Hand osteoarthritis with mucous cysts

Yesterday I had surgery to remove a cyst on my left index finger . It’s too early to tell if it was worth it, if it was a success. But I will think twice before doing this surgery again because the injection for local anesthesia hurt so much!

I hand surgery in October to remove a mucus cyst on my middle finger near the nail bed caused by arthritis. Part of
the bone was removed to get to the "root". It started coming back after a few weeks. It is hard to ignore because it is sensitive and sometimes throbs. I went back to surgeon today. He drained some of the mucus and told me to wear a compression bandage for two weeks and apply pressure a few times daily. As a last resort a pin can replace the joint, but I would not be able to bend my finger in that joint. I don't plan to go that route. He said he was surprised I didn't have more.

I also had cyst in finger joint, drained and promptly returned. No choice other than surgical removal of affected joint and replacement screw. Several years have passed without any more cysts occurring. Recovery was ok and I have never had any problems with the screw or even missing the joint. Finger works fine.

I have had a few mixoid cysts. Some have eventually gone away some returned. I have just one at present on my best, most used, left index finger. I've had if ages. This is the second time. I believe it's joint damage due to work wear and tear. The skin is weakened so if it gets knocked it flares up worse. Then it's extremely painful. I've tried loads of stuff to protect it, but have recently been using "new skin" liquid plaster which supports the fragile skin enough to keep the cyst down pretty well. Unless knocked badly, it seems to do the trick. Even then it helps to improve the swellING making it more comfortable. As long as I keep up the applications, it seems to be doing well. Hope this helps.

My mixoid cyst

I have a digital myxoid cyst on my middle right hand finger. Dermatologist tried freezing it, but it just came back worse and painful. I started usinf Prid Ointment with bandaid a week ago, changing bandage and reapplying ointment several times a day. My cyst is almost gone. I’ll continue with the ointment and bandages in hopes it will completely disappear. My dermatologist suggested surgery. I want to avoid that.

update: the cyst kept coming back with this treatment. I'm now using Ichthammol Ointment 20%, which works much better.

@bonnieh218 I didn't notice this discussion before this morning, but I just had a mucous cyst drained by my dermatologist. He said they often recur and if they become problematic then I could go to a hand surgeon and have something done to prevent them from recurring. I do not have arthritis in my hands or fingers at all, which I realize is often a cause.

@u13496 My doctor did refer to them as being "mucous cysts". I just googled synovial cyst and I believe that is not quite the same, although it could be.

I took this picture of my mucous cyst to send via the portal to the dermatologist to ask if he could do something about it, so here's the picture. I wish this website didn't feel the need to make the picture so much larger, it makes it quite blurry.
JK

@wvfem Just saw this I have a cyst behind my knee A friend had same symptoms She used the black salve Ichthammol it does work my leg feels better

Good to know, Lioness!