Another whinge from yours truly.....not my back this time but......
Ganglion....Pathol. a cyst or enlargement in connection with the sheath of a tendon, usually at the wrist.
Yes I have such an enlargement but not right on my wrist but rather to the right side of my right arm at the end of the ulnar. I first noticed it before Christmas and wondered if I had strained a tendon or something although I couldn't remember having done so. I do use my computer quite a lot and during my working life I had been a typist. I am right-handed so this poor old wrist has had lots of wear.
I recently found that when I used my keyboard this 'lump' was painful and it ached when I was motiionless so mentioned it to my GP when I saw him last week. He sent me for an x-ray and ultrasound "just to be sure it's nothing sinister".
Result: "The patient's palpable lump is a fluid filled ganglion measuring 13 x 24mm arising from the ulnar aspect of the wrist joint. No solid component is seen".
At least it is only a ganglion but one finding did surprise me "there is an old ununited ulnar styloid fragment". I have extremely solid bones so to have chipped a bit off my ulnar surely meant I had given my wrist a solid bang but I have no memory of doing anything like that so when and how? Not that it has ever been painful but you do wonder at times don't you?
I also discovered that my right hand is in a very bad way with "advanced degenerative change involving the thumb carpometarcarpal joint and all the remaining finger and thumb metacarpopohalangeal joints."
I know I can no longer knit, crochet or sew by hand (can't even use scissors now) and it is frustrating not to be able to do these things. One thing I am so pleased about though is I can still use my sewing machine and I can still use this keyboard......thank goodness for the latter in particular. Otherwise I'd not be able to get on here and whinge about the weather etc., and tell weird stories about my youth and family and bore the pants off anyone who ventures to read my blog!!!
On Thursday I go to the radiologist and the doctor will aspirate this lump and then inject it with cortisone and all should be well. Hopefully I won't be told to rest the arm for any length of time or what would I do. I am sure that won't be the case and you're not going to be rid of me that easily. You can take that as a promise....or a threat!! : )
Oh Mimsie I know this pain! I had a ganglion on my wrist for months and months and it was a terrible pain. Good luck with getting it sorted!
ReplyDeleteThanks BabyMac, I am sure it will be find after Thursday. It's not the worst pain I've ever had by far (hips were and back still is the worst) but I hate things that just ache all the time.
DeleteThank goodness you can still use your keyboard.
ReplyDeleteOh yes Delores that is SOOOO important. I still have the wherewithall to bore everyone. :)
DeleteMy daughter K had a ganglion that became quite large before she finally sought help with it. They aspirated I think, but can't be sure, then put her wrist in a very firm plaster to prevent further swelling. This was years ago and she still gets the ganglion when the wrist is over used.
ReplyDeleteI have a very small ganglion myself and if it begins to swell or get painful I wrap the wrist tightly with sports tape for a day or so.
An old cure for ganglions was to lay the wrist on a table and have someone bash it hard with the big old family bible to rupture the cyst, then bandage it up tightly until the body had absorbed the fluid from the ruptured cyst.
The idea of using a large book (not many homes seem to have old family bibles these days) didn't appeal to my GP!! Actually it's not a position where that would work anyway being on the 'edge' of my arm.
ReplyDeleteI probably could put up with it better if my hand wasn't so painful when I do things. This was just the last straw and seemingly one thing that can be cured so I am going in that direction. I am hotly denying that this 'thing' has anything to do with my using my computer every day.
Ouch Mimsie - ganglions are weird old things aren't they? My mum gets them from time-to-time too. I don't know if she resorted to whacking it with a heavy tome, or if they just went away. I'm glad you're still able to type - I'd miss my dose of Mimsie xx
ReplyDeleteYes they are weird PPMJ and seems they just come or go or come and stay.
DeleteThanks for your kind words....can still type OK which is fantastic so you're not going to get rid of me quite so soon (fingers crossed). xx
Know what you mean. As I get older, I get pain in body parts I'd forgotten I even had.
ReplyDeleteHi there....thanks for popping in and hope you will again before too long.
DeleteThe only parts of me that don't ever ache (so far) are my elbows so can be thankful for that. :)
I am so sorry. I have been largely absent from the blogosphere and I hoped that all was well in your world. I hope that nasty ganglion has been dealt with, and that you are still able to use your keyboard to talk to us all.
ReplyDeletePlease don't apologise EC. Your troubles have been more than double any problems I've had. Just had to have a whinge is all. Had ganglion aspirated and injected and told not to use arm for 2 days. Ganglion appears to have gone and is not painful now .. just have to put up with the silly arthritis now but will keep using keyboard ASAP. thanks for your kind words. xx
ReplyDelete