Lump on neck - goitre? (with pic)

[sundaymorningworries]

Been feeling like there was something in my throat/neck for about a week, then this morning I woke up with this. Bit scared. It bobs up and down when I swallow, feels hard and smooth and is uncomfortable but not painful.

Swollen tonsil?

No, it's external, well, I mean not inside my throat. And it's down at the base of my neck.

This could be caused by a variety of things (not necessarily sinister!). It’s worth a GP visit this week to get it looked at.

I had this years ago, had it scanned and bloods done, which didn't show anything untoward. It went down of its own accord and I've never had it again. It was probably just a mild infection. Don't worry too much about it, but definitely get it checked by your GP. I think goitre is very rare these days.

Defo not looking like goitre to me.
Most swellings in neck turn out to be swollen glands, even if quite hard, - but , at the moment, it's an unidentified lump, so you must get seen by a Dr this week - don't take no for an answer.

Thanks all. I shall make an appointment to see my GP first thing in the morning.

If it bobs up and down when you swallow it does sound like it is related to your thyroid. If the swelling has come up quickly I agree you should see your GP early this week.

I had the same as owlish, was an infection. Mine was bigger and physically wobbled when I walked. It was horrible!

Update. I've seen the GP who says it seems like a thyroid swelling. He has booked me in for a blood test (I'm waiting to see the nurse right now) and is sending an urgent referral for me to see a thyroid specialist. Would normally be within 2 weeks but could be longer with Christmas.

Blood test is for thyroid function and something else I've forgotten. He says very unlikely to be infection.

I feel quite worried.

I had a lump in my neck for a while - turned out it was a branchial cyst. It was removed, and the scar on my neck is in one of the wrinkles!

I know it's worrying, but hope you can put it to the back of your mind for the holiday.

It’s most likely that there was a thyroid cyst and it’s had a bleed inside.

You don’t need to be overly concerned.

I have this - a goitre and had a thyroid test and it was normal. I still have it. I have had it about 6 years.

It started when I was under a lot of stress, redundancy of a very specialist job I loved, and I was being very strict on diet to loose weight so went a bit too low on my weight. So maybe I stressed my thyroid? That's just my opinion.

I can feel it if I really think about it when swallowing. I've not had further tests or biopsies. Maybe I should have, but I've been fine. I've had a baby since etc, no health issues at all.

That's interesting hoho as I have been under a fair amount of stress lately and have also started fasting recently (although far from underweight).

Let us know how you get on. My goitre is certainly smaller than it was initially, but it's still there. I'm not so stressed, but I am someone who copes at the time then it all gets too much. So I would say I suffer from stress.

Worth a read up on thyroid and stress. I feel I should be doing yoga or something .. it prob would help.

I'm average weight now and not dieting.

That seems a fair bit smaller than mine hoho but good to know that it's nothing to worry about.

Bloods are back - liver, kidney and thyroid function all normal and no sign of infection. Was sort of hoping the bloods would be the answer.

I have a goitre. Mine is a cyst within the thyroid. I first discovered it three years ago.

The thyroid specialist will check your neck, possibly stick a camera up your nose to check nothing within the throat. (I didn't know this was going to happen so it was a complete surprise to me and I wasn't prepared for it.), And probably refer for an ultrasound.

Depending on what they see they may do a fine needle aspiration to check it's nothing nasty and possibly drain it to reduce the size. They did this with mine.

Mine has now got bigger and as it's affecting my ability to swallow I'm now waiting for a hemithyroidectomy.

Thanks Mac that's good to know. How horrible that it's affecting your swallowing. Hope they can sort it for you.

Please don’t be concerned about the two week referral. Your GP is following NICE guidelines for neck lumps.
There are lots of reasons for neck swellings but, of course, Google throws up worse case scenarios
Stay off of Google and try to enjoy your Christmas.

British thyroid foundation can be a good and reassuring source of info about thyroids.

Thank you, I'll take a look at that. Good old NHS has come up trumps with an appointment on Christmas Eve 🤞🏻

I had a similar lump after DC1 was born, in my case it was a benign thyroid cyst that didn’t affect thyroid function, had fine needle thing to drain it and for histology, was fine. Have had smaller ones since.

Thyroids are funny things, they often get lumps and nodules but even thyroid cancer is said to be 'ok' (as much as cancer can be) as I believe it's extremely rare to spread and very easily operable. But it doesn't sound like it's anything like that and blood tests being ok sounds reassuring.

Your thyroid actually increases by around a quarter to a third in the first trimester when pregnant (Egyptians used to use a cord around their necks to tell if pregnant as they felt it get tighter) to accommodate the baby's needs (unless it's not working, hence why people who are on thyroxine have to take more). It decreases after pregnancy but this is why sometimes you can get post partum thyroiditis as it goes a bit wonky for a while.

Dh had a lump around there that was a blocked salivary gland that was eventually removed.

I had this too. Lump seemed to appear overnight In early pregnancy. Was referred on two week wait and had ultrasound and fine needle aspiration. Both inconclusive but they said that the few cells they had managed to collect didn't show any signs of malignancy. Bloods were all normal. Lump kept growing and started pushing my windpipe out the way so had a hemithyroidectomy. The post op biopsy showed it was benign which was a relief.

Update. Orchard was correct - it is a cyst and had bled. He drained the bloody fluid off it and has sent it for testing but doesn't expect that the results will tell him much. He advised me to have it removed as there is a chance it could be malignant. So. Going to not think about that over Christmas [santa]

Even if not malignant, removal should be consider as it can grow and push on vocal cords.
My sister had a 7 cm cyst and it pushed on her trachea. By the time surgery was organised it had grown to 10 cm. In the end, because of the delay, they had to remove her thyroid. My sister was super busy with work, new baby, lots of work travel.
It was benign and she is doing absolutely fine.