Life Insurance With Lipomas Or Ganglion Cysts
These are two of the most benign things on the whole list, and most people never do anything about them.
What makes them worth a page is the small piece of medical paperwork they sometimes generate.
A lump that gets cut out gets examined under a microscope, and that is a specific entry.
The short answer
A lipoma is a soft lump of fatty tissue under the skin, and a ganglion cyst is a fluid-filled swelling near a joint or tendon, usually at the wrist. Both are harmless. The detail worth giving on an application is whether one was removed, because anything excised goes to a laboratory and comes back with a report confirming what it was.
What it is
A lipoma is a benign growth of fat cells, soft and movable, sitting just under the skin. They are common, often on the trunk, shoulders, neck or arms, usually painless and slow-growing, and many people have more than one.
A ganglion cyst is a fluid-filled swelling arising from a joint capsule or tendon sheath, most often on the back of the wrist, sometimes on a finger or the foot. They can change size and occasionally disappear on their own.
Neither needs treatment unless it is uncomfortable, in the way, or growing. Options include leaving it alone, aspiration for a ganglion, and surgical removal, after which the tissue is sent for examination.
Why it comes up on an application
- An untreated lump is a minimal entry: present, benign, nothing done.
- Removal is the entry. It is a procedure, usually minor and under local anaesthetic, and it has a date.
- Anything excised goes for histology, so there is a laboratory report confirming what it was, and a benign report is useful information to be able to give.
- Anything growing, painful or being watched is a different answer from one that has been there unchanged for years.
- Multiple lipomas are common, and in rare cases run in families as a recognised condition, which is worth mentioning if a doctor has said so.
- A ganglion at the wrist often sits alongside repetitive hand use, so related wrist and tendon problems may be in the same record.
- Any lump that was not benign on histology is a quite different entry and must be declared as whatever it turned out to be.
- Where a wrist ganglion has restricted hand function or caused time off, that is a direct question on an application.
What we would ask you
- Which you have, where, and roughly how long it has been there
- Whether it has changed in size, or become painful
- Whether it was ever removed or drained, and when
- Whether the tissue was sent to a laboratory, and what the report said
- Whether you have more than one
- Whether it has affected your work or your hand function
- Whether you are currently off work or working reduced hours because of an accident, injury or illness
- Whether you are waiting on any medical tests, appointments or treatment
- Whether you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last five years
- Whether a parent, brother or sister was diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or a stroke before 65
- Any medication you take
- Whether you smoke, and your date of birth
If It Was Removed, There Is A Lab Report
This is the whole substance of this page, and it is a small thing most people do not think about.
Tissue taken out in the UK is sent for histological examination. That applies to a lipoma excised because it was in the way just as much as to anything else. So somewhere in your record there is a report naming what the lump actually was.
For a lipoma or a ganglion that report confirms a benign diagnosis, which is a clean and definite answer to give. "Lipoma removed from left shoulder 2020, histology benign" is complete in one line. If the report ever said something other than benign, that is the entry instead, and it needs declaring as whatever it was rather than as a lump.
The Wrist One Has An Occupational Side
Ganglion cysts are mostly cosmetic, with one exception worth separating out.
A ganglion on the back of the wrist can restrict the last part of movement and ache under load, and for somebody whose hands are their living, a carpenter, a hairdresser, a mechanic, a tattoo artist, that is not cosmetic at all. It also sits in the same part of the record as other repetitive hand problems: tendonitis, carpal tunnel, trigger finger.
So if yours has affected your grip or your work, declare that alongside the lump, and mention any related wrist or tendon diagnosis. Those are the parts of this entry with real content, and they are also the reason income protection with an own occupation definition is worth asking about if your hands are the trade.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point, and a confirmed benign lump is a very small entry. A benign histology report is a clear and useful thing to be able to state.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and neither of these is one. Worth having for the risks it does cover.
Relevant mainly through the wrist. A ganglion that restricts grip matters to anybody whose hands are their trade, and that is what this cover responds to.
Common questions
Do I need to declare a lipoma?+
Answer what you are asked. An untreated benign lump that has been there unchanged for years is a minimal entry. If it was removed, say so and say what the laboratory report confirmed, because that is the part with content.
Mine was removed. What should I put?+
The procedure, roughly when, and the histology result. "Lipoma removed from left shoulder 2020, histology benign" is a complete answer in one line, and the benign report is useful information to give.
Why does a laboratory report matter?+
Because anything excised in the UK is sent for histological examination, so there is a report naming what the lump actually was. For a lipoma or ganglion that confirms a benign diagnosis, which is a clean and definite answer.
I have several lipomas. Is that different?+
Having more than one is common and worth stating. In rare cases multiple lipomas run in families as a recognised condition, so if a doctor has mentioned that, say it.
My wrist ganglion affects my grip. Does that matter?+
Yes, and declare it. A ganglion that restricts grip is a real issue for anybody whose hands are their trade, and it often sits alongside other repetitive hand problems such as tendonitis or carpal tunnel, which are worth mentioning too.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.