You notice a little lump on the back of your wrist. Firm or movable, sometimes bigger, sometimes almost invisible, and usually painless. It is natural to worry.
In the great majority of cases it is a ganglion, also called a ganglion cyst, and it is the most common benign lesion of the hand and wrist.
What it is, exactly
It is a sac full of jelly-like fluid that grows out of the capsule of a joint or the sheath of a tendon, and stays connected to it. This connection explains two things that confuse people: why its size changes over time, and why after being emptied it can come back.
The typical sites are the back of the wrist (the most frequent), the palm side, and the base of the fingers.
The thing not to do
The folk remedy of squeezing it or hitting it with a book has to be said clearly: do not do it.
It can break the cyst, but it can also damage the tissues around it, and it is very likely to come back because the connection with the joint remains. It is not a home remedy: it is a way of creating one more problem.
When it is enough to keep an eye on it
Watching and waiting is a legitimate choice, not giving up. Ganglia can shrink or disappear on their own, and if they do not hurt there is no urgency at all.
A 2023 review collects twenty years of progress on ganglia of the hand and wrist: it is the up-to-date picture of how they are understood and treated today.
Simply keep an eye on it if: it does not hurt, does not limit movement, does not cause tingling, and is not changing quickly.
When you should get it checked
- it hurts or limits the use of your hand;
- it causes tingling or weakness, a sign that it is pressing on a nerve;
- it grows quickly, or is hard and fixed to the deeper tissues;
- it comes with fever, heat or redness;
- it stops you from working or from the sport you do.
The first two situations are the most common; the others are rare but need to be recognised.
The options, if it bothers you
Aspiration empties the cyst with a needle. It is quick and minimally invasive, and it can come back because the root remains.
Steroid injection and surgical excision were compared in a 2025 study: they have different profiles of effectiveness and recurrence. The choice is made with a hand surgeon, weighing how much it bothers you and how much the chance of it coming back matters to you.
What physiotherapy can do (and what it cannot)
It does not make the cyst disappear. No manual therapy does, and anyone who promises it is saying something untrue.
It can, however, work on what makes it troublesome:
- wrist mobility, often reduced in extension;
- grip strength, which drops when you use your hand less;
- movements that flare it up: floor push-ups, bench press, some work grips. Often changing your support or your grip removes the discomfort without stopping the activity;
- recovery after surgery, which is the situation where our role is most clearly defined.
Getting support
A wrist cyst is rarely a serious problem. It becomes a problem when it changes the way you use your hand, and that can be addressed, even when the cyst stays where it is.
With Ri-Hub, the first consultation is free: a physiotherapist on the Italian professional register assesses mobility, strength and the movements that bother you, and tells you frankly when you need the opinion of a hand surgeon instead. Follow-up sessions cost 29,90€.
If your wrist hurts without any swelling, the causes are covered in Wrist pain: causes, diagnosis and treatment.
If the discomfort appears when using the mouse, see Mouse wrist pain: causes, prevention and remedies.
To regain wrist movement, the exercises are in Wrist mobility: exercises to improve it.
Sources
- Ganglions in the Hand and Wrist: Advances in 2 Decades. The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2023
- An evaluation of surgical excision versus steroid injection for the management of ganglion cysts. Scientific reports, 2025
Sources last checked: September 2026.
