# Oh great. My ganglion cyst is back. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561 "2005-12-07T20:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/1 "2005-12-07T20:50:47Z")
Oh great. My [ganglion cyst](http://www.mayoclinic.org/ganglioncysts-jax/?WT.mc_id=1&WT.mc_n=OSMX&WT.srch=1) has returned. It’s on my right wrist and it hurts like a bugger. I’ve been playing more tennis and have been doing a lot more browsing on the internet. I’ve obviously aggravated the tendon. Rats! Just thought I’d share. I’m a freak of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/2 "2005-12-07T21:01:30Z")
Had one of those a while back. It’s a pain in the arse. _hugs sympathetically_ Fortunately, it went away without requiring surgery… ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/3 "2005-12-07T21:04:08Z")
Smack it with a bible. I hear that works. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/4 "2005-12-07T21:27:38Z")
Many years ago, when I was playing with a punk band, our drummer developed a ganglion cyst. It led to one of the most bizarrely surreal evenings of my life. In the first place, none of us had ever heard of a ganglion cyst. All we knew was that JM’s wrist had this horrible, giant lump on it all of a sudden. We were young and freaked out (and powerfully under the influence of various legal and illegal substances,) it was 3AM, and we were all in a strange city, so what did we do? We called another band member’s mom in a different city, cause she was a nurse. “Sounds like a ganglion cyst to me. Hit it with a book.” _click_ _Hit it with a book?!_ What kind of jack-leg medical advice is that? We couldn’t believe it, so we called a hospital (geniuses, we were.) Now it’s important to note that JM didn’t actually want to _go_ to a hospital, because of paranoia and the much more mundane fact that we were all desperately poor and uninsured. So he tried to solicit medical advice over the phone. “Uh huh. No, I can’t come to the hospital. Uh huh. Look, let’s just say it _is_ a ganglion cyst. What should I do? ‘Whatever I do, don’t hit it with a book.’ OK, got it. So what are my options? No, I told you I absolutely can’t make it to the hospital. Oh, OK. Uh huh. Thanks.” He hung up. “She said to hit it with a book.” JM took a slug of booze, looked around the room for a book, and couldn’t find one big enough, so his eyes fell on a corner of the wall by the door. He figured if he couldn’t hit it with somethjing heavy, he’d hit something heavy with his wrist. Not the best plan, in retrospect. He cranked up the Rollins Band tune “Don’t Think About It, Do It,” took a deep breath (and another drink,) and swung his arm at the wall. He, of course, missed the ganglion cyst altogether and broke his wrist. Oopsy. We took him to the hospital, where the kind medical staff patched him up and drained the cyst, and informed us that the real reason you weren’t supposed to hit it with something heavy was that you ran a rather large risk of missing the cyst and damaging yourself with the heavy object. Duh, I suppose. Anyway, sorry about your cyst, but don’t hit it with a book while under the influence, m’kay? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/5 "2005-12-07T21:27:57Z")
I had mine surgically removed at the Doc-in-the-Box. As a walk-in! 2 or 3 stitches and you’re good to go. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/6 "2005-12-07T22:44:32Z")
I had one, and there was No. Way. In. Hell. I was going to hit it with a damn book. I was told that surgery was a possibility, but made it more likely that the damn thing would come back, actually. I did nothing. (Well, not _nothing_. I had some friends pray for me. Laugh at me if you like.) It went away. Hasn’t been back (so far) - that was years ago. Sorry about yours, **Pundit Lisa**. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/7 "2005-12-07T22:57:11Z")
It’s a reoccuring cyst. I’ve actually hit it with a Bible (seriously) twice (the soft sides ones work better than the hardcovers) and once, my neighbor hit it with an empty beer bottle. That worked well because it’s right where that little bone is on your wrist and the book kept whacking that instead. I’m going to have to get myself all intoxicated and go for it again. OKAY, WHO WANTS TO WHACK MY WRIST?? ---
**Author:** ![MamaHen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@MamaHen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MamaHen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/8 "2005-12-07T23:04:29Z")
I feel your pain. I fought my cyst for about 5 years before I finally had them cut it out. The surgery was easy and I’ve had no problems since. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/9 "2005-12-08T13:12:24Z")
So that’s what they mean by a book club? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/10 "2005-12-09T01:39:05Z")
(lobs a rotten tomato at lieu) I don’t know whether to be flattered or embarrassed that no one stepped up to the plate to whack my ganglion cyst, but you can all rest easier tonight knowing that I whacked it myself and it is now history. Well, until it grows back again. My tool of choice this time was the heavy end of a butter knife. AND I used my left hand, which is very impressive considering my left hand is pretty much useless. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/11 "2005-12-09T01:59:48Z")
So you can really just thump it with something heavy and it goes away? What happens? Does the liquid just dissipate under your skin, or does it burst through like a big gooey wrist geyser? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/12 "2005-12-09T16:40:48Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > So you can really just thump it with something heavy and it goes away? What happens? Does the liquid just dissipate under your skin, or does it burst through like a big gooey wrist geyser? Its all happens under the skin. Whatever fluid is inside just dissipates. It’s an odd sensation, but not painful (well, except for the whack). The good thing is that the pain is gone along with the cyst. ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/13 "2005-12-12T18:07:00Z")
Can ganglion cysts appear in places other than your wrist? My boyfriend has these two funny little lumps on his back and I guess was told that they were ganglion cysts. The Amazing Interweb only mentions wrists, feet, etc.–areas around joints–as possible sites. Could he have been misdiagnosed? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/14 "2005-12-13T00:14:31Z")
> [@tiltypig](#): > > Can ganglion cysts appear in places other than your wrist? > > My boyfriend has these two funny little lumps on his back and I guess was told that they were ganglion cysts. The Amazing Interweb only mentions wrists, feet, etc.–areas around joints–as possible sites. Could he have been misdiagnosed? I’m afraid I don’t know. I’ve only seen them on wrists. It seems to be genetic because my aunt, mother and grandma also get them. I’d have any lump checked out. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-great-my-ganglion-cyst-is-back/334561/15 "2005-12-13T00:17:59Z")
Mr. Wanna has lumps on his back. He says they are benign fatty tumors. Maybe that’s what **tiltypig** ’s boyfriend has.