Ganglion

Nodes occasionally form in the area around wrist and finger joints, and less commonly in other joints, which are painful with movement or pressure. They come about through protrusions of the synovial membrane and are filled with so much synovial fluid that they feel as if they could be made of bone. Colloquially, we call these benign tumours synovial cysts. The technical term is ganglion.

Symptoms: Pain often arises when the ganglion is touched or the affected area is moved. In some cases, when the ganglion presses onto nerves, this leads to sensory disturbances such as numbness or tingling.

Therapies: It is rare that a ganglion regresses by itself. If this is not the case, there are several treatment options. As part of conservative therapy, punctures and injections are used. If these measures show no lasting effects, surgical removal should be done under local anaesthetics.

Details of therapies can be found under hand surgery.