--- title: "Recurrence of a Ganglion Cyst | Sutter Health" description: "I had wrist surgery in January for a ganglion cyst on the inside of my wrist. It was painful and affected my quality of life. It was healing well until six weeks ago. The cyst has returned and is causing the same symptoms prior to surgery. What can I do?" url: "/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354" --- 1. Home / 2. Recurrence of a Ganglion Cyst # Recurrence of a Ganglion Cyst * * * Medically reviewed by - Joshua C. Richards, M.D. ## Question I had wrist surgery in January for a ganglion cyst on the inside of my wrist. It was painful and affected my quality of life. It was healing well until six weeks ago. The cyst has returned and is causing the same symptoms prior to surgery. What can I do? ## Answer Unfortunately, recurrence of a ganglion cyst is not that uncommon. The options are still the same. You can live with it if it doesn't hurt very much. You can potentially have it drained. Or, you can have it excised again. Recurrences do occur, even with experienced hand surgeons. The published recurrence rate is six percent. If you had it removed by someone other than an experienced hand surgeon, maybe its time to see one. ## Explore related topics Bones, joints and musclesHand, Wrist, Elbow ## Meet our care team Joshua C. Richards, M.D. Orthopedic Surgery Hand Surgery ## Related questions View all questions - Health Q&A ### Treatment for Ganglion Cyst I have had a lump on my left wrist for over a year. It was bigger at one time and now is small. Sometimes in protrudes through the skin. Should I be worried about this? It doesn't hurt. - Health Q&A ### Numbness and Tingling in the Hands I wake up with my right hand numb. My thumb and middle finger seem the worst. It takes awhile for the numbness to wear off. I work in a grocery store, so I'm always on my feet and on the register. 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View all questions ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Recurrence of a Ganglion Cyst"}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalWebPage","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354#medicalwebpage","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354","name":"Recurrence of a Ganglion Cyst","description":"Unfortunately, recurrence of a ganglion cyst is not that uncommon.","inLanguage":"en-US","medicalAudience":{"@type":"MedicalAudience","audienceType":"Patient"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354#breadcrumblist"},"mainEntity":{"@type":"Question","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354#question","name":"Recurrence of a Ganglion Cyst","text":"I had wrist surgery in January for a ganglion cyst on the inside of my wrist. It was painful and affected my quality of life. It was healing well until six weeks ago. The cyst has returned and is causing the same symptoms prior to surgery. What can I do?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/recurrence-of-a-ganglion-cyst-1051061354#answer","text":"Unfortunately, recurrence of a ganglion cyst is not that uncommon. The options are still the same. You can live with it if it doesn't hurt very much. You can potentially have it drained. Or, you can have it excised again. Recurrences do occur, even with experienced hand surgeons. The published recurrence rate is six percent. 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