Causes of a Lump on Wrist or Hand

Why do I have a bump that feels like bone?

A bump or lump on your hand or wrist is most likely benign (not harmful) but should be evaluated by your healthcare provider.

A hard lump on the wrist that feels like bone is likely a carpal boss. A moveable wrist bump is typically a ganglion cyst. A lump on the palm of your hand may be Dupuytren's contracture.

However, in rare cases, a bump on your fingers, hand, or wrist could be a giant cell tumor, enchondroma, or soft tissue sarcoma.

This article discusses hand and wrist bumps and lumps. It explains the symptoms of different cysts and tumors on the hands, fingers, and wrists. It also outlines when a lump should be evaluated by your healthcare provider.

Common causes of lumps in the hand and wrist

Verywell / Alexandra Gordon

Ganglion Cysts

The most common cause of a hand or wrist bump is a ganglion cyst. 

It occurs when a pouch forms in the lining of the small joints of the wrists, hands, or fingers. Joint fluid leaks into the pouch, filling it like a water balloon. The result is a visible lump or bump on your hand or wrist.

Ganglion cysts are typically round or oval. They can be soft or firm like a marble and may be moveable. Ganglion cysts are often painless unless they compress a nerve. When that happens, you may experience discomfort, tingling, and muscle weakness.

Ganglion cysts can also form pouches in the sheath covering a tendon or knuckle joint. This type is called a mucous or myxoid cyst.

Giant Cell Tumor

A hard painless wrist bump at the lower end of the lower arm bone could be a giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath.

A giant cell tumor is not a true tumor but a mass that arises from the tendon lining (sheath) or synovium, the soft tissue inside a joint. They tend to grow slowly and are not painful at first.

As it gets bigger, it can cause joint pain that increases with activity but decreases with rest. Giant cell tumors can grow to become extremely painful. They are easily removed but can grow back.

These tumors are quite rare, though, with only one in a million diagnosed each year. They mostly affect young adults and are more common in people assigned female at birth.

Inclusion Cysts

A small, painless, and moveable bump on the hand, wrist, or finger may be an epidermal inclusion cyst. Also known as an epidermoid cyst, these firm, noncancerous tumors just below the skin can develop on any part of the body.

Inclusion cysts develop during healing after an injury, though it may take years to become apparent. They occur when a penetrating wound or deep cut pushes cells from the skin's surface into the deep layers of skin.

The immune system views these cells as foreign invaders and surrounds them with a soft waxy material known as keratin to create a protective barrier. They gradually expand over time to form cysts.

Epidermal inclusion cysts are not dangerous and do not need to be treated unless they become infected.

Carpal Boss

A hard lump on your wrist that feels like bone may be a carpal boss. This is an overgrowth of the bone on the back of the hand. It's similar in appearance to a bone spur.

A carpal boss is essentially a small area of osteoarthritis occurring at the point where the long hand bones and small wrist bones connect.

While frequently misdiagnosed as a ganglion cyst, a carpal boss is firmer. Unlike a cyst, you cannot move it or feel any "give" when you press on it. 

Dupuytren’s Contracture

A hard lump on the palm of your hand is a symptom of Dupuytren's contracture. Also known as Dupuytren's disease, it causes an abnormal thickening of connective tissue (fascia) under the skin of the palm of your hand.

Dupuytren's disease usually begins with tender nodes under the base of the ring or pinky fingers. These may develop into a hard lump or thick band and become less tender. Over time, this can cause one or more fingers to curl or pull sideways or toward your palm.

The condition is not painful but can inhibit your ability to use your hands for certain tasks, grasping large objects, or straightening your fingers.

Enchondroma

Enchondroma is a noncancerous tumor that develops when cartilage grows inside a bone.

An enchondroma can become a problem if and when the tumor weakens the bone. This increases the risk of a pathologic fracture, a break in a bone that was weakened by another disease.

Enchondromas are mostly benign (not harmful) and only rarely develop into cancer.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can cause firm lumps just below the skin on the hands, known as rheumatoid nodules.

An autoimmune form of arthritis, RA causes swelling and pain in the lining of your joints. It can affect joints in the wrists, hands, fingers, elbows, feet, spine, jaw, and knees.

RA often occurs symmetrically, meaning the same joints are affected on both sides of the body. Other common RA symptoms include:

  • Difficulty moving your joints
  • Fever
  • Fatigue
  • Joint stiffness and pain, especially after resting
  • Loss of appetite
  • Red, puffy hands

Cancer of the Hands or Wrists

It is rare that a lump or bump on the wrist or hand is cancerous. When this occurs, it is usually due to cancerous cells that have spread (metastasized) from elsewhere in the body.

Cancerous lumps are usually hard, but not all hard lumps are cancer.

Types of cancer that can affect the hands or wrists include the following:

  • Chondrosarcoma is a type of bone cancer where a large mass develops in the cartilage. You may feel pressure around the mass and pain that gradually increases over time and is worse at night. 
  • Soft tissue sarcoma can grow in cartilage, fibrous tissue, muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and synovial tissue that lines the joints. Sarcomas are typically painless until they grow to compress a nerve. 
  • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can present as a painless, slowly growing soft tissue mass with joint swelling. However, this is extremely uncommon.
  • Squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, can appear as a firm red bump on the back of the hand. It may also look like a scaly red patch, an open sore, or a wart that bleeds or crusts easily.

Though rare, cancers of the hands and wrist are serious problems that require invasive treatment and prolonged care.

Diagnosis

While most bumps on the hand or wrist are nothing to worry about, they should still be evaluated by a medical professional.

Your healthcare provider will first perform a physical exam and ask for your symptom history. They will palpate the mass, shine a light on it, move the affected joint in different directions, and examine the skin.

Imaging tests, including X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, or MRI, are sometimes helpful for identifying the cause. In some cases, a tissue sample may be removed for a biopsy and examined under a microscope.

Summary

Most of the time, masses in the hand and wrist are noncancerous. One common type of benign growth in the hand or wrist is called a ganglion cyst.

While rare, it is possible for a lump or bump in the hand or wrist to be cancerous, however. When this occurs, it's typically because of cancer found elsewhere in the body.

It's important to visit your doctor if you notice a mass or growth beneath your skin. After careful evaluation, they can determine if the growth is cancerous or nothing to worry about.

18 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Cluett

By Jonathan Cluett, MD
Jonathan Cluett, MD, is board-certified in orthopedic surgery. He served as assistant team physician to Chivas USA (Major League Soccer) and the United States men's and women's national soccer teams.