Lump on the back of neck

[nets55]

My 12 year old daughter found a small lump at the back of her neck today (right side just above the hair line). I am concerned about this and would like to seek your medical overview about this matter. Thank you.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Please consult your daughter’s pediatrician for primary examination followed by proper referral. Hope this helps. Take care!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Though it is very difficult to diagnose a lump without examination, I will try my best to list the possibilities and explain how each lump is diagnosed. In some people the occipital bone at the back of the skull has a protuberance. This is a normal finding and comes up in X-ray. Another normal finding is a protruding spine of cervical vertebra due to bad posture, again detected by X-ray. The other possibilities are a cyst (usually grows big or small depending on the fluid in it), a neurofibroma (localized harmless swelling in a nerve), lipoma (localized collection of fat), a swollen lymph node, an abscess, or folliculitis (hair follicle infection). An abscess can be hot or warm if it is infective due to bacteria and it can be cold without heat if it is a tubercular abscess. Your daughter may be well, yet a lymph node can swell in response to a local infection, dermatitis or due to dandruff in hair. It can also be an acne. Rarely is it a bony tumor like osteoma. A CT scan would be diagnostic, however certain lumps can be diagnosed by palpation under experienced hands. If the lump is thought to be an abscess or cyst, then a fine needle aspiration cytology helps diagnose the cause.

[Admirer]

Its a swollen lymph node, most probably caused by an infection. Wait and see if it is gone in three weeks. If it is there for more than four weeks, then you better get her checked by the doctor. Hope it helped.