A ganglion cyst in the wrist will interfere with practicing yoga — but there’s an ingenious solution that will allow you to do the poses painlessly.
I’ve had a ganglion cyst in my wrist for years. I was able to do anything without it bothering me – almost everything – except pushups.
The way to get around that was to place small dumbbells on the floor and use them as pushup handles: hands on the bar portion and pushing up.
By my fifth yoga class I realized with absolute certainty that my ganglion cyst was always going to be a problem with some of the poses, especially during sequences.
Initially I thought I had hit upon the only solution: angling my hands outward at a 30 degree-or-more angle during poses such as downward dog and planks, rather than fingers straight ahead of myself.
But ultimately, this is not an efficacious solution because the angling weakens the pose, and plus, there’s still some level of discomfort with some poses.
Then it hit me: USE TINY DUMBBELLS!
• Your hands are on the bar portion of the little dumbbells instead of palms flat on the floor.
• This eliminates the pain from the ganglion cyst outright because the wrist flexion isn’t as weight-bearing.
You also need not entirely grip the dumbbells; you can just place your palm on them, fingers out, thumb tucked a bit under for security.
• Use dumbbells with a hexagonal design so that they don’t roll.
Possible Caveats
Your wrists and/or forearms will fatigue while trying to maintain a hold on the dumbbells.
I recommend using them only when without, the ganglion cyst would make the pose uncomfortable. In other words, do some poses with them and some without.
During standing poses you won’t need them, but they should be on your mat waiting for you—waiting for that next palm-to-mat pose or sequence.
When it’s time to shift into that move, your hands will go to the dumbbells.
Cool Idea: For added resistance throughout your yoga workout, hold the dumbbells for as much as possible, save for moves that require grabbing your feet and/or hands such as below.
At least try the dumbbells for wrist flexion moves that cause pain. The pain of a ganglion cyst can force a yoga practitioner to unwillingly cut back on workout frequency as well as forego moves that they’d really like to do.
Weight of the Dumbbells
Many group fitness classrooms at health clubs have a good stock of small “SPRI” dumbbells. The four-pounders should work for most yoga practitioners.
If you have small hands, try the three-pounders. Larger men will need the five-pounders.
This guideline will differ for other models of dumbbells. If the SPRI four-pounder is your size, you may need to use a five-pounder of another make.
These differences in weight correspond to the space between the dumbbell bar and the mat/floor.
It needs to be roomy enough for your fingers so that your fingers can fit between the bar and mat without causing the bells to disconnect from the mat.
Short of having a ganglion cyst surgically removed or aspirated, holding dumbbells is your best bet to avoid pain while practicing yoga.
