I am worried.

[Bethann1983]

I am a twenty four year old female.  Several months ago I was laying on my back and ran my fingers over my ribs and felt a lump on my bottom rib. It is the size and shape as an egg yoke. It doesn't hurt unless I press on it (which I tend to do). I never noticed it before, but that may just be because I can only feel it when I am laying on my back and slide my hand over from my abdomen outward which I don't regularly do. I plan on scheduling an appointment with a doctor, but I am worried and hope that I haven't ignored this too long. Is there anything you can tell me about this?

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  Thanks for the additional input.  You may need to have a biopsy of that lump done to make sure that it isn't anything serious.  From your age alone, and from the fact that the lump is movable and not fixed on surrounding structures, we can say that the lump is not likely malignant.  But only through a biopsy can we know for sure whether it is or isn't.

[Bethann1983]

The lump is movable by a couple of inches. It isn't hard like a bone, but not soft either. It feels sort of like a node behind your ear or something like that.

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  Can you provide some additional descriptions of that lump? Is it movable or is it fixed against the surrounding tissue? What is its consistency? Hard and bony like your ribs? Or soft and jelly-like? It's too early to tell at this point what that lump is, but if it's soft and movable, it may be a non-cancerous condition like a lipoma (a lump consisting of fat cells) or an epidermal inclusion cyst (an accumulation of oily secretions from skin glands that have been blocked).  The best thing for you to do is to have it examined by a doctor. Feel free to post if there are any further developments.