non surgical removal of ganglions (lumps)

A few years ago I developed 2 very large lumps on the back of my hands near the wrists. I was told they were rheumatoid nodules. My hands at the time were very painful and swollen and beginning to deform due to RA. I wasn’t overly concerned about the nodules as they did not hurt at all and I reasoned that they were acting as shock absorbers due to the large amount of time I spent writing on the computer. Other people seemed to be a bit grossed out by the ugliness of them but I was unconcerned about that and viewed them as nature protecting my joints from further damage.

A surgeon told me that they were ganglions but others have referred to them as nodules, cysts, bursae’s and inflamed synovial sacs. I take it that they all come under the umbrella of ganglion and some, like mine, have a thick gel like substance whereas others are more fluid. I have heard that sometimes they will come back after being surgically removed.

It wasn’t until I noticed that my little finger had lost all movement that I became concerned. My GP suggested I should have the ganglion removed as it looked like it was destroying the tendon in my hand. I also spoke to my Rheumatologist and another surgeon who also advised me to have them removed. I asked all of them if they knew of another way and they all said no; I had tried massage, acupuncture and hydrotherapy with very little if any results. Someone recently told me he had his taken out by syringe. I also tried this a few years ago much against the wishes of my GP. He used a large syringe and after a lot of pulling only the slightest amount of fluid came out. He said he had only done it because I insisted and he felt if I saw how thick it was I would understand it better.

I met a guy down that street who told me he had been in jail and knew of a few guys there who had ganglions which they hit with a bible and the ganglions collapsed. I tried it a few times and it hurt but did not work. I assumed he might have been referring to the power of the word rather than the practical application.

Two weeks ago I had lunch with a friend’s father – a retired surgeon. He noticed my hands and casually mentioned the bible treatment. It doesn’t need to be a bible as such it is just that the bible is a good weight and size. Any good sized book will do but it needs to be heavy enough, wide enough and flexible enough to absorb the impact without crushing the hand. (A hammer or other objects could crush the bones.) The lump also needs to be big enough to take the impact – I wouldn’t do this with a small mound of a lump. The lump is fluid inside a membrane and it is the membrane that needs to burst – a bit like a balloon.

I realized that my previous attempt had not worked because I had not hit it hard enough. I asked my son to do it and insisted it must be hard and that the book needed to be centred. He was nervous about hurting me so the fist whack did not break it even though it was pretty hard. It hurt but it was so quick that by the time it registered as pain it was over. He hit it a second time, much harder, and we sat in amazement as the lump deflated and spread out into my hand. I held my hand in hot water in an attempt to thin out the gel substance and massaged and pushed the fluid around the hand wrist and arm. The next day my hand was swollen and slightly bruised but not painful. By the end of the week my hand was almost back to normal apart from a very slight ridge which I feel sure will dissipate in time but it’s hardly noticeable anyway. I did the other hand a few days later and it took three attempts before it burst. For some reason the fluid in this one seems thicker and is slowly moving up my arm which still looks a little swollen. I massage it and heat it each day and it is gradually dissipating. The lump itself has flattened completely.

I am so pleased with the results and thrilled that I will not require surgery. (I would have had much more pain, scars and up to six weeks recovery and loss of function.) How do you go to the loo without the use of hands?

Of course, I am not offering this information as a recommendation to anyone else. I am simply telling my story and take full responsibility for my decision to try this technique.

What is a ganglion cyst?
A ganglion cyst is the most common mass that develops in the hand. Ganglion cysts are benign lesions. A ganglion is a fluid-filled sac arising from an adjacent joint capsule or tendon sheath. A ganglion can form from almost any joint or tendon sheath in the wrist or hand.

Copyright Sonya Green 2008
www.reinventingmyself.com
100's of free inspirational and thought provoking articles