Cindy Hart on thu 18 mar 04
Hi Clayarters!
I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my wrist
is a ganglian cyst. I have no problem centering but it is painful when I
try to bring the walls up. My question is...Have any of you ever had one
of these? What steps did you take to make it go away or relieve the pain?
For now my doctor has given my an anti-inflammatory, leather splint and
suggested moist heat. The ultimate step being surgery, if nothing else
works, but that is not a road I want to travel.
Thanks for any and all input!
Sid in SC
Snail Scott on thu 18 mar 04
At 12:34 PM 3/18/04 -0500, Sid wrote:
> I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my wrist
>is a ganglian cyst...
I had this for years, both hands. They waxed and
waned in size depending on recent aggravation to
my wrists. They never hurt much unless I whacked
the back of my hand into something, but eventually
the one on my right hand got so large that it got
in the way of handbuilding inside tight forms.
I went to a clinic doctor I knew, who had actually
had the same condition himself. He'd had the surgery,
and did NOT recommend it. Although it relieved his
immediate condition, it didn't prevent it coming
back later. He also warned of the potential for
serious hand problems arising from the process of
surgery itself. It's not major surgery, but no
procedure is risk-free, and the thought of accidental
nerve damage in my hands put me off that option,
big-time. (This is just one doctor's opinion, of
course, but I have a lot of respect for this doctor,
and for his generally hands-off approach. Note
personal bias, here!)
He suggested simply draining the cyst with a needle,
and that's what we eventually did. The draining,
though freaky to watch, was pretty innocuous. I had
to wear one of those wrap-around wrist braces for
six weeks afterward, though. It was impossible to
keep clean, and was constantly damp and caked with
red clay. (Having several might have allowed for
regular washing and drying - 20/20 hindsight.) ;)
Since then, I've just been careful about bending my
wrists too far. I don't throw or wedge much, so it
hasn't forced any modification in my working method.
(No namaste gestures for me, either!) The thing I
have to be most careful about isn't my claywork, but
the crash-bar handles on public exit doors. If you
do wedge or center by bending your wrists to full
backward extension, though, try to reduce that
tendency. (Your exact causes may differ from mine,
though - I'm not a doctor, and I've never played one
on TV, either.)
Ont he bright side, I've had no return of the problem
since the treatment a decade ago. I never even think
about it anymore.
-Snail
Sheron Roberts on fri 19 mar 04
Lowell wrote:
" I think they used to call them Bible cysts because people=20
would wack them with the bible!"
This is so wild! My daughter, a dog groomer who bends and flexes =
her
wrists all day, had the same problem. Hers came and went until =
the
last time it reappeared when it came back with a vengeance, huge.
She went to a doctor, found out she could not afford the surgery, =
so
resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have this =
"alien
thing" on her wrist forever. When she married her husband, he
kept telling her he could "fix" it. He wouldn't tell her how. She =
finally
said Ok, he picks up a large book and Whack!! When she began
talking to him again, she asked him why he did that. He told her
he had always heard that remedy would work. He was raised by his
grandmother in Germany, so we figured it was something he learned
from her. That was six years ago and the thing has never =
returned.
Sheron in NC=20
=20
=20
Judi Buchanan on fri 19 mar 04
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart Behalf Of Cindy Hart
I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my
wrist
is a ganglian cyst. I
My question is...Have any of you ever had one
of these? What steps did you take to make it go away or relieve the
pain?
Sid in SC
________________________________________________________________________
_____
Sid, I lived with one in my wrist for years. The family doctor explained
the odds are 50/50. Half the time if you ignore them they go away and
half the time if you have surgery they grow back. Mine finally went
away.
Judi Buchanan,Flutter-by Pottery
Marilu on fri 19 mar 04
Hello Sid,
My daughter has had ganglion cysts and they are very painful. She was 14
and decided to take golf as a gym class when she first developed them.One
went down on its own. But the other stayed painful and got worse they ended
up putting a needle into it a few times to let the fluid drain and it went
away. However, she just got it back about a month ago-she is almost 17 now
and does a lot of computer work. She says it only hurts if she presses on
it or accidently hits it. She does not want to go through the needles
again. The doctor the last time told us it would be a weak spot and would
most likely re occur. I hope things go better for you soon. If you do find
something that helps(hopefully something besides surgery) can you please
post it? She likes to do pottery with me but has to be careful how she uses
her hand -Thanks and good luck I hope you feel better soon- Marilu
Lowell Barron on fri 19 mar 04
Hi Sid, Two of my daughters had ganglion cysts. The first to have it is a
professional cellist and had hers successfully removed by a hand specialist
years ago. She uses her hand extensively in her work and has absolutely no
problem.
The second one also developed one for totally unknown reasons. She was
scheduled for surgery after it got quite big. Then surgery was postponed
because of another problem and within days she accidentally whacked her
wrist and it totally disappeared. That was 5 years ago and she has no sign
of it. She is a very active person and does a lot of white water canoeing
with no regard for her wrist.
This also happened to my mother-in-law but it was recurring and then she
would wack it again.
I wonder if splinting it is the right thing to do? Have you done a search on
the internet? I think they used to call them Bible cysts because people
would wack them with the bible! I think they do not recommend that now
although I can't remember why.
Good luck! Lowell Ann
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cindy Hart"
To:
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 12:34 PM
Subject: ganglian cyst
> Hi Clayarters!
>
>
> I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my wrist
> is a ganglian cyst. I have no problem centering but it is painful when I
> try to bring the walls up. My question is...Have any of you ever had one
> of these? What steps did you take to make it go away or relieve the pain?
> For now my doctor has given my an anti-inflammatory, leather splint and
> suggested moist heat. The ultimate step being surgery, if nothing else
> works, but that is not a road I want to travel.
> Thanks for any and all input!
>
> Sid in SC
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Kathi LeSueur on fri 19 mar 04
hartworks@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:
>Hi Clayarters!
>
>
> I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my wrist
>is a ganglian cyst. I have no problem centering but it is painful when I
>try to bring the walls up. My question is...Have any of you ever had one
>of these? What steps did you take to make it go away or relieve the pain?>>>
>
I've had ganglians in my right wrist which eventually led to surgery.
So, a few questions. Are you being treated by an orthopedist? If not
find one. A good one. Nurses and physical therapist are great resources
for who is the best. The first course of treatment is the "family Bible"
treatment. It actually used to be done. Slam a large book on the cyst to
try to break it open. This WILL be painful. Cysts sometime break open of
their own accord. The resulting pain as your body absorbs the fluid can
be very bad.
After that doesn't work (sorry it probably won't), an orthopedic surgeon
can drain the cyst. This is an out patient procedure done in the office
and involves sticking a needle in the cyst and draining the fluid. This
can be quite painful (sorry, everything associated with this cyst in
going to be painful.)
It will probably come back. Persistant little suckers. Next you can have
it surgically removed. A pretty simple surgery probably done out patient
now.
In my case, the cyst came back repeatedly. Even after surgery, until a
second surgery. It was discovered during surgery that the cyst had
grown through the artery in my wrist to the point that the artery had to
come out to remove the cyst. Since then I've had no trouble with cysts.
It was a pretty drastic procedure and I was in a hard cast for several
weeks. But eventually the body finds new ways to get the blood supply to
the hand and strength comes back. Anyone who's seen my work knows that
I can throw pretty big. So the long term effects of surgery can be
minimal.
Good luck,
Kathi
>
>
>
>
Roly Beevor on fri 19 mar 04
Cindy wrote: I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my
wrist
> is a ganglian cyst.
The traditional remedy (I have it on good authority) is a sharp blow with
the family Bible.
Whether this can actually dissipate the fluid, or is merely a threat to stop
the sufferer complaining, I know not.
Roly
In Gateshead in a gale
Annie Evans on fri 19 mar 04
I had one on my finger. They are also called mucus cysts because they form
when the mucus in the joint leaks out into a little balloon. Lovely, isn't
it? The dermatologist burned it away. He said it might come back and I
think it is. Anyway, last resort is surgery which can leave the area stiff.
Have you seen a dermatologist?
Katey Knox on fri 19 mar 04
I have had at least three of these things. The first time was in my
right wrist. It was pretty painfull. The doc said that he could drain
it (which he did) but that it was likely to recur (which it did). I
ended up having the surgery. There is still a fairly high rate of
recurrence after surgery. I had a recurrence in the same wrist and had
surgery again. That was a little more than ten years ago and I haven't
had any problems with my right wrist since. However, I have had
flare-ups in my left wrist (which is the hand that I write with) and I
have been reluctant to go through the debilitation of surgery with my
dominant hand so I have ignored it. It tends to flare up and then go
away. I can live with that for now. They used to call them
"bible-busters" since the treatment (where possible) used to involve
whacking the thing with a heavy book in order to rupture it. I have had
one go away after falling down hard on my hand before (by accident, of
course). It's not a serious condition. It can come and go. You could
just wait and see what happens before you decide to do anything else.
Or you could have someone whack it with a bible (just kiding).
-Katey
Cindy Hart wrote:
>Hi Clayarters!
>
>
> I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my wrist
>is a ganglian cyst. I have no problem centering but it is painful when I
>try to bring the walls up. My question is...Have any of you ever had one
>of these? What steps did you take to make it go away or relieve the pain?
>For now my doctor has given my an anti-inflammatory, leather splint and
>suggested moist heat. The ultimate step being surgery, if nothing else
>works, but that is not a road I want to travel.
>Thanks for any and all input!
>
>Sid in SC
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
>
blazingbee on fri 19 mar 04
Hi Sid,
I had one about 20 years ago. I tried to live with it but it was
painful. It kept getting bigger and then it would burst and go down.
It would come back slowly till it finally got so big it would burst
again. Finally one day I was in Karate class and I got smack directly
on it. It squirted to the other side of my wrist. LOL. Cool huh? I
lived with it for a while but then decided to see a doctor. He did
try aspiration but it came back as he said it probably would. I went
ahead with surgury. The doctor did tell me that sometimes they still
come back after surgury, that is if they don't get everything out. He
gave me the choice of whether I wanted to be knocked out or just have
valium and my arm deadened. I had my arm deadened. They did something
with the nerve in my arm pit that immobilized my arm and I felt
nothing. I also felt pretty happy, :0)I even saw the surgery. He let
me look. He said mine was the wierdest he ever saw. It had three
branches that went though my whole wrist. (I'm guessing due to the
wack it took.)He had to completely pull my wrist apart to get it out
but he was successful and very proud of himself saying he knew it
would not come back. He was right. My wrist did crack a lot after
that but all my joints crack a lot. I have had no problems until 20
plus years of typing for work. MY guess is carpul tunnel from the
typing though. If you do decide to go with surgury I would suggest
reasearching your doctor well. I had a really good and very cool
doctor.
Hope this helps,
Crystal
--- In clayart@yahoogroups.com, Cindy Hart wrote:
> Hi Clayarters!
>
>
> I went to the doctor today and discovered the recent lump on my
wrist
> is a ganglian cyst. My question is...Have any of you ever had one
> of these? What steps did you take to make it go away or relieve
the pain?
>
> Sid in SC
Maggie Trzcinski on sat 20 mar 04
I to have had the pleasure of this lump on the wrist.
I recall living with it for awhile and making plans to
have it removed until one day I put on a pair of
rubber gloves that were to tight for my hands. I went
about cleaning the floor the old fachion way on my
hands and knees.
Here comes the punch line. I toke off my tight glove
looked at my wrist no lump. I actually looked inside
the glove for the lump. Never had a problem again.
That was twenty eight years ago.
You always have to keep a sence of humor about these
thinks. I guess the glove was the same as a slam with
a book. Good Luck Maggie
wrote:
> hartworks@EARTHLINK.NET wrote:
>
> >Hi Clayarters!
> >
> >
> > I went to the doctor today and discovered the
> recent lump on my wrist
> >is a ganglian cyst. I have no problem centering
> but it is painful when I
> >try to bring the walls up. My question is...Have
> any of you ever had one
> >of these? What steps did you take to make it go
> away or relieve the pain?>>>
> >
>
> I've had ganglians in my right wrist which
> eventually led to surgery.
> So, a few questions. Are you being treated by an
> orthopedist? If not
> find one. A good one. Nurses and physical therapist
> are great resources
> for who is the best. The first course of treatment
> is the "family Bible"
> treatment. It actually used to be done. Slam a large
> book on the cyst to
> try to break it open. This WILL be painful. Cysts
> sometime break open of
> their own accord. The resulting pain as your body
> absorbs the fluid can
> be very bad.
>
> After that doesn't work (sorry it probably won't),
> an orthopedic surgeon
> can drain the cyst. This is an out patient procedure
> done in the office
> and involves sticking a needle in the cyst and
> draining the fluid. This
> can be quite painful (sorry, everything associated
> with this cyst in
> going to be painful.)
>
> It will probably come back. Persistant little
> suckers. Next you can have
> it surgically removed. A pretty simple surgery
> probably done out patient
> now.
>
> In my case, the cyst came back repeatedly. Even
> after surgery, until a
> second surgery. It was discovered during surgery
> that the cyst had
> grown through the artery in my wrist to the point
> that the artery had to
> come out to remove the cyst. Since then I've had no
> trouble with cysts.
> It was a pretty drastic procedure and I was in a
> hard cast for several
> weeks. But eventually the body finds new ways to get
> the blood supply to
> the hand and strength comes back. Anyone who's seen
> my work knows that
> I can throw pretty big. So the long term effects of
> surgery can be
> minimal.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Kathi
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change
> your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be
> reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Snail Scott on sat 20 mar 04
Enough with the 'bible' cysts, already!
I'm starting to get grossed out! ;)
-Snail
Bonnie Staffel on sat 20 mar 04
Dear Friends,
I once had a ganglion cyst when I was working in an office. Seems that it
would rise up whenever I lifted a typewriter or something heavy. One of the
tricks of that day was to take a deck of cards and whack it. It kept coming
back so I had the operation. It went very well and it never returned to
this day. I had no problems with my wrist. I also developed one at another
time on my wrist at the base of my thumb. That one was treated with a shot
of cortisone and it never returned either.
Regards, Bonnie Staffel, from Charlevoix, where it is starting to warm up
and the snow is melting and feeling rather useless while my CTS surgeries
are healing.
http://pws.chartermi.net/~bstaffel/default.html
E.G. Yarnetsky on sun 21 mar 04
Hi all!
I had a painful cyst on my wrist when I was in high school. Between
playing the clarinet all hours and lots of drawing, I stressed it a
lot. Parents finally took me to the doctor who got all holier than
thou, refused to drain it, and said he had one on his arm and to
ignore it! Two weeks later I fell right on it in gym class, had two of
them on the wrist for a few days and then they disappeared forever. So
perhaps the bible solution isn't so farfetched.
Darlene Y. in Madison IN
Cindy Hart on tue 23 mar 04
Hi Clayarters,
I just wanted to send a big thank you for all your responses and
information! I am always in the archives looking up info on questions I
have. The amount of incredible information and the spirit of caring and
giving on this list is staggering. I work alone and it is heartening to
end a day reading clayart and knowing it is so accessible.
I was scared about not being able to throw again etc. when I first got this
lump but feel much better now after reading your posts with the different
options available. I am currently hand building and wearing a splint. The
pain has lessened but the lump is still there. Hopefully in time it too
will lessen and leave.
Thanks again,
Sid in SC
RHONDA FRIED on fri 26 mar 04
My doctor also advised hitting it hard to break the capsule, so the =
fluid could be reabsorbed, but he also told me it would probably return. =
=20
Mine has quit hurting. =20
You could do as I do and pretend it's a clay tattoo.
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