Swollen hard lump between top of nose and eye - 13 month old

[MrsBungle]

Hello,

Just after a bit of advice/thoughts as to what this could be.

Just a bit of background as I'm not sure if this could possibly be related. My ds is 13 months old. When he was 3 weeks old he had an abscess come up in the fold of his neck. This was operated on within hours of it coming up. All went well and it's never appeared again. Branchial cleft cyst was mentioned.

I have an open appointment with the paed for him and I took him back in march due to him having had 13 ear or throat infections since he was born. Paed said unlikely related to neck cyst but gp to refer to ent. We've not seen an ent yet.

Sorry this is long. Anyway, today at nursery a swillen very hard lump has appeared in the corner between the top of his nose and his eye. The skin around it is swollen and the lump is hard.

I phoned the gp but no gp's were in and I was given an appointment at lunch time tomorrow.

Do you think it's ok to wait until then or should I phone NHS direct / ooh? I'm just worried as with his cyst/abscess thing the gp sent us straight to paed a and e and he was operated on within hours.

Any idea what it could be? Thanks.

I've think you've answered your own question.

Given your child's history, I would call OOH.

That would be a swollen hard lump rather than a swillen one!

Thank you kelda I'll call them. I was just trying not to over-react!

I would also call OOH

Thanks for the replies. I called them and they said I should keep tomorrow's appointment and call them back if anything changes. I feel better that I've checked. Thanks

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? The lump is hard - the skin around it is swollen but not red or angry and there is no head to it or pus which makes me think it's not another abscess.

Any ideas what it could be?

Hope he's ok. Let us know what the doctor says.

Maybe an infected tear gland?

Sinusitis?
Mosquito bite?

Thanks kelda. Been to gp who has no idea what it is but said its unusual and has referred him to a paed. No idea how long that will take and now I'm worrying a bit as the lump is hard and it's not movable.

I wonder if we might get seen more quickly if I use my open appt with the consultant he has re his old abscess, I think he's a general paed. I might phone them.

Thanks for asking and if anyone else has any idea what this could be I'd be grateful for any advice!

Yes do that. It's best if he is seen by the same doctor.

It could be a dacryocystitis which is a pus filled abscess in the lacrimal system. Does he have a watery eye?

Hi barley

I did google that last night! His eye is not watery and there's no head or pus. The skin is not red, just a bit swollen over the hard lump. It doesn't seem to be painful. It doesn't seem fluid-filled, just hard like bone. It's weird how its just appeared and is so hard - unless I've missed it I suppose. It's not in a place that I 'feel' very often. It's definitely recent. Thanks for taking the time.

Hmm, could possibly be a dermoid cyst then if its not red or angry looking. This is a harmless benign growth, it can be removed surgically if it interferes with the vision peripherally or restricts the movement of the eye. Difficult to know without seeing a pic thoug.

Don't suppose it started off as a spot?

Oh barley I think you've hit the nail on the head. I googled images of dermoid cysts near the eye and the second one that comes up looks almost exactly like ds's does.

googling images of cysts is bloody horrific!

I know it might not be this but I feel better that it might be uncomplicated thank you

Hi anya.

It didn't. Unlike the abscess he had on his neck, it started out looking like a small spot in the morning and by lunch time it was 3 x the size. He did have quite a prominent vein in that exact area but nothing else. Thanks for replying.

Hmm, dd had something very much like that, is it just a hard lump under the skin?

Sorry should add that dd has a history of abscess and also had a lump on her cheek which was a pilomatricoma.

Yes, it is basically just a hard lump under the skin. It's not small, much bigger than say a pea. More like a marble, although maybe slightly smaller than that.

I've just uploaded some pictures of dd when she had her lump. Not very clear due to the size but 3rd one down might be the best.

She's gorgeous anya!

It does look a bit like that but hard to tell as it's in an awkward place. I tried to take a photo but you really can't see it on a photo.

Did they do anything for your dd's lump?

Thank you

She had about 5 courses of antibotics as all the gp's where a bit stumped on what it could be as it wasn't painful and she wasn't bothered by it at all.

She was then referred to a pead to have a look, he wasn't sure so was sent for an ultrasound. Results came back that it was a solid mass of pus (lovely!). We then had to see a childrens surgeon who recommenced waiting for 6 months for it to go on its own or to have it removed.

We decided to wait for the 6 months but it did start to grow so she ended up having it removed under a general.

Lol at solid mass of pus! Nice!

Hopefully when we see the paed they will scan and find out what it is. That's all I'm really bothered about "lumps" are scary.

Ds already had a general to drain his abscess when he was 3wo. Dd had a general at 12 months to remove large skin tags on her face. I seem to create children with lumpy faces

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for taking the time to advise.

@ lumpy children!

Please do let me know how it goes