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Children's health

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Original poster

Pics attached: is this normal?

111 replies

user1482334903 · 31/05/2017 14:07

Hi,

I am very worried about this so please bear with me.

I have noticed that my daughter (3.5) has a slight ridge/groove on the left hand side of her forehead. Looking back at old photos of her, it is evident that this has always been there.

However, for the last couple of months, I have noticed a fleshy lump when she raises her eyebrows or in certain bright lights. You can see this on the picture I have attached.

Anyway, I have seen the doctor about this A few times and she has said she said this is 100 percent just the countering of her forehead and that it's completely normal - she just has an asymmetrical forehead which is also normal.

But very time I see it I feel sick to my stomach with worry. I should point out that I trust my gp and she knows how much I worry. But in the photos of my daughter her as a baby, the lump doesn't look as prominent and I didn't even notice it as a baby.

My daughter has always had a fringe and only recently I've started to pin it back but I can notice it in certain lights or if she pulls certain faces. In the pic attached she is pulling a face, in the second pic, she is not.

Looking for reassurance.

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 31/05/2017 17:33

Your posting style seems familiar. You weren't a poster who previously was convinced they were going to get chicken pox and die were you?
It's not normal to obsess about a problem that a medical professional has told you doesn't exist.

ScarletSienna · 31/05/2017 17:41

Wolfie, I disagree. I think it is fairly normal to worry about something unusual (especially when it involves your child) and to consider a second opinion.

Wolfiefan · 31/05/2017 17:45

It's not normal to take multiple pictures of something and post online. It's not normal to take a child back time and again to the GP when you've been told there isn't a problem.
It's normal to seek a second opinion but I doubt this OP would be satisfied with that. The issue here is anxiety. Not forehead.

PurpleDaisies · 31/05/2017 17:46

For something like that (it's your daughter after all) where I wasn't convinced about the GP's diagnosis I'd pay for a second opinion from another GP or a specialist. At least it'd help put your mind at ease.

The trouble with health anxiety (which is very much what this sounds like) is it's an irrational fear so seeing other doctors for reassurance won't usually help. Addressing the anxiety is the key.

PurpleDaisies · 31/05/2017 17:51

It's not normal to take multiple pictures of something and post online.

I agree, and the op posted this exact thread about three months ago.

Op please seek help for yourself. Flowers

Wolfiefan · 31/05/2017 17:54

Purple I didn't know that. Thank you. I recognise anxiety because I have it. The thing is that it makes me believe stupid things but in my head they are very very real!!

ScarletSienna · 31/05/2017 17:58

I agree that anxiety needs to be addressed but anxiety does not mean that everything is imagined. Many people post photos on here asking for opinions. I haven't done an AS but on the face of this, if you still are concerned or notice something new then getting it checked out is surely fine?

Wolfiefan · 31/05/2017 17:59

Yes but obsessively returning to the GP and mn because no one confirms there's a problem doesn't suggest a normal level of parental concern. It really doesn't.

ScarletSienna · 31/05/2017 18:03

We don't know the OP, how many times she has been to the OP, how the lump has changed or how obsessive the behaviour is!

I'm not saying anxiety isn't something to consider but I would still advise she goes back to the GP rather than ignore it based on MNters diagnosing anxiety and no possible other issues.

PurpleDaisies · 31/05/2017 18:27

Scarlet the op herself has said she has health anxiety on another thread. She has already been to the gp about this many times. This isn't the first (or even the second) thread about this over the course of a few months.

JennyOnAPlate · 31/05/2017 18:32

Her forehead is fine op, as the doctor has already told you. You're going to give your daughter a complex about her forehead...it's not fair of you to pass your anxieties on to her.

HorraceTheOtter · 31/05/2017 18:36

If it makes you feel better, I have a lump on either side of my forehead. So does most of my family. It looks like the start of horns growing, due to their placement.

Starstarbright599 · 31/05/2017 19:15

Blocked Sinuses?

Ecureuil · 31/05/2017 19:20

My DH has a 'lump' exactly the same as that. Always has had, you can see it in baby photos. He's 32 now and doing fine! It's just his head.

3luckystars · 31/05/2017 19:21

You can always ask for a second opinion?

Go back to the gp and tell her you are worried out of your mind and you would like a second opinion about this. Is there another gp at the practice that can have a second look?

And if your daughter is all clear then please do get some help for yourself if you are still stressed about this or anything else that may appear once this has been confirmed as nothing.

ScarletSienna · 31/05/2017 19:54

Yes I can see that but as we are strangers on the Internet, my advice won't change; she needs to see a GP.

Original poster
user1482334903 · 31/05/2017 20:25

Hi,

Thanks for everyone who posted.

Just to confirm a few things : I haven't mentioned the "lump" in front of my daughter, when we have been to the gp, I have told her it was for a normal check up. She enjoyed getting a sticker afterwards. The gp has examined her on two separate occasions - the other times I have spoken to the gp on the phone.

I am not the poster who thought they had chicken pox. And if I did think I chicken pox, I wouldn't think I was about to die!

The gp I've seen knows I have a history of anxiety. However, I must point out that I am certainly not looking for problems or exaggerating/ worrying about every unusual part of my daughter's body, for example, she has a blue mark across her nose which she has had from birth and I have never questioned that.

I think it is pretty normal to worry. Maybe I am coming across as obsessive but I can't help but be concerned.

When I feel the bump, it feels part of the ridge in her head - it's as if it's bigger in that place where it looks like a bump. It doesn't feel like a "lump".

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 31/05/2017 20:29

So you have consulted the GP three times and you're still not happy. This is your anxiety. It really is. It's normal to worry if there's something to worry about. My FIL is dying. I know he is. So I'm worried about that and about how other family members are going to cope.
Worrying about something that you have been told by a medical professional three times isn't a problem? That's a symptom of anxiety. Not a normal level of parental concern.
You may think you haven't mentioned it to your daughter and she doesn't have a clue. You are deluding yourself. Children listen and aren't stupid. Taking lots of photos of her head is odd behaviour and she will wonder why.

Original poster
user1482334903 · 31/05/2017 20:30

I also only posted the pictures as it is difficult to explain. I was just hoping for some reassurance. I am aware of my anxiety, but I can't put everything down to anxiety. If the gp could explain what it is rather than just saying it's "normal" then that would put my mind at ease. I guess we all want explanations when it comes to our children
As it goes, I have a bony lump on my own head - at the back - which I haven't sought medical advice on. I would imagine a lot of people with major health anxiety would be alarmed by this. I'm not. I just leave it be and don't even think about it

OP posts:
Wolfiefan · 31/05/2017 20:31

You do have health anxiety. Get it treated. For your sake and that of the kids.

Ecureuil · 31/05/2017 20:32

What do you think it could be? What are you worried it is?

Ecureuil · 31/05/2017 20:32

The GP did explain what it is... it's part of the normal contouring of her face.

Original poster
user1482334903 · 31/05/2017 20:32

I'm sorry to hear about your father in law wolfie. Xxx

Today was the first time I have taken pictures of her head. And that was only to post here.

I would agree if I was taking pictures and looking at it all the time but I'm really not

OP posts:
Original poster
user1482334903 · 31/05/2017 20:33

I don't know what I think it is really, but my mind imagines all sorts of sinister things

OP posts:
arsenalwatford · 31/05/2017 20:36

OP, the GP has said it's nothing, we are all saying it's nothing, what are you hoping will happen here!?!

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