain it, there is a 50% chance it will come back. If you have it surgically removed, there is a 1–2% change it will come back.
Sometimes they will go away on their own. If it continues to grow, and it starts to hurt see an orthopedic surgeon.

I’ve had 4 and 4 surgeries- finally done after that. Interesting scars! The last dr said the first dr had not gone deep enough to scrape off those wrist bones.