hard lump behind ear

[oceans3]

i was just putting my 4 year old daughter in for her rest. she pushed her hair out of her face and said "ouch" and then asked me if she had a mosquito bite. i looked where it hurt and there is a hard bump/lump behind her ear on the bone part (not on the ear itself). i touched it and it hurts. it's about as big as an eraser on top of a pencil or a pea. it is not red or anything (skin color). i get very worried about these kind of things and will give her dr. a call but in the mean time i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what it may be? like i said, i am worried.

[DMattson]

It sounds like it is a lymph node. If she has been sick lately this would be the reason for the sore lymph node. You could get it checked by the doctor just to make sure.

[oceans3]

thank you very much for responding! would you believe i just got off the phone and that is exactly what the dr. said! although my daughter has not been sick. she has been very stuffy with no other symptoms. not sure if its a cold or allergy? either way, i made an appt. to have it looked at.
should i put anything on it like an ice pack or warm cloth? will it get bigger? will it go away? (if that's indeed what it is) or will it need to be lanced? thank you for your time. worry wart here.

[DMattson]

Lymph nodes are VERY reactive to touching. So the more you touch it the more it will stay enlarged. You don't need to put anything on it. It will get smaller on its own in time. Remember, the more it is touched the longer it will take to get to its normal size. I know it is scary to find any lump!
Take care!

[giddychic]

Yep--lymph nodes----I just had a infection that dealt with my lymph nodes on the right side lower neck up to the top of my neck with the one behind my ear very very sore---I did not run fever---but I had heaches, and very tired----I did go to the doctor and we talked about mono---but he said it would not affect the nodes in that way---he did put me on some antibiotics----they helped----but I had to go back and then we talked about mumps---all in all everything was fine----I just had a bad infection and the nodes were trying to fight it off!!!!

Sincerely,

Giddychic

[charley1986]

Last year I had a cyst behind my ear on the bone as well.  It was a cyst and my doc sent me to a surgeon.  He lanced it in his office and then packed it with this string gauze.  I was able to pull the gauze out the next day.  I had to take antibiotics for 7 days - since then, smooth sailing....
Hope this clears up soon - they can be tender to the touch which ever it is.

[jnl_01]

This morning I woke up and I was combing my hair and noticed a hard lump behind my ear where the skull meets the back of the ear.  It is not so hard that I cannot push it down, but very tender.  I have not been sick, I do not have any infection that I know of, what could be the cause of this?  I noticed the people who posted said either swollen lymph node or cyst, but I have not been sick, and can a cyst just pop up over night?  Please help!!  One more thing it is very warm in this area, and once again not on the ear but on top of the skull bone.

[eekeek2006]

i too have had a small pea sized lump on my ear at the back, just near to the crease. (if you put your finger just behind the lobe and rest it in the soft part, it is just above there) it is tender to touch and has been there for nearly 3 months. i dont think it has changed in size and it isnt a different colour so you wouldnt see it there until you feel it.  i have not had the chance to go and see the doctor mainly because im not that worried about it but im curious to know what it could be. i will go to the doc eventually!

[tifeniah]

My son is only 4 years old and has been complaining of headaches for sometime now.  I noticed he has 2 lumps right behind his ear.  He had a cyst in his ear that he had to get removed 2 years ago.  Could he have more cyst that popped up or is it something else.  I don't know if the headaches are from the lumps or if they have nothing in commen. I am scared to find out what they are there are so many posibilities.  Someone please hepl!!!!!!!!!!!

[mackgset]

hi doc, i have a slightly enlarged bump behind the right side of my ear. i just noticed it last night. my left side is perfectly normal. although i've been blowing my nose due to allergies this whole week, im thinking that might be the cause. im not sure if its a lymph node or not . i really hope its not something too serious because i dont have any health insurance.  i feel normal because i slept for 10 hours last night, i felt hungry this morning and ate two bowls of cereal. i dont feel weird or anything im not having severe headahces or seizures. please let me know what i should do. i'll try to stop touching it for a while but how long will it take for it to go away? thanks. god bless

[muisc4ahigerlevel]

I am glad I found this forum including this specific Topic: Hard lump behind the ear.
For almost a month now, I have been having sharp throbbing pains on my left side of the skull, mainly above the ear located right on the bone and thought it was just a migrane due to dizziness and have been taking exedrine migrane.
While massage my left skull, I have noticed the lump located exactly on the left-side on the bone above my left-ear, as I pressed on it, the area seemed to trigger a point that made my migrane even painful, then noticed that it travels to my left eye and beleive it or not even my left sinus area.
Ready to call the hospital for an appointment...
Any suggestions on what to do in the meantime or anyone would know what this could be?

Thanks,
DL

[Alliesaidso]

okay like a lot of people in here said i have a few hard flesh coloured lumps along the left side of my head. One directly behind the ear on the bone, two on the side of my neck and another slightly below the one on my ear bone. Im very concerned because they dont hurt to the touch it is just an uncomfortable feeling and i havent been sick lately. im not sure where to go from here. please help.!

thank you.
allie

[resacups]

I just had cysts removed from behind my right year.  Several months ago  I noticed a knot behind my ear.  At first sight, I thought maybe a large pimple, or boil.  I tried everything from hot compress to drawing save to pull out whatever it was, with no luck.  I finally called my doctor, and he said cyst.  Had my make an appointment to come back a week later for him to lance it.  What he told me was it was an infected sweat gland.  Once he lanced it, he found multiple very small cysts beside the large one.  Also informed me that he wouldn't be surprised if I had some reaccurrance because they may be some small ones that he couldn't see.  He cleaned up what he could, stitched me up and sent the mass to be tested just to be on the safe side.  Results:  cysts due to infected sweat gland.  Mine was pretty much painless.  Never did hurt due to touch, except for when I tried to pop the dumb things.  The funny thing was, when my doc examined it, he told me that he had another patient just a week before me with the exact same thing in the exact same place..........must be pretty common.  Hope this helps some............really was painless even the removal of it.  A little numbing medicine and it was gone!!!!!  I do know that if you leave it alone and not see your doc it will continue to get bigger............mine did!  Don't wait, make an appointment.............be on the safe side!!!!!!  Take care all!

[ally490]

i have this bump right behind my left ear. then another lump about 2 inches below that and to the right. the second one is like right on the hair line. and between the 2 lumps its hurts alot to touch it. also it hurts when i turn my head all the way to the left. do you have any idea as to what this might be?

[KatieParker]

I also have these problems. I have a small lump behind each ear but the 1 behind the right ear is bigger. I am also getting headache, earache and have a sore throat. I went to the doctor 3 days ago and they said it was a throat infection and the lumps were just lymph nodes. I dont see how a throat infection would give me headache and earach. He gave me antibiotics but they dont seem to be helping. I am going back to the doctor tomorrow as I am very scared now. Please can anyone give me some advice as to what this might be???
Thanks

[Hatteraskat]

I went to the dr. today and I have an ear infection. While I was putting drops in my ears, I noticed this small bump right behind my ear lobe (behind the hole where an earring may go)...It's pretty tender and not that hard, but a little bit. I have no idea what it could be! Can someone help me? Thanks

[prittynpynkk]

I have recently discovered a hard bump in front of my right ear where my cartilage begins. Its skin color and it doesn't hurt. I'd say it is a pea size bump. I'm trying not to worry here but I've had it for a week now. Can anyone help me?????

[KatieParker]

Me again! Still having same problems as before ( see 2 comments up). Returned to the Dr 3 days ago and he said he had misdiagnosed me and they was not lymph nodes but just extra ear cartilage. I have since reasearched this on the web and no one else has reported this symptom. Could I still being wrongly diagnosed? I have had these lumps for 2 weeks now. They are not getting bigger but are hard and do not move. I also sometimes get ear, head and throat pain. I am really, really scared now. I have a 3 year old daughter and really dont want it to be anything serious. I am only 23. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Camie222]

My husband had a couple of bumps on the back of his head and the only time they ever  bothered him was when he was getting a haircut.   He had been to the Doctor several times because they would swell up with fluid and time after time he was diagnosed with a sebaceous cyst.  They would lance it and it would go back down.  After finally getting a different Dr, he thought too that it was a sebaceous cyst and decided to remove it right there in the office.  When he cut it open, it began to bleed profusely.  The Dr.  immiediately sewed my husband back up and decided he needed a referral to a plastic surgeon for removal.  After removal, a biospy was performed and turned out that he did not have a sebaceous cyst, but did have a soft tissue sarcoma, basically, he had cancer.  They removed most of the cyst and sent him to radiation for 6 weeks to cover any thing that may have been missed.  I would say to anyone asking about a suspicious lump, go to a Dr, it could be the difference between life or death.  Thank god my husbands life was spared.  The cancer was a slow growing kind, also, thank god for that, because he had the bumps for about 7 years before getting diagnosed.   This has been the most challenging thing ever and we don't know if it will come back, or if it is even really gone.  I am also scared that the cancer could be hereditary.  Seek medical attention, even if its nothing, wouldn't it be better to know and have a chance to survive than not know at all?????

[joe512]

Yah, I have a lump behind my left ear but does not hurt when i touch it. It is a little soft but still hard. I also have a hard bump on the back of my skull/above my neck. I've had these for like years now...I'm not worried though.

[NeverBetter]

My bump is behind my right ear. I do not have one behind the other one right now, but I did last week. If they are my lymph nodes then it is just one of many symptoms of  EBV (Epstein Barr Virus). I am just getting over being sick again. This time I also had a lump in my are pit. Lymph nodes there to. Just writing this so that if someone else is having swollen nodes they might want to check for the EBV virus. It can be chronic, like mine.

[gtori]

Hi my husband has had a small pimple behind his ear in the crease for about a month. The "pimple" has no head and was slightly sensitive to the touch.  Two nights ago when I was out he used a pin and popped the "pimple". The only problem is that when it popped nothing came out and now his whole ear is enlarged-almost double the size of his left ear. It is also very red and he says its numb and hurts emensely. We went to the hospital and they prescibed him w/an antibiotic called Duricef. It's been 72 hours and his ear pain and size has not decreased. Has this happened to anyone before? Can anyone help?  

[schelzbelz]

We have been treating my husband for bells palsy for the last 5 1/2 weeks.  He was hospitalized last week for tests due to a lump behind his ear that is extrememly painful.  His vision is blurry, his right arm is tingley and he has severe headaches.  The tests ranged from blood work, MRI to a spinal tap.  All tests came back fine.  Does anyone know what he could have?  

[greatkate23]

About 3 days ago, I started getting these headaches. I figured it was from stress (it's finals week at school) and tried to sleep it off. But they aren't going away. I have a lump behind my left ear, right on the bone. I didn't notice it until I tried massaging my neck and head... the more I touch it, the more it aches. The headaches I get are a constant aching pain, not a sharp pain. I'm wondering if this is just my lymph nodes fighting an infection? I haven't been sick lately, not that I know of anyway. Any ideas?

[jo32]

thanks for all your help with my lump behind my ear. i read marjority of everyones lymph nodes situations and mines is somewhat just the same. i just realized mines today the funny thing is mainly everyone stated it was on the right side. well all i can say is that i will keep it clean and my hands off of it so it can go away. thanks again everyone