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Lump under ribcage

I'm 19 years old, and first noticed the lump a few months ago. I hadn't recently lost a lot of weight, but I had started to excercise around the time I first noticed it. I'm not sure if its related to my lifestyle or not, but that was the only change I can think of occuring before I found it. Its about the size of a pea, and I think it's either gotten larger or I've gained some weight since I first found it and it just seems like its larger because it isn't right against my skin anymore [aka theres fat adding some circumference or something].
The growth is right underneath my ribcage, and a little to the right where my xiphoid process should be. I've had a medical professional look at it [you can't really see it, so I should say the doctor felt it], and she said it was too high in my abdomen to be a lymph node and too hard to be a cyst. I can feel it when I touch that area, and it does not move around when I do touch it. The skin also puckers inward a little where it is; how I initially found it was poking that little inward puckering spot.

I've had a sonogram of it taken, but the nurses could not locate it at all on the sonogram. They would feel it, and try to locate it on the screen but they were unable to. And since cancerous masses and cysts tend to show up on ultrasounds I'm guessing its not either of those two.
I'm just curious what this may be... a pocket of fat or some accumulation of tissue? Does that mean with time it will go away?
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563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,

Two possibilities are there for such kind of lump.It can be a sebaceous cyst or a lipoma.

Sebaceous cyst is a closed sac or cyst below the surface of the skin that has a lining that resembles the uppermost part (infundibulum) of a hair follicle and fills with a fatty white, semi-solid material called sebum produced by sebaceous glands of the epidermis.It is usually painless but can become painful if infected.

Lipoma is a benign fatty tumor. Lipomas can be painful if they grow and press on nearby nerves. Steroid injections(they shrink the lipoma),liposuction or surgical removal are the treatment of choice.

In my opinion,consultation of a dermatologist/surgeon will be the best as without examination,confirmation of a diagnosis is tough.

I hope that helps. Please do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional doubts.Warm regards.

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Avatar universal
I would get a second opinion from a surgeon. What bothers me is it is going inward. I had a cyst and asked a nurse about it. She looked at it and it rolled. She told me it was a cyst because it rolled it did not have roots, but if it started going inward have it removed because it would have roots. Later in time, I fell on it (it was on my butt), and bruised it. I noticed it was going in, so I went to a surgeon and had it removed. It appeared smaller than a quarter. When the surgeon removed it it was a tumor and over an inch thick. It was tested and not cancerous. Go to a surgeon. If he finds nothing great, but I would not accept it so easily that it is okay. It has not been biopsied or anything and cameras don't always pick up everything, not even MRI's which is suppose to be the best. My dr had to rely on dye to find my back problem, because the MRI showed nothing, but he knew from examination something was wrong.
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