I was just diagnosed with a ganglion cyst in the upper part of my lower leg. How common is this problem?

Ganglion cysts occur most often in the arms, especially the wrist. They can occur in the spine, hip, knee, ankle, and foot, too. Doctors think that damage to the area or a break down of tissue gives rise to these cysts.

In the lower leg, two bones join together just below the knee and at the ankle. These are the tibia and the fibula. A tibiofibular joint ganglion cyst describes your condition.

The cyst is a small sac-like structure that fills with fluid. The fluid usually comes from the nearby joint. Until recently, no one knew how common these are in the lower leg.

Now, thanks to a group of doctors in Texas, we know that less than 1 per cent of the adult population has this type of cyst. These doctors reviewed 654 knee-MRIs over a six-month period and found 5 tibiofibular ganglion cysts. More studies with a larger number of patients are needed to confirm this figure.