Lump behind my son's ear

[danidan]

Hi there....I'm new to this post and was wondering...I found a lump behind my 4-year old son's ear....last week he had a sore throat in addition to him saying that a bug bit him in that same spot.   It was red and swollen a week ago, now it's just a pea-sized bump.   Since then he's had no symptoms of being sick, but the bump is still there.....is that a lymph node and are they reactive?  I keep touching it to see if it's getting bigger.   My pediatrician said it was nothing to worry about, but that's all I do....I worry.....just wondering.

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

This could be mastoiditis, cervical lymphadenopathy or parotitis.

Have you seen an ENT specialist or your doctor for your symptoms? Do you have any associated symptoms of pain, discharge, fever, etc?

'Mastoiditis is an infection of the mastoid process, the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear. It is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media (middle ear infection) .'

You could read more about the condition at the following links -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastoidectomy

and

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic306.htm

Let us know about how you are doing and if you have any other doubts.

Post us about what your doctor advises.

Regards.

[danidan]

Hi...thanks for your response....no, he has no fever, although he did two weeks ago when he had the sore throat, but the antibiotic helped that....otherwise, he's eating, drinking, playing, having tantrums as always (Lol), basically acting the way he should.    I just get nervous about lymph nodes and cancer.....but I assume that he would have other symptoms.

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

A lump behind the ear in children could be due to throat infection, insect bite, accidental trauma to the site, ear infection , etc.

Lymph nodes in the region are known as post auricular lymph nodes and can enlarge secondary to infection, inflammation, etc.

You could try some warm compresses at the site, warm saline gargles for his sore throat and some oral antihistamine medications for the swelling.

Does he have any other symptoms of fever, etc?

If the swelling still persists after a few days, it would be best to consult a doctor for a clinical examination and whether a course of antibiotics is required.

Let us know if you need any other information.

Regards.