Whether to drain a Baker’s cyst depends on several factors, including the severity of your symptoms, the size of the cyst, and your overall health. If the cyst is causing significant pain, swelling, or limiting your mobility, draining it might provide relief. However, it’s also important to consider the underlying cause of the cyst, which is often related to knee joint issues.
To reduce the size of the cyst, your care provider may drain the fluid from the cyst using a needle. This is called needle aspiration and is often performed with ultrasound guidance.
If a joint problem is causing the cyst, arthroscopic surgery may be performed to repair the problem. For example, if a cartilage tear is causing synovial fluid to collect in the knee, the surgeon removes or repairs the torn cartilage. At the same time, the surgeon can also remove fluid from the cyst.
Rarely, surgery is needed to remove the cyst. This approach is typically used only after other treatment options haven’t helped the pain and the ability to walk or perform other activities is still limited.
In adults, Baker’s cysts often get better and go away by themselves, so they may not need any treatment. If a child has a painless Baker’s cyst, it can usually be left alone. In children, most Baker’s cysts disappear eventually without treatment.
You can ease any pain or swelling from a Baker’s cyst with cold packs, or by taking paracetamol or anti-inflammatory medicines and using crutches to take weight off the knee.
The pain may also ease with light physical activities such as walking or swimming, that do not aggravate the knee join.
Maintaining or reaching a healthy body weight may help.
If your Baker’s cyst does not go away or is causing you a lot of pain and discomfort, your doctor may suggest treatment. It can be drained under ultrasound guidance or injected with corticosteroids. This has been shown to improve symptoms and there is a low chance that the cyst will come back.
If the cyst is associated with arthritis or a knee injury, then treating these conditions can help. Another treatment is physiotherapy using hot or cold packs and exercises to keep the knee strong and mobile.
For some people, surgery is needed to fix the cause. For example, repairing a torn cartilage might help. In this situation, removing the cyst alone is not helpful, as it usually comes back unless the underlying cause is addressed.
If arthritis is causing the cyst, your health care provider may advise you to take some or all of the following steps:
- Follow the R.I.C.E. principles. These letters stand for rest, ice, compression and elevation. Rest your leg. Ice your knee. Compress your knee with a wrap, sleeve or brace. And elevate your leg when possible, especially at night.
- Try over-the-counter pain-relieving medications. Drugs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve, others), acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) and aspirin can help relieve pain. Follow the dosing instructions on the package. Don’t take more than the recommend dosage.
- Reduce your physical activity. Doing so will reduce irritation of your knee joint. Your health care provider can offer you guidance on how long you need to reduce your activity levels. Your provider may be able to suggest alternative forms of exercise you can do in the meantime.
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J. Press
Physiotherapist