Lump on neck

[Alsonification]

Hi. I went to bed at 8pm on Wednesday night cos I was so tired & had a whopper of a headache. Now I often get headaches so that’s not unusual & im often tired cos I don’t sleep great anymore so also not unusual. I didn’t sleep well that night (as usual) and woke with what felt like a pulled muscle in my neck. Put my hand up to rub it & found a lump. Fairly substantial, probably marble sized but doesn’t feel perfectly round. It’s almost oblong shaped. It’s sore to touch & feels like kind of like a knot you get when you’re tense.
I immediately burst out crying thinking the worst & then when I calmed down & googled I found that usually if it’s cancerous it doesn’t cause any pain. This is definitely painful. Not constant pain but exactly like a pulled muscle, if I move a certain way it hurts or if I touch it. Obviously I’ve made a doc appointment but had to make it for Monday because I’m a childminder & can’t take time off at short notice. Luckily I’m off for 2 weeks after today so have time to go to doc on Monday.
In the meantime, I thought I’d ask here if anyone has had anything similar.
I don’t have any cough or cold symptoms & I’m fully vaxxed a good few weeks now so I’m hoping not covid related. Swollen lymph node is a possibility but as I said no other signs of infection other than feeling tired & a headache. I’m trying not to panic.

Sounds very much like a swollen lymph gland. Whereabouts is it on your neck?

Where is it on your neck? It sounds very much like what my husband found last year. He was investigated in under two weeks and it was found to actually be stones. He's still waiting for them to be removed, but that's because of the pandemic. Go and get it checked out, and try not to worry. The internet will usually give you the worse case scenario.

Thanks a mil guys. It’s on one side of my next but towards the back of you know what I mean. Probably halfway between hair line & shoulder

I have benign lumps in many places, they are simply fatty tissue and I've had them for 20 years. Get it checked out ASAP (don't let the receptionist fob you off with a phone appointment) but keep worry proportionate

Thanks again. Yes I’m trying to keep panic under control. I’ve got an appointment for 2:45 Monday. In person. Fingers crossed it’s nothing.

Just our of interest have you recently had a covid vaccine (Pfizer or moderna in particular)? Sudden swollen lymph nodes are a known side effect.

Definitely sounds like a lymph node. Mine tend to be rugby ball shaped when they pop up.

Had second dose of Pfizer on 30th June so not sure if it’s related that long ago?

Yes it’s rugby ball shaped. That’s exactly the right description. Makes me feel a lot better thanks.

Just a little update. Had doc appointment yesterday. Doc didn’t think it felt like a swollen lymph node as it was a strange shape. She reckons it was 2.5cm x 1cm but it had actually gotten much smaller by the time I was at the docs so it was bigger than that originally. This morning it feels even smaller again. Doc thinks it might be a fatty lump & mentioned something called a Lipoma. She wants me to go for an ultrasound. She asked if I had private health insurance. I don’t. So she said if I go publicly i could be waiting months & months and could I afford to pay privately so I said I would pay a private appointment. I asked if I should be worried & she said if she was worried she would send me to A&E so it wasn’t that serious but the fact that there’s no sign of any infection at all & it’s a weird shape, she just wants it double checked. So I’m hoping to have private appointment soon.
I of course, then went out to the car & burst out crying. I rang my best friend from the car park in tears. She was brilliant. She’s actually a cancer research scientist & reassured me that there is no way it’s malignant as it has not presented as such. She wanted to drive to see me that second (she lives over an hour away) but I said it wasn’t necessary. So she’s insisted on coming down today & we are going out for breakfast (coincidentally she’s got a week off work this week too).
So there you have it. Have to wait a few more days.

Hi OP. Sorry to resurrect this thread but how did it all go? I'm in a very similar situation. Thank you.

Sorry I should have updated really.
I actually had an app booked with a private hospital but by the time the appointment came around (approx 2 weeks later) the lump was completely gone so I cancelled the app. Maybe I shouldn't have but it was expensive & I didn't want to spend the money unnecessarily.
The lump has never come back.
Hope that helps x

Thanks so much for getting back to me. Hoping mine goes down too.

Fingers crossed for you. I got such a fright when it happened. Immediately thought the worst. But in most cases I'm told it's innocent.

How did you get on? I found a lump to the left of the nape of my neck in my hairline about 3 weeks ago, it was really sore to touch. The pain went after a few days but the lump is still there. I did have a cold at the time so hoping it's a swollen gland!

Mine went after a few days. I went to the doc and I had a skin infection on my hairline so he thought it was related to that. If you had a cold I'm sure it's related to that but always best to get it checked for peace of mind

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I'll try and get an appointment