The most common hand and wrist lump is a ganglion which is a swelling of the soft tissue that happens when the joint fluid breaks through and forms a lump.
You can get ganglions on the wrist and around the finger joints, in fact any joint can form a ganglion.
Other common places are at the base of the fingers on the palm where a little pearl like ganglion can form.
They are benign and are inclined to come and go so we tend not to treat them, however if pain and functional problems are paramount, we can aspirate them, by inserting a needle and removing the fluid. 50% of aspirated ganglions disappear and decrease in size.
We can also perform keyhole surgery to remove the lump, which is straightforward and performed as a daycase under local anaesthetic.
Other lumps around the hand can be related to the structure of the hand and the skin itself, such as sebaceous cysts.
You can also get lumps from conditions such as Dupuytren’s contracture which forms fibrous lumps, arthritic lumps which come from the joint or a giant cell benign tumour which form around the tendon.
Overall, most hand lumps are benign and may resolve on their own accord. If they don’t resolve but aren’t causing any pain or functional problems then they won’t require specific treatment.
However, if you would like any advice please do not hesitate to get in touch.
