Traditional Cure for a Ganglion Cyst

A few weeks ago, I noticed a hard little lump on the back of my right wrist. I obsessed for a few days, but then forgot about it. Fast forward to last Friday: I was doing dishes when the lump again caught my eye.

It had doubled, no tripled, in size, at least. Being a naturally worrisome person, I spent all night thinking I had cancer. My husband, Steve, was having none of it, and said I wasn't allowed to talk about it again until I saw a doctor.

So the next day, I went to a walk-in clinic. The doc took a look, wiggled my wrist and pressed on the lump before confidently saying it was a ganglion cyst -- essentially harmless.

He drew me a nice picture of how the wrist works and how the cyst forms. He said it happens sometimes if there's been an injury to the area, or because of repetitive movements. Since I'm at the computer eight-plus hours a day, five days a week, and the lump appeared on my mouse hand, it's likely my poor computer habits are to blame (I've since gone out and bought a new mouse pad with wrist support).

He said most people just ignore it unless it becomes painful. You could drain it, but chances are it will come back. You could have surgery on it, but chances are it will come back. Or, he said, you could smack it with a book, like they did in the old days. It's really the easiest solution.

I came home and told Steve the options.

Let's smack it! he said. He's usually such a gentle guy! I had to ask myself whether I should be concerned at his enthusiasm.

I dismissed the idea, my stomach turning at the thought. But a few days later, the nasty little thing was really starting to bug me (aesthetically, of course) and the prospect of a quick, non-invasive solution looked more promising.

I Googled ganglion cyst and discovered the doc was quite right -- whacking the cyst with a heavy book was the most common way to deal with the problem in years past. I couldn't find any medical reason why NOT to do it, and it came to down to a very simple calculation: I could live with it and gross myself out every time I bent my wrist, I could spend time and money getting unnecessary surgery or having it drained, or I could withstand a few minutes of acute pain and get rid of it the old-fashioned way.

Eliminating a Ganglion Cyst the Old-fashioned Way

"I want you to whack it," I said. "But we have to do it now." I sent Steve upstairs to look for the biggest, baddest book we owned. He came back with my hardcover version of Edgar Allan Poe, Complete Tales & Poems. It seemed fittingly macabre, so we headed off to the kitchen to begin Operation Whackdown.

I put my wrist on the counter, my hand hanging over the edge so the hideous bump was sticking out. I turned my head away so I wouldn't see it coming and started to dance around on the spot as a distraction. For some reason, I couldn't stop laughing. The whole scene just seemed so bizarre.

One, two WHACK!

I stopped laughing, grabbed my hand and jumped up and down, as if that would somehow take away the pain. Steve had a weird look on his face -- a unique mix of guilt, amusement and concern. Surprisingly, I didn't cry but my jumping went on for several minutes. Then the wave of nausea hit. It was a narrow miss. Word to the wise: Have a bucket handy when afflicting pain on oneself.

The immediate results were not overwhelmingly positive; it didn't pop like a water balloon and disappear right away. The bump was still there, but it got smaller as the night wore on. By the time I woke up the next morning, the bump was almost imperceptible!

What do you know: old medicine is new again. I wish we had thought to video tape it!