Ganglion Cyst, anyone gotten one?

[fftransform]

I keep getting afflicted with things that are hampering me at the piano.  This time it's a ganglion cyst on my left wrist.  It's affecting the thumb's mobility and making the joint achy.

Anyone gotten it before?  Any at-home tricks to drain it that are actually safe?  Definitely not gonna slam a book on it, which is apparently why they're also called 'bible cysts.'

[perfect_pitch]

Definitely not gonna slam a book on it, which is apparently why they're also called 'bible cysts.'

Yes... ABSOLUTELY DO NOT hit it with anything. My dad made that mistake (despite me telling him not to). Had no pain for a week, then worse pain for months.

I had a small one once on my wrist. Best thing I did was go to the Physiotherapist to see if they could try and break it down with hard massaging (I mean quite vigorous, semi-rough massage). It was gone in a couple of weeks.

[victor66]

Certainly don't use any at-home tricks, ask your doctor. Usually the problem is in your joint which is leaking fluid, you don't want to introduce an infection there. I had this thing on my toe, it leaked then came back more than once until it finally disappeared after a few months. It was annoying, yet there is no good cure in a general case.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ganglion-cyst/symptoms-causes/syc-20351156

[fftransform]

Yeah I'm not going to do the book thing, those bones are too delicate.

I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday for something else, will see what they say.  If they don't wanna get rid of it, then I'm going to get a diabetes lancet and do it myself though.  I'm not worried about infection, I have some mupirocin cream (i.e. to kill antibiotic-resistant staph) from a nose infection I got last year, along with the regular stuff.  It's more than big enough that I'm not worried about hitting something else, esp. it's close to the radial artery but I can easily make out where that is and avoid it.

[brogers70]

Yeah I'm not going to do the book thing, those bones are too delicate.

I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday for something else, will see what they say.  If they don't wanna get rid of it, then I'm going to get a diabetes lancet and do it myself though.  I'm not worried about infection, I have some mupirocin cream (i.e. to kill antibiotic-resistant staph) from a nose infection I got last year, along with the regular stuff.  It's more than big enough that I'm not worried about hitting something else, esp. it's close to the radial artery but I can easily make out where that is and avoid it.

Tell your doctor what your plan is. It does not sound like a good plan to me. If you get bacteria into a fluid collection that is linked to your joint space, antibiotic creams won't do any good, and a deep tissue infection like that could mess up your wrist and hand far, far worse than a ganglion cyst. Tell your doctor that the thing really bothers you and why and listen to his advice.

[fftransform]

Tell your doctor what your plan is. It does not sound like a good plan to me.

I had already talked to an orthopedic surgeon, they said it was fine as long as I could maintain a sterile environment.  I was gonna use the same things they use antiseptic-wise, and the mupirocin is even an 'above and beyond' thing just for rare stuff.  The main problem is the chance of hitting the radial artery; my doc visit was unproductive, they had all the stuff out but eventually decided against doing it in office.  Now I have to wait for a referral to have it aspirated by an expert with ultrasound.

But I've been doing perfect_pitch's suggestion of just pressing it down and giving it some rough massage (not toooooo rough, those little wrist joints are delicate), and actually I think it's finally started working xD  Usually it would crop back up pretty quick, but this time it's mostly staying down.  So by the time I get my referral it might already be sorted haha  It's hurting my thumb less now that it's a bit deflated, too.

[anacrusis]

What other things do you get affected by, apart from the cyst? Could there be something stressful going on in your technique?