Aa
neck mass
Hi....23 y/o female.
I have been reading alot about Follicular Lymphoma and I was just wondering if it commonly presents with something like I have. I know it is typically an "older person" disease, however it has occured in younger people. I have a 2x2 ROCK hard non-tender mass about 1 cm under the mastoid where the sternomastoid attaches. My doctor felt it 6 months ago and said it felt like a trigger point. I can feel it better when my neck muscle is relaxed and really have to push hard to feel it when it is contracted...so it appears to either be attached to the inside of the muscle or deep to it. It does not move or give at all even if i push as hard as I can. It has not grown in 6months...maybe a little but not much if it has. I have no other symptoms besides occasionally (2-3x month) waking up sweating....not drenched like others have mentioned but pretty sweaty. This seems to be correlated to bad dreams most of the time but 1 or 2 times with no cause at all. Like I said this has only happened a few times so I am also wondering if the night sweats associated with cancer occur intermittantly like this or usually get progressively worse? Sorry for the long post, as you can see I am extremely concerned and all my doctor had to say was that it felt like a trigger point. I do have a stiff neck alot but I am skeptical to think that it can cause such a rock hard nodule in my neck that wont go away. Anyone else ever have a mass like this? Any opinions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I have been reading alot about Follicular Lymphoma and I was just wondering if it commonly presents with something like I have. I know it is typically an "older person" disease, however it has occured in younger people. I have a 2x2 ROCK hard non-tender mass about 1 cm under the mastoid where the sternomastoid attaches. My doctor felt it 6 months ago and said it felt like a trigger point. I can feel it better when my neck muscle is relaxed and really have to push hard to feel it when it is contracted...so it appears to either be attached to the inside of the muscle or deep to it. It does not move or give at all even if i push as hard as I can. It has not grown in 6months...maybe a little but not much if it has. I have no other symptoms besides occasionally (2-3x month) waking up sweating....not drenched like others have mentioned but pretty sweaty. This seems to be correlated to bad dreams most of the time but 1 or 2 times with no cause at all. Like I said this has only happened a few times so I am also wondering if the night sweats associated with cancer occur intermittantly like this or usually get progressively worse? Sorry for the long post, as you can see I am extremely concerned and all my doctor had to say was that it felt like a trigger point. I do have a stiff neck alot but I am skeptical to think that it can cause such a rock hard nodule in my neck that wont go away. Anyone else ever have a mass like this? Any opinions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Went to the doctor today. He said that it did not feel "nodal" at all and that it did feel exactly like a bone. He also told me my skull was assymetrical in regards to the mastoid process and that it is possible that my SCM is so tight all the time that it caused a bone spur or something along those lines to form in the muscle. He said overall it was a strange feeling and he ordered a CBC w/diff, ESR, and referred me to ENT just to get a second opinion and a CT scan. Does this "bony growth" sound like anything u have ever heard of?
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the input. I have not been sick for as far as I can remember. I think the last time I even had a cold was 3 years ago so I have had, nor do I have cold symptoms currently. I actually had one of my professors feel it today who is a PA, and he said it didnt feel like a node because it was way to hard and the back part of it was wider than the front which almost felt like a hard "tail"...the "tail i guess you could call it is the part that is most rock hard and it is felt on the medial boarder of the muscle. However the mass does extend the full horizontal lenth of the muscle and is definately bone hard. I asked him what else it could possibly be if he didnt think it was a node and he said calicification or something along a random benign growth. Oh and i think i forgot to mention...this thing does not move no matter how hard i push or pry it. Can u think of anything benign that this could be or do you think its probably cancerous due to the nature?
Thanks for the input. I have not been sick for as far as I can remember. I think the last time I even had a cold was 3 years ago so I have had, nor do I have cold symptoms currently. I actually had one of my professors feel it today who is a PA, and he said it didnt feel like a node because it was way to hard and the back part of it was wider than the front which almost felt like a hard "tail"...the "tail i guess you could call it is the part that is most rock hard and it is felt on the medial boarder of the muscle. However the mass does extend the full horizontal lenth of the muscle and is definately bone hard. I asked him what else it could possibly be if he didnt think it was a node and he said calicification or something along a random benign growth. Oh and i think i forgot to mention...this thing does not move no matter how hard i push or pry it. Can u think of anything benign that this could be or do you think its probably cancerous due to the nature?
Hi.
I understand your concern.
Did you have a head and neck or lung infection in the past before you noticed the appearance of the non-tender mass in your neck? Do you have nasal stuffiness or feeling of ear fullness?
The non-tender mass in the area you mentioned is probably a lymph node. Lymph nodes commonly appear after a bout of infection. There are times when even with resolution of the infection, these enlarged lymph nodes do not return to its original size and will remain enlarged. Other disease conditions that can present with a mass in the neck area would be lymphomas and metastatic carcinomas.
The sweating you mentioned is a non-specific symptom. This may occur in a lot of disease conditions. Lymphoma is just one of them. Patients with lymphoma do not always experience sweating. But when they do, the sweating is more of a continuous type and not intermittently like what you are experiencing.
It is best to go back to your doctor and undergo further work-ups. You can have the mass biopsied, either thru fine needle aspiration or incision biopsy. That will give you a more definite diagnosis.
Good luck and God bless you always.
I understand your concern.
Did you have a head and neck or lung infection in the past before you noticed the appearance of the non-tender mass in your neck? Do you have nasal stuffiness or feeling of ear fullness?
The non-tender mass in the area you mentioned is probably a lymph node. Lymph nodes commonly appear after a bout of infection. There are times when even with resolution of the infection, these enlarged lymph nodes do not return to its original size and will remain enlarged. Other disease conditions that can present with a mass in the neck area would be lymphomas and metastatic carcinomas.
The sweating you mentioned is a non-specific symptom. This may occur in a lot of disease conditions. Lymphoma is just one of them. Patients with lymphoma do not always experience sweating. But when they do, the sweating is more of a continuous type and not intermittently like what you are experiencing.
It is best to go back to your doctor and undergo further work-ups. You can have the mass biopsied, either thru fine needle aspiration or incision biopsy. That will give you a more definite diagnosis.
Good luck and God bless you always.
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