Wrist Ganglia:

A ganglion, or cyst, is a spontaneous onset, thick, jelly-filled sac developing from mucoid degeneration in the wrist capsule and elsewhere attached to joints and tendons.  There are numerous places in the wrist that it may occur, but it predominantly occurs on the top of the wrist (the hairy side), towards the midline, adjacent to the end of the posterior interosseous nerve which it might impinge upon.  The second most likely location is the palmar wrist along the course of the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) tendon on the thumb side.  Ganglia are usually painless unless they are pressing upon an overlying nerve and/or an associated arthritic joint; i.e. the wrist or the base of the thumb.  The lump, however, from the ganglion draws attention  to the patient but the other problem must be sought in order to get good symptomatic relief.  It is not uncommon for a patient to be seen by an inexperienced surgeon with a lump which is construed as painful, only to end up showing up with ongoing symptoms of pain in the wrist and/or hand because of the previously undiagnosed and thus untreated nerve entrapment such as carpal tunnel release; i.e. the person did not get the relief they were seeking.  Ganglion removal is usually successful, but there is about a 1 in 6 chance of local recurrence of the cyst. 

 A cyst on the flexor side; i.e. the palmar side of the finger at the base where the finger attaches to the rest of the hand is quite common (flexor retinacular cyst).  There is one report of good relief with repetitious puncture wounds; i.e. probably causes them to burst and scar down, though this has not been the general experience and if uncomfortable, these are generally best treated by surgical removal though it is reasonable to request attempted puncture relief.