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1549138 tn?1293932007

Lump on neck causes headaches

I have a lump on the bottom of my neck on the left hand side. Every time I rub the lump it hurts really bad and releases tension allowing me to crack my neck. I can't quite figure out what the lump is and if it is harmful. I think its pressing on a nerve. The lump is sometimes swollen and sometimes not. Does anyone know what it could be? Its been around for going on two years. Thanks for reading and I hope to recieve awesome feedback!
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Avatar universal
I have the same issues. I also have migraines and I thought they were one in the same. I switched doctors multiple times and finally was told the difference between a tension headache and a migraine. The lumps might be tension knots on your neck. I have a few of varying sizes and they hurt. They are not always the same size, but they follow along the muscles in my neck and along the bridge between my neck and shoulders. They increase in size depending on stress and can cause massive tension headaches. If I press on them, they cause a sharp pain in the specific area of the headache. And some cause pain along my arm or in areas of my back. If I massage them, they decrease or the pain decreases, but it hurts to massage them. I went to a PT briefly and he told me to press firmly on the lumps, and they will slowly decrease. This works sometimes, but can be very painful. Sometimes I lightly massage the lumps for a while, they slowly decrease. I do not have tools to massage how I want to, and my fingers get tired quickly. But, I found a website that discusses this problem and promotes a massage tool suited to deal with it. I have not used the tool, so who knows. But I'll see if I can find something like it at the mall. Here is the link to the article: https://www.painscience.com/articles/tension-headache.php
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Avatar universal
I also have this lump on the left side and I get a pain just below my left ear, going to see a ENT specialist hope to get some answers, also I have just got over a chest infection with a awful racking cough
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Avatar universal
Hi Neyaa,

I am having the same symptoms on the right side, but first I thought it was a bad migraine attack and the aftermath was the lump but boy was I wrong,  I have had this lump for 6 months now and I wake up with a headache/ear ache and go to bed with one..x-rays and MRI both neg...I wish there was some explanation!!
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Avatar universal
I have a lump on my left side of my neck by my ear and it make me have pain in my lower part of my head and majority of the time I have pain in my shoulder blade on the left side.then my ear plug up on me to where i can barely here and can be painful at times can someone please tell me what's wrong.
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Avatar universal
I have never seen anybody with this problem before i thought i was alone with this. its hurts so bad sometimes that i litrally throw up, please please if anyone finds something out to help this let me know
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Avatar universal
sorry & No I am not a doc. Just letting yall know my own experience with this
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Avatar universal
Hump on the cervical spine is what it is. Cervical is above the shoulder blades in the neck area. I have had this & still have it. My hump is on the disks between C8 & T1 at the base of my neck. although the doc wouldnt ever give me a xray. It is caused by a few things. One is poor posture. Slumping your neck over is what many of us do hours on end & esp on the computer. Also maybe your pillow at night which is another of my problems. Doctors do not care, they write up meds to cover up the pain & send you off not fixing anything. I have been working on correcting this myself. No slumping over.. Trust me, doing this over & over several times a day for hours on end, you will begin to have the effects of it. I have aready noticed improvment in my neck pain although I still have pain in the back of my head like a headache. It didnt matter what meds i took, it never got rid of the pain completely & it always came back. I have a hump as well on the base of my neck. I did lots of reserch on my own time to learn my causes & how to correct it. There are many many sites to choose from but they all basiclly say the same. Stop slouching, straighten your back. It seems to be helping me slowly. Its not getting any worse thank God but 2 months straight of this is a major drag.

Just google the words cervical spine hump/ cervical spine pain
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Avatar universal
Your the first person I found with this complaint.  I woke-up  one morning with a stiff neck, and when it did not go away I went for x-rays.  To explain it simple they told me I had a twist in the neck like I slept wrong or something.  They found Arthritis, Tendonitis, and they told me I had calcium deposits in the neck.  They have not told me what to do about it etc.
If I touch it, It hurts.  Sometimes it throbs like a toothache.  The lump is big, and I find it odd that it just popped up at the time my neck was injured or whatever.  I had x-rays to tell me its not dislocated etc.
I plan on seeing another doctor to find out what this is?  Did you ever get it checked?
Susan
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