Hard lumps in armpit

[thebearandthemare]

I’ve recently noticed a couple of very hard lumps in my armpit. Very tiny and feel like the little bits of gravel you might get in the bottom of a fish tank! They’re painless in themselves but my armpit feels tender after I’ve been prodding around. They are moveable. I’ve got a GP appointment booked in but in the meantime please tell me if you’ve experienced these before. Google isn’t my friend for this one and I’m trying to keep a calm head on for my little ones. Argh!

Have you had a covid jab recently? Have read about some people having this as an after effect. Fingers crossed it’s nothing to worry about.

Most likely lymph nodes, which can swell up with an infection (that you may not know you had because it was so mild) or after a vaccination. As @piglet81 says it’s listed as a possible side effect from Covid jabs. I had a really painful one after my booster but it subsided quickly.
Completely harmless immune response. Hopefully the GP will put your mind at rest.
I’ve had this a lot. DS had one that worried him, it went away when he stopped worrying!

Glad you have GP appointment. Another common armpit lump would be a cyst caused by a blocked sweat duct (anti-perspirants can cause these). Always best to have them looked at though.

Thanks for the responses. I don’t think they quite fit with the timing of the vaccinations but could be a possibility and it’s interesting that others have had similar. I think it worries me how hard they are! I thought a lymph node/ cyst would be more firm but rubbery. I know no one online can give me a diagnosis, just trying to keep myself sane for the upcoming investigations!

They can be very hard indeed @thebearandthemare, DSs was like a stone! It’s amazing how they get like that then go back to normal and you can’t feel them at all.

Calcified sebum in a blocked sebaceous gland can feel very hard, though freely mobile. There are a lot of these glands in the armpit.
Try not to fear the worst, OP. It is statistically more likely to be a blocked gland or a lymph node reacting to infection, than cancer.
But whatever it turns out to be, you have taken the sensible course of seeing your GP about it.

You’ve really helped to reassure me whilst I wait for the appointment. Thank you so much, fingers crossed it’s nothing serious. The GP has agreed to give me a full check up and blood test whilst I’m there so that’s a positive too and probably the kick I needed to look after myself a bit more.