Lump behind daughters ear

[Loulou161]

My 4yo daughter has a hard thumb nail size lump behind her ear for about two years now. I took her to the gp when it first appeared and they told me it was because she’d had an ear infection and nothing to worry about and will go eventually. I called the gp today because I’m not sure it’s normal to still be there. She seemed shocked she’d had it for two years and referred her to the ENT doctor. I’m now really worried! It causes her no pain at all and she never spoken about so obviously doesn’t feel it at all! Any one else had similar experience? I’m freaking out!

My son is 2 year 4 months and he has had a lump behind his ear since I think about 3 months old. We took him to the gp at about 8 months and although the gp said it was nothing to worry about we had blood tests done as a precaution.

After a few blood tests being a bit off (raised white cells) all were normal.

The gp said it was likely a lymph node that had raised when fighting an infection and just never went down.

It could be a ganglion which is perfectly harmless.

If it's after an untreated ear infection, it could possibly be mastoiditis, so the referral is appropriate, at least to rule it out.

My DS has a lymph node in his neck which never went completely down. Probably caused by infection. Thinks it's called shotty lymph node.
Absolute panic when doc called him back for emergency second blood test after the results from the first came back. Second results were fine and had a scan just incase. I could have kissed the scan doctor when he said it was all fine.
Whenever I remembered the experience after I would have a panic. That lasted quite a while.
I hope your DD is fine.

GP here, OP; a lump that has been there for two years without getting worse or causing her any problems is very very unlikely to be anything sinister. It may be a cyst, which are common anywhere on the scalp. Definitely no reason to panic, anyway! Do get it checked by ENT for peace of mind but please try not to worry in the meantime.

I've had one for as long as I can remember and I'm a good few decades older :)

@AppropriateAdult
So I had an appointment with the ENT doctor, she wasn’t worried at all… said it was a cyst. I said I’d been looking through pages of horror stories on Google and was very worried about cancer as the lump doesn’t move! But she said cyst… now I’ve googled more could the cyst still be something worse?
She did say it should be removed so it doesn’t burst so booked in for an ultrasound next week, is an ultrasound to see if it’s just a cyst or for surgery?? I’m still a bit confused and very worried!
We’ve waited a month for the US so I’m guessing she must think it’s nothing more serious or it would have been for urgent?

Some photos of the lump!

That’s good news, Loulou. It certainly looks like a cyst to me too. Cancerous lumps don’t stay the same for years; they grow quickly and people become ill.
They’ll nearly always do an US before surgery just to fully confirm what it is and the size etc. There’s no reason to be worried.

@AppropriateAdult thank you so much for getting back to me! I do feel calmer now! I’m a very anxious person so situations like these I find very hard!

How did your dd get on?

Hi did you find out what this was?

Hi I'm experiencing same with my 3yr old daughter 😑 how is your baby now??