Rock solid fixed lump in neck

[UKmamainUS]

I just discovered a rock solid risked lump next to my thyroid on the left side. It's quite deep in and about a centimeter diameter but feels like it am only feeling a part of it. I'm feeling really freaked out now. I was just starting to get my anxiety under control, but really, even using CBT I can't even find a less scary alternative that it can be besides cancer / tumor. Can't find one on the right side.

---------- Post added at 20:28 ---------- Previous post was at 20:14 ----------

Actually I guess it's probably at the side of my voice box. My neck anatomy is not the best.

[swanick15]

About 80% of tumours are benign so if it is a tumour you have found it is most likely to be benign so not necessarily cancer

[Fishmanpa]

Look up hyoid bone...

Positive thoughts

[MartMart22]

Hey,

Just to let you know i've had one of these for about 4 or 5 months now not changed in side not moveable and hard! I've been terrified not gonna lie but I just wanna let you know there are plenty of other things it can be I went to my doctor who referred me for a scan had the scan dr said it looks fine but will refer for mri which I have now cancelled (long story) but however you choose to go about it there are other more common reasons for example a bone spur! I also read a post by a doctor that when lymph nodes or any kind of lump is the "C" word its hard/rubbery but no where near as hard as a bone.

hope this helped :)

[swgrl09]

I agree, I think it's the bone there. I went insane and freaked out over that for a while a few years back. then I realized it's a bone!

[Dolphin8808]

I have it too! On BOTH sides. Scared the hell out of me. Then Fishmanpa mentioned the hyoid bone. Makes sense. Mine are both over a cm, hard as rocks, don't move and freak me the hell out! I accidentally found mine when going to take my pulse.

It was only one side I first noticed it, then After lots of digging, I found it on my other side too, not nearly as easy to feel though on the right side.

First thing I though is lymphoma!

I have been reading lots and it seems this is much more common then what you think. Cancer is my biggest fear too.

[Dolphin8808]

If you look, its horseshoe shaped, but the ends curve out like round kidney beans. I think that is what we are feeling, very hard bone.

It actually connects the tongue. Does it move when you swallow?

[UKmamainUS]

Its too low down to be hyoid bone. Thanks though.

---------- Post added at 08:48 ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 ----------

I should also mention I have had pain in that general region for about six weeks now and an unexplained earache for about a month. Luckily I have ENT appt on Monday for the earache.

[bukibee]

Im so scared I have a painless lump In my neck on the right side, I cant tell if its movable or hard but its not bone hard, I found it a month ago and it didnt change in size, but two months before I found it my doctor examined my neck and I think he felt it because he kept his fingers on its place and asked me to swallow, and he did a blood count test and thyroid test for me, and they came back normal, and I had chest and sinus x-rays and they were also normal, im so scared and I cry all the time, and my throat had been sore on and off for 4 months now, and my nose keeps getting blocked, and I also found a small soft ppainless lump on the side od my tongue and of xourse I googled my symptoms and im so scared im losing my mind.
my bottom wisdom teeth are both impacted and still under my gums, I read that they could.be the cause.
Also secondhand smoke and the smell of burning charcoal really irritate my throat and in my univercity theres alot of secondhand smoke and I dont know if it.could be he cause.

I went to 3 general doctors who gave me antibiotics for my throat
2 ENT doctors and they both said I have postnasal drip
An allergies doctor and he said I dont have allergies
And my dentist for my.wisdom.teeth and he did an x-ray but told me.to to get them removed

I took 4 different antibiotics and with each one I felt a little better but I never went back to normal

Pleeaase tell me what to.do im.losing my.mind I dont wanna hear the C word

[Dolphin8808]

Here is another thread about lumps in the neck, it is sooooo very very common.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107527

bukibee, what did the doctor do a chest xray and sinus xray? Did you ask for those or were you having symptoms?

Tumors can show on xrays so please take comfort in that.

[Fishmanpa]

The golden rule is this....

If you have a lump, node or lesion that doesn't resolve or get better in 2-3 weeks, see a "qualified" ENT that specializes in H&N cancer.

If you're given the all clear, move on. If I had seen 3 doctors, 2 ENTs, an allergist and a dentist who all found nothing sinister, I'd be jumping for joy! In fact, I'd be jumping for joy after 1 all clear! ~lol~ I wasn't so lucky. My (one) GP checked the swollen node... and what I mean by swollen is that it was clearly visible on my neck. It wasn't something you had to dig to find. It was BIG (2CM+ and growing). Two rounds of antibiotics did nothing and it continued to grow. A CT showed the nodes/masses. An exam by an (one) ENT and a scope was a prelim diagnosis as cancer. A FNAB (fine needle aspiration biopsy) of the node confirmed it.

There are dozens of reasons a node will swell or a lump appears and it's NOT sinister! What I'm getting at is that many see several doctors or get the all clear several times from one doctor and still chase the diagnosis. Why? Do you really want it to be cancer? I assure you that you don't! Celebrate your health! Be thankful you haven't heard the "c" word!

Positive thoughts

[bukibee]

One of my ENT doctors did the sinus x-ray to see if i have sinus infection or something, and the chest doctor did the chest x-ray because I told him that I had had troubles breathing, but it was all due to anxiety, and ive been breathing fine since then.

[UKmamainUS]

Dolphin - that post sounds exactly like what I am feeling. Thanks for linking it.

[bukibee]

Guys I talked to my mom and dad about my fears, and my dad said that he gets these swollen lymph nodes alot, and that I shouldn't worry about it.
Plus I thought about what fishmanpa said and I realised that if I really was sick, at least one of all the doctors ive been to wouldve suspected something, and all the blood tests and x-rays I had done wouldve shown something if I was sick.
So I decided to let go and forget about all of this (its not that easy but ill try) and just live my life, and I promise not to Google my symptoms again. :)

[Dolphin8808]

My pleasure! I found much reassurance in it. Neck "lumps" really are rather common. There are so many things that make up our anatomy that lumps here and there are really quite common.

Doctors do not play around with this kind of stuff, they can't. They could be sued if they missed something, so if the docs aren't freaking out, I wouldn't be either :)

[UKmamainUS]

I haven't seen a doctor about it yet - got an ENT appointment re a persistent ear ache today so thought I would bring it up then. But for the most part my anxiety regarding it is pretty low now. Thank goodness -on Wednesday when I found it I had no idea how I was meant to get to Monday without going nuts! Thanks again for the reassuring post.

[UKmamainUS]

Apparently I was feeling my spine - no kidding - according to my ENT you can feel your spine from the front of your neck. Huge relief.

[Fishmanpa]

Apparently I was feeling my spine - no kidding - according to my ENT you can feel your spine from the front of your neck. Huge relief.

That definitely = "Rock solid fixed lump in neck" :D

Positive thoughts and lumpy gravy!

[swgrl09]

Glad all is well!

[Nickyboy]

I've joined this site specifically so I can add weight to the message not to worry unduly, so in some small way I can counter the vast number of cancer-related hits you get whenever you look for neck lumps.

A few weeks ago I became aware of a hard, fixed lump in my neck, which seemed to protrude noticeably - only on the left side, not in the middle - when I tensed the base of my tongue and sort of pushed my windpipe forward with my neck muscles. Wasn't sure if it had been there for ages or whether it was new. But it coincided with swollen neck glands. And then a couple of weeks ago I woke up with a strange tingling tongue sensation, AND I started to hear my heart thumping in my ears. Not long after, I began to feel a thickness in my neck, a sore throat, and what seemed to be increased effort swallowing.

I went to my GP for reassurance. She's wonderful, and she said she could feel the lump, but thought it was 'structure' (i.e. normal anatomy). She sent me for a blood test and an ultrasound scan. The blood test came first, and was completely free of any cancer concerns. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that blood tests don't tell you about some types of throat cancer, and that was when I started to worry. Last week I began to feel enough constriction around my throat that I felt like breathing was difficult, particularly after exertion. The lump seemed to be getting bigger. I was cursing ever having smoked or drunk booze; I have two small children. I checked out neck anatomy on the internet, and the lump didn't seem to correspond with anything anatomical that should be where it was. It was a fixed, hard, lump basically ticking every cancer-related box you could find on the internet.

The most likely explanation, from what I could tell, was a mass of some sort at the base of my tongue. Following the lump with my finger, it seemed to be to the left of the top of my throat, near where it meets my mouth cavity (i.e. near the tonsils). I started noticing it during the day. Every morning I would wake up hoping it would have gone down, and it hadn't. There was virtually no doubt in my mind that this was a oropharyngeal cancer of my own causing. I started to notice small changes like feeling a bit weaker in the legs, itching more, and finding the heat more problematic. I still hadn't got the letter for the ultrasound appointment, and I am about to go on holiday, so I rang up the doctors, then the hospital, to get the appointment moved forward to today.

So I went in, weighing odds up in my mind. What stage would the cancer be at? Could it have metastasized from somewhere else? Would I be disfigured? What music would they play at my funeral? What would I say to my children when I said goodbye to them? I sat down outside the ultrasound room, expecting this to be the beginning of my new, carcinoma, life.

Inside the imaging room were two doctors and two technicians. I lay on the table, and after I described my situation one of the doctors gelled me up and started scanning. 'Talk to me,' I said, 'what are you seeing?' He asked me to tense my windpipe again, so he could follow the lump. He looked concerned, and nodded. So how advanced was the cancer? I wondered.

'It's totally normal,' he said.

'Normal for someone with throat cancer, or normal full stop?' I replied.

'It's your hyoid bone. This happens a lot. A couple of years ago I thought I had a lump and it turned out to be my hyoid bone. There aren't any tumours in your neck and your swollen lymph glands are very very common', the doctor said.

And that's that. What I'm saying is that you MIGHT have cancer - we ALL might have cancer. But lumps in your neck, even if combined with a whole bunch of other symptoms that seem really cancery, are still far more likely to be something else. So until you've had it checked out properly... don't panic.

[Dolphin8808]

AMEN! Thank you for posting this. Fishmanpa mentioned the hyoid bone as well. I found the hard bone like lump on each side of my throat and freaked OUT. Not something I was happy to find at all.

Great news for you as well, so happy you have answers my friend!