Understanding Ganglion Cyst

To start with let us look at what a ganglion cyst is. These are usually liquid filled growths that are found on joints. They can cause a lot of pain, and a lack of movement in the joint. As you already know, the human frame has many different joints and ganglion cysts are not restricted to any certain area. Though they will usually appear on fingers, wrists, elbows the feet and ankles. They are usually found on the hand or wrist joints.

Ganglion cysts can be totally painless, just causing discomfort more than anything else but they can, depending on size restrict the movement in that joint. usually at the base of a finger, and if they are on your finger they can cause deformity in your fingernail. If the cyst is located on your tendons, you may also feel a slight weakness in that particular joint. The cyst however is not contagious, so no one else needs to worry about catching them. Also, they will not spread to other parts of your body.

They tend to develop due to tissue forming around the joint, this will then become inflamed and swollen due to the lubricating fluid build up. They can of course disappear very quickly all on their own, but if they do carry on growing, do not worry as they are not cancerous.

The cysts are usually caused by the stress of a tendon or joint. Maybe if you have had something drop on your foot or wrist, they can even occur simply through the repetitive movement of joints, this can sometimes cause stress to your joints and a cyst will occur. So if you feel that you may be suffering from repetitive strain injury it is something to keep a look out for.

You will need to see your doctor for a medical diagnosis. Your doctor will probably require you to have an x-ray or alternative test to be able to diagnose properly. Though ganglion cysts are nothing to fret about, you still need to see a doctor as there are other things the cyst or lump could be. Such as a bone spur of a tumour of some sort. Though it is most likely to be a harmless cyst you do still need to see your doctor with any strange little bumps or swellings that appear spontaneously, just to be sure it is nothing more serious.

Very often you can find that you have many more than just one lump, though they do usually have one stalk in the deeper tissue that is common to them all. This type of cyst is also quite safe and will account for probably half of the cysts that appear on the hand. More often than not these growths will appear on the back of your hand although they can also develop on the wrist and look quite prominent if they are on the back of your wrist.

If they develop on your knees, ankles or feet you may suffer with a lot of pain owing to the clear fact that these joints have so much more work to do in just carrying the weight of your body and if tendons are involved you may also suffer from a weakness in these joints. As it is your tendons that hold the muscles and bones together.

As said though, these are quite harmless growths, but do go to see your doctor about such things to get a speedy diagnosis and treatment.