Lipoma.....

I am a 33 year old man. I am overweight, but not terribly so.  
For at least the last 9 years, possibly more, I have had a lump on the back of my neck about the size of a quarter.  I have had it looked at previously and without even blinking the Doctors have said that it is a Lipoma and not to worry about it.

I have looked up Lipomas and understand what they are and that they may continue to grow slowly, even though they are benign.

Just this week however, the area of this lump has become painful.  I will see either my General Practionaer or hopefully a Dermatoligist this week.  I have read that these may become painful if they grow and start irritating a nerve or muscle.

The lump is essentially round, "rolls" under the skin, isn't really "soft", but is rubbery and pliable.  Since it is below hair follicles, if I pull the hair the lump seems to rise, so I am fairly certain it is not connected to anything.  All in all sounds like a lipoma I think.

Obviously what I'm worried about is if the pain is implying something worse.  It has never had this biposied, Dr. said wan't necessary at the time. I have also had this for a very long time.  I realize the internet cannot supply a true diagnosis, but I'm wondering about the possibilities here.  Is a 10 year old lump that has either not grown or perhaps grown very slowly possibly cancer?  It seems that it could have some characteristics of a liposarcoma, but these are rare from what I understand, and tend to occur in the lower body.  I do not know how fast something like that grows, but the Dr I spoke to 4 years ago when I asked about this said that if it was cancerous it would grow a lot faster then a lipoma.  

Also, is it possible for the area around a Lipoma to become infected?  I think this may be a good possiblity as the pain came about so quickly.

Perhaps this is not a Lipoma, but some sort of cyst that has become infected or reached it's limits?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for the service.  I will see a Dr in person this week, just hoping for a little piece of mind or at least want to make sure I ask the right questions.

Happy New Year.

Thanks.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I think you are correct to speculate that it's a cyst and not a lipoma.  Cysts can become inflamed/infected and may need to be lanced.  Either way, you need to see a doctor as soon as you can arrange it, but it does not sound at all as though you have cancer.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff