Lump behind DS ear and afraid to google

[TheLurkingOne]

....and no possibility of GP until Monday at the earliest.
I suffer from anxiety and its gone into overdrive. I feel near tears.
Can anyone just reassure me that its probably nothing? Perhaps suggest any benign explanations for a tender lump to appear? He's always had small lumps behind his ear, which I had checked by gp ages ago, but it appears to have got a lot bigger and more painful almost overnight.

I coukd really do with some calming words.

[Lou573]

It’s likely a lymph node and completely normal for them to swell in response to infection, maybe a small cut somewhere? My baby had it and we saw a consultant and had a scan but it was completely fine and disappeared within 6 weeks or so.

[deffonamechange]

I get lumps behind my ear all the time. It usually coincides with an ear infection or a slight cold and being run down. Sometimes they sre sore. Sometimes they aren't. They ALWAYS disappear by themselves

[deffonamechange]

I googled for you and would say google yourself. All very reasurring. Mastioditis is lumps behind ear and very common in children and nothing to worry about.
Also says a lump behind ear is very rarely anything remotely serious.

[TheLurkingOne]

Thank you so much. These are the words I needed to hear.
Anxiety levels running high at the moment anyway and it was the straw that broke me.
Thanks again lovely MNers.

[GlamGiraffe]

A bGland (lymph node) has probably swollen in response to something, probably a minor ear infection starting, an insect bite, cut or graze, a spot, sore throat, anything like that or even an allergy. Most likely nothing to worry about. Still go to the GP of you are concerned but I definitely wouldnt unduly worry.
How big is the bump and what does it feel like?

[TheLurkingOne]

Giraffe he won't let me feel it properly because touching it makes it feel sore (and autism) but it is about the size of a 50p piece and sticks out by about 0.5cm at the highest point of the curve if you know what I mean.

[Lou573]

Having been there I can tell you that the GP will just say keep an eye on it and if it doesn’t resolve within about a month they’ll look into it. Even then it doesn’t mean anything sinister, my baby’s lasted about 6 weeks.

[Wolfgirrl]

@deffonamechange NHS says otherwise:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/mastoiditis/

OP I dont want to alarm you but the NHS link says occasionally it can lead to something more serious if it's not treated. Are you able to take him to a walk in for antibiotics today?

[RosieLemonade]

I get these all the times. I assume most people do? I’ve got one at the moment.

[TheLurkingOne]

wolfgirl :(
No walk in clinics (ireland), just an emergency only helpline, kind of just for urgent a&e type things.

[Wolfgirrl]

I would call it anyway OP, better safe than sorry.

[waiting4arainbow]

Hey sorry to jump on I was just looking to see if anyone has posting anything like this before I made my own post!
How old is DS? And does it hurt him? The reason I ask is because my son has had a large hard lump behind his ear since yesterday and it's really painful even if I stroke my finger over it he's flinching in pain.. at first I thought it's a possible reaction to an infection elsewhere. He said he's had no ear ache, no sore throat and feels completely fine in himself apart from it hurts when touched and it's gotten slightly bigger since yesterday!