Two weeks ago I noticed a pea sized lump on my 4 y.o.son's mastoid bone, behind the ear. It could have been there for a while as my son had long hair and he just got a haircut and that is when we noticed it. On Friday my husband took him to the doctor for his annual checkup and, mentioned the lump, Upon a thorough examination, the doctor said he could not feel anything wrong, the glands are not swollen, and did not elaborate and my hubby did not ask questions. At this very moment, since i was not there during the examination, I do not know if the doctor felt that squishy lump at all or he felt it and did not seem concerned. So, my dilemma is: should I take my son in again, should I assume everything is ok, should I wait for a while and see what happens? Your opinions are highly appreciated.
P.S. I can't say I am not comfortable with the diagnosis, I guess I would have wanted to know what it is. Is it just a bone protrusion, that feels like a lump, it is a cyst etc? I hate my hubby did not ask any questions, , just was glad everything is ok.
If you are not comfortable with that Dr's diagnosis then go get another opinion.
There's nothing wrong with asking another Dr when you feel something is not right.
Best wishes!
You can call the doctor's office on Monday and ask either the nurse or the doctor what was detected on manual exam. Just say your husband didn't ask any questions, and you want to know what the doctor wrote in the chart. Ask how long you should let this go on before you have another check. If the lump isn't really visible, you could take a fine tip marker and draw a circle around it so you can tell in a few days whether it's getting larger or smaller or staying the same. If you don't want to keep marking it after baths, you could measure it with a very fine ruler and make a note of the date and the measurement (millimeters are great, if you can see to do it).
Lymph nodes swell all the time when the body is fighting off an infection, and that's a good thing. It usually resolves itself. Some small cysts often disappear on their own. There are small growths that occur for various reasons and, while they don't always go away, they don't require treatment.
Updated
You can call the doctor's office on Monday and ask either the nurse or the doctor what was detected on manual exam. Just say your husband didn't ask any questions, and you want to know what the doctor wrote in the chart. Ask how long you should let this go on before you have another check. If the lump isn't really visible, you could take a fine tip marker and draw a circle around it so you can tell in a few days whether it's getting larger or smaller or staying the same. If you don't want to keep marking it after baths, you could measure it with a very fine ruler and make a note of the date and the measurement (millimeters are great, if you can see to do it).
Lymph nodes swell all the time when the body is fighting off an infection, and that's a good thing. It usually resolves itself. Some small cysts often disappear on their own. There are small growths that occur for various reasons and, while they don't always go away, they don't require treatment.
Updated
You can call the doctor's office on Monday and ask either the nurse or the doctor what was detected on manual exam. Just say your husband didn't ask any questions, and you want to know what the doctor wrote in the chart. Ask how long you should let this go on before you have another check. If the lump isn't really visible, you could take a fine tip marker and draw a circle around it so you can tell in a few days whether it's getting larger or smaller or staying the same. If you don't want to keep marking it after baths, you could measure it with a very fine ruler and make a note of the date and the measurement (millimeters are great, if you can see to do it).
Lymph nodes swell all the time when the body is fighting off an infection, and that's a good thing. It usually resolves itself. Some small cysts often disappear on their own. There are small growths that occur for various reasons and, while they don't always go away, they don't require treatment.
A.,
Admit it, you aren't going to rest easy until YOU hear if from the doctor. Take your son back in and have him checked out by an ENT.
You said a THOROUGH examination was done but you are still not happy. Take your son in and have him checked out and have the doctor tell YOU there is nothing wrong. That's the ONLY way YOU are going to feel comfortable and stop being anxious.
I get it - my son had a mole that changed inside one week - I took him to a dermatologist who removed it immediately and sent it out for biopsy. One week later? all was good. Just a mole that was irritated and changed. No cancer.
Do what you need to do to feel comfortable with your child's health.
I would call the doctor and ask. No need to take your son in unless the doctor says he didn't notice the lump (didn't realize that's what your husband was asking).
Squishy would make me think it's a small swollen gland or cyst - and they can come and go quickly or hang around for awhile before going away - or a bug bite (the mosquitoes around here are vicious this year).
Monitor it, check for fever or other developing symptoms (like rash) and if it's still there in a few weeks then call the nurse advice line and/or go back to the doctor.
You don't mention how old your son is - my kids can feel when they have a lump and let me know (maybe not as very small children, but once school age for sure). You likely would have noticed it washing his hair, etc. so I personally would not worry that it's been there for a long while. Most likely not.
My kids get those after ear infections, colds, feeling run down - sometimes they are a swollen lymph node - they can be pea sized right up to egg shaped on my kids. I just had a pea sized one not long ago myself. No other symptoms - it just went on it's own.
My son gets ear infections (tubes) and sometimes he gets a bit of an infection in that area. It's bad if your ear presses forward - that would be cause for concern, but then it would be very red and inflamed. Doesn't sound like it's an infection.
I am guessing the doctor looked at it, and determined it was nothing to be alarmed about - and just to keep an eye on it. My husband doesn't think to ask as many questions as I do either at the doctor's but I trust that they would alert him if there was a real concern.
You could either call on Monday and see if they can shed some more light on this, or I would definitely follow up by end of week if it hasn't improved or it has grown. I like Diane's idea about taking photos or measuring it. That can be helpful because sometimes it's hard to tell what a lump/cyst/bump is doing.
I would call the doctor's office on Monday and request a call back from the nurse. Then ask them what tests the doc ordered to see what that lump is. Just act like you thought the doc was going to figure out what it was.
If the doc doesn't know what it is and doesn't care to find out what it is then make an appointment with a dermatologist who will be interested in something going on with the skin. If it's a skin thing then that doc will figure it out. If it's a bone thing then you'll at least have a second opinion and more information to go forward on.
Call and speak to the doctor.
My daughter gets this...it is very normal. It is a lymph node or lymph gland. It really only shows up in some people and not others. A lump appears usually when your body is fighting off an infection. So say she is fighting off a cold or something mild...she might get that squishy lump. (She also will get it for something not so mild like strep throat). It is normally harmless. I'm surprised your doctor didn't explain this to you. If it is very sore you might want to take your child in to get checked out because of course it could be something serious. But he will have symptoms as well...such as a sore throat, fever, etc. It means your son's body is fighting something off (mild or serious).
My husband has a soft, squishy lump approximately the size of a quarter above the top of one of his ears (hidden in his hair). I never even knew it was there until it somehow came up & he told me about it one day. Apparently, he's had it since he was a teenager and his mom took him to the doctor where the doc referred to it as a benign lipoma or fat pocket. His mother opted to not have it removed. I personally would have removed it if it were me because knowing it was there would bother me and I could see myself constantly feeling it, but my husband doesn't care - I guess that's the difference between men & women! No one else would know it was even there unless it was pointed out & that person felt for it.
Check out this link that refers to three different types of common lumps that are found by the ears, the lipoma my hubs has being one of them. I would call the doctor and mention the three different types of lumps (from the article) and ask if he thought it was any of those. Why is it that men never ask enough/the right questions for the doctor - my hubs is like that too! Grrrrr.... Anyway, here's the link, hopefully this can provide some info and reassure you or at least give you more medical terms to specifically ask the doctor about. https://www.google.com/amp/www.belmarrahealth.com/painles...
