Suggest Treatment For Painful Ganglion Cyst In Right Thumb

Posted on Tue, 14 Jul 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 Answered on

Tue, 4 Aug 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Have ganglion cyst at "base" of rt thumb, near spot used to check pulse. Also pain farther up base of thumb. Dr. I saw thinks cyst & pain are unrelated, & pain is arthritis. Wants to remove one of the wrist bones to address pain & also to remove cyst. My age is 79. Would aspiration & cortisone injection seem to be a better treatment? Have had this cyst aspirated twice before. Last time approx 5 years ago. Can cysts cause pain in some way? X-ray does show some arthritis.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Sudhir Kumar (23 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Your doctor may be right.

Detailed Answer:

Hi
Thanks for your query

I'm Dr Sudhir Kumar

I have gone through your query and understand your concern.Your doctor may be right as you can has arthritis of carpometacarpal( base) joint of the thumb which may be cause of pain as this arthritis is common in your age and x also confirmed it. Cyst can cause pain sometimes when it is tense. So I think aspirations and cortisone injection will be better option. If few weeks after injection pain persists you can opt for surgery.

You can discuss with your doctor about it.

Hope your query get answered. If you have any clarification then I will be happy to help you.

Wishing you a good health.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar