I know, I know. I have a history of coming on here, freaking out about some non-specific symptom, find out it's actually nothing. But now I feel like I've got something to legitimately worry about, and I was wondering if this has occurred with anyone else.

This morning, I found a lump behind my left ear, sort of where the top of my jaw meets my neck. It's completely under the skin and very hard - about the size of a pea. It's painless unless I push very hard down on it, and is more noticeable when I bow my head. Now, I know there's a lot of things it could be, but I've had slightly swollen lymph nodes and night sweats for a several weeks, so my worries are directed towards lymphoma right now. It sounds kind of extreme considering they could be completely unrelated, but the possibility seems very real to me.

But for now, I'm trying to direct my attention away from the worst-case scenario. Has anyone ever experienced that same kind of lump? If so, what did it end up being? If it doesn't disappear soon I'll go see my doctor, but I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and whether or not it's worth being extremely concerned about.

Thanks for any input!

I used to have those all the time as a kid, they were fun to play with! Does it move around under the skin? If so it's just a swollen gland and will disappear. I just checked and I have a tiny one now but further down my jaw/not so close to the ear. I made my mom take me to the doctor about it when I was about 6 and because you can push it about a bit, he said he was going to chase it all the way down to my big toe and then stamp on it, which made me smile a lot so I skipped merrily out of the surgery and have never given them a second thought again. Pretty sure you're not going to die.

LOL, that's adorable. Pediatricians are awesome. It's honestly hard to tell if I can move it around, though, because it's in the crevice between my jaw and neck...not too accessible. It's more annoying than anything now that I know it's there.

That actually sounds like the transverse process (read: pointy-sticky-outy bit) of C2, the second vertebra in your neck. It's a slightly different shape from the vertebrae below it and the ends can be felt on either side of your neck just behind your jawbone. And it does hurt if you press on it too hard. See if you can find one on the right side in the same location.

At first I didn't feel it on the other side, but after pressing down on the right, I feel something similar. However, it's sticking out much further on the left (the side in question) and hurts more. Not to mention it's easier to find. But it seems to be the area that you're talking about. Interesting.

Yeah, I've had lumps there before (one on my neck under my chin and one near the corner of my jaw), it was just swollen glands. I noticed them one day and got a virus the next. It was unpleasant for a couple of days, but a few days in bed and I was fine again.

Now I know they're there, I can feel them if I press really hard, but when they're swollen I definitely know about it.

Another (also harmless) possibility. I have a hard lump in that same spot, mine's about the size of an M&M or something. Maybe a little bigger. I noticed it about 3 years ago and went to the doctor because I thought it was a lymph node, and he told me that because of my TMJ disorder, one of the nuggets of muscle on the end of a vertebrae in my neck (ribs would attach to these, if you had ribs in your neck) had become swollen.

It's usually fine but gets more swollen and painful when it's really hot and I've been exercising, or when I'm in stressful situations (including the stress of being somewhere loud or crowded).

Interesting.

I've gotten those off and on for my entire life. They come, they're annoying, they go, and I don't have and have never had lymphoma. So, there you go.

Hello.. 2 cents here..


I've had one of these lumps as well, and mine is rather large, and I have had it for over half of my life.

I've had ultrasound on it and all came back fine. Doctor said sometimes it can be related to throat or teeth (have a cavity?)

Years later, its still there and I am fine. I think you only need to worry when it changes shape/size starts to feel painful etc.. etc.

Thanks so much for the input, everyone. It's good to know that it's nothing to worry about for the time being. So I'll just leave it for now, but if it gets really painful or big or anything, I'll skedaddle over to the doc.

I have a hard lump in that same location, its like right under my ear lobe like where it connects to my neck maybe a cm below the earlobe and sets in that crevice between my jaw line and that muscle, it feels like a huge hard lump and hurts when i push on it, it even feels like it kinda goes up under my jaw a little and then goes down along that muscle on the other side of it, weird,but its so solid but kinda squishy on top. I sorta feel the same kind of thing on the other side but its not as promanent as the left side, Ive been seeing an oncologist for an unrelated blood disorder (not cancer) so it got me all scared of cancer lately, though i have had every test under the sun done to me, lots and lots of different blood tests,2 abdominal ultrasounds, chest xrays, bone marrow biopsy, no sign of any cancer, I even freaked out over the lump so bad that i went to the er and pretty much begged them to do a ct scan of it. it came out normal, they found no enlarged lymph nodes at all or any masses, so im like um if its not those things what is it?? did they miss it? are they over looking something? 3 drs and the radiologist looked it and said it looks good ive had my oncologist look at the ct scan, he found nothing, ive had several doctors (2 oncologists, 2 PAs, several MDs, rhumetologist) check my lymph nodes no one said it concerned them in the slightest. one of my oncologists said it seemed to her like it could be that bone that sticks down from behind your ear, another dr said it could just be my anatomy. However, Im still worried about it hahah, Im going to see an ent to look at it because ive had ear probs on that side for a while so i want to be 100% sure its nothing even if it means have it removed and biopsied. Unless of course its my bone and it just sticks out more on that side. sorry for rambeling im a worry wart to.

Yup, I have that right now. I have a very minor sinus infection and my lymph nodes get a little agitated about everything. It's nothing to worry about but if you are concerned, go see your doctor.

If you're worried about having cancer, donate blood regularly. You'll never worry again.

From my experience with lymph nodes/glands doctors generally don't worry too much about them unless they're bigger than 2cm (so a little over an inch), have grown rapidly and are painful. I freaked out a few years ago when I discovered that I had three enlarged lymph nodes one under my ear on the right, one slighly further down my neck on the left which was the biggest (about 2.5cm or just under 2inches) and one near my collar bone. The doctor ordered a chest X-Ray and an ultrasound of my neck and spleen to put my mind at ease mostly - and also because of the slightly larger one on the left. Everything was normal and they never ordered me any blood tests. Turns out I have sensitive lymph nodes and because I have a very lean neck, they seem more pronounced when they enlarge, such as when I'm sick - particularly when I have colds, or sinus infections and when my wisdom teeth were coming through. Playing with them doesn't help either as they're glands which tend to react when you keep poking at them; and they do tend to feel a bit tender the more you poke them too! I don't even think about mine any more (6 years later). I had a little feel around after reading this post and they're still there - two I had to really feel to find and the larger one on the left is back down to about pea sized now. Just like most symptoms, the likelihood of it being cancel is tiny. Unfortunately it's easy to suspect the worst when we hear that these symptoms could potentially be something more sinister. Unless they start growing rapidly or become really painful they're probably not worth worrying about