Pregnant daughter has cyst behind ear that has grown and today felt "shock and headache" on that side

[April2]

My daughter has had a fluid filled cyst behind her ear for years. When she first noticed it, about 3 years ago, we had an MRI or CAT Scan done on it, I forget which, but they said it just looked like a fluid filled cyst and that if it grew or bothered her it could be removed. Well, she decided to leave it alone since it didn't bother her. The last several months it has grown and is noticeably bigger and was causing some discomfort so she decided to get it removed. However, before she could do that she discovered she was pregnant and canceled the surgery.

Today she said she felt a "shock" feeling where the cyst is and a headache going up that side of her head. Should we be concerned??? What can she do now, though, being pregnant? She's early in her pregnancy, not quite 10 weeks, so I guess nothing can be done about this till after the baby is born but I wanted to check with the doctor here, first to see if there's anything at all that can safely be done while pregnant? And should we be concerned?

I know she didn't want the surgery because of the drugs, both during the procedure and the pain medication afterwards. I'm not sure what's best to do in this situation or how concerned we should be. I would assume since she had it tested years ago that we don't have to worry about it being cancerous, right?
Please share your opinion or advice in this or if I should post this in a different forum. I wasn't sure where to put this. Thank you.

[April2]

Thank you for so much for answering this! I will copy this and talk to her ob doctor and pcp. Thanks again!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Generally a cyst behind the ear is benign. In pregnancy, due to hormonal changes, there can be more fluid collection. This could be putting pressure and causing pain.
However some cancers can cause cysts to form. If it is cancerous it needs to be removed. Since it has been for so long and did not show any symptoms, it is probably a benign or non cancerous cyst.
What can be done now, while your daughter is pregnant is aspirate the cyst and send it for cytology. This will serve 2 purposes. One is it will relieve the pressure due to cyst. And second, you can know for sure what it is. Also this can be done under local anesthesia and will not harm the baby. Please consult a surgeon or a skin specialist or her PCP and see what they say.
Hope this helps. Do let me know if there is any thing else and keep me posted. Take care!