ganglion cyst? Update: its a retinacular cyst!

[MissAriel]

I have a small, hard lump on my palm right near where my index finger joins my hand. It started out barely noticeable and mildly tender if I pressed on it just after Christmas. Now it has definitely gotten bigger and more painful, plus I am experiencing some numbness in that finger. I’m pretty sure this is a ganglion cyst which sometimes go away on their own and sometimes not and generally aren’t something to panic over. However because of the increasing discomfort and numbness I have scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic dr. next week.

Anyone have any experiences or recommendations? Did Dr aspirate or do surgery and did your cyst return (apparently the little buggers have a high recurrence rate)?

Update: I saw the ortho dr today and he said it was a retinacular cyst - a cousin of the ganglion cyst- that originates on the tendon sheath. He did the aspiration and said I had a 70-80% chance it wouldn’t come back.

Thanks all for sharing your stories.

[Training_Cupid]

My bf has it. I think in both hands, but one is a lot worst than the other. He’s had it drained twice and is looking at surgery in the near future. It seems to flare up sometimes and he has a lot of pain, so it’s hard for him to even type, but then gets a little better.

[Sunsets]

Ugh. I have one on my left thumb. I’ve had 4 surgeries to remove it, and it’s come back every time. I’ve given up hope that it will ever go away. So now I just deal with it. Which consists of trying not to whack my thumb with a hammer or anything like that. Seriously. Sometimes it flares, and I might take an ibuprofen or put some ice on it, but there’s not much else I can do.

When it’s really bad, I have a tough time keeping a “proper” dressage grip on my reins (can’t keep my thumb bent on top), but I’m not usually bothered otherwise.

[RUDoinGoodRUGoodDoin]

I developed one a few years ago the shape and size of a pea between my index and middle fingers. My fingers had gotten tangled and stretched out in my horses thick mane over a jump and I think I noticed it a few days later.

It went away after a few weeks, just as I was going to make an appointment to see my doctor. I woke up one morning and it was just…gone. I didn’t really experience and numbness, etc. with it or I would have gotten it checked sooner. I haven’t had a reoccurrence. Hope all gets resolved with your hand OP:)

[tinah]

I had one in my wrist. It popped on it’s own. maybe the heat and flexing helped, maybe not.

[ponybutler]

I had one of those suckers years ago, and was horrified at first (was working with kids, and of course they were curious!). When I went to a GP, he told me many people used to smack cysts with a heavy book, ugh!! Thought I’d skip that step, and mine just went away gradually, maybe within a year or two. Good luck with yours!

[ladymcts]

LOL - Ponybutler pretty much wrote word for word what I was going to. I guess we’re cyst twins. (Not to sound too creepy - think Joey from Friends and his hand twins thing.)