Lumps behind ears

[hd7481]

My daughter who is 13 has these lumps that have appeared behind her ears. (One on each ear).

We have been back to the doctors twice and she is just finishing a second course of seven day antibiotics which being neuro divergent has been incredibly challenging (for her and us!).

She has very tiny ears so these lumps are really quite obvious and she can be quite down about how they look. She plays netball and has to tie her hair up which she hates as she’s worried what others will say.

They are soft to touch and the original lump on one ear seemed to burst over night last week and lots of blood came out (didn’t notice any pus) (photo of this attached) however it refilled really quickly.

The antibiotics seem to shrink it and dry the skin up a lot but if it was infected surely another lump behind her other ear wouldn’t have appeared and grown quite rapidly over the past couple of days.

The GP thinks these are cysts which they well could be, but surely we cannot keep pumping her full of antibiotics for them to just reappear. I don’t think they refer to dermatology for what they deem to be cosmetic. The nurse stated it wasn’t related to her earrings either. We changed to hoops so the back of the earring didn’t press into the lumps aggregating.

in her own words…she’s crashing out about this and really not keen to keep going to Dr’s. Have tried warm compress. Didn’t do much. Trying to keep it clean but also don’t want to touch to aggravate. She says it’s not really painful.

any ideas?

They are behind both ears?

One has been way more prominent and the other was barely noticeable but today the other ears lump is very obvious whilst the original one seems to be shrinking. Last time a few days after the antibiotics were completed the original lump grew again and then burst. Then grew again.

How does the GP know this is only cosmetic?

Have you tried without earrinvs for a while in case that is irritating in some way?

They look a bit like boils. Does she tend to play with her earrings/rub the skin in that area (perhaps a sensory seeking thing)? I wonder if bacteria from her fingers is being introduced to the area and causing localised infections.

If she does do this, try her with a spinning ring (or normal ring) for her finger - less potential for infection

I think this is our next move. They were only pierced in June so I suspect they will close up but it’s a good next step. Thank you.

She doesn’t touch them at all unless she’s taking them out for netball training and games. They do look boil like. I agree.

I would definitely try without the earrings (not a doctor)

It could be a reaction to her earrings. Have you taken them out to see if it clears up? Is she using any new hair or skin products?

I get these, although much less often than I did. They started when I was about 13, I'm now in my 50s. Never been able to find out why I get them, although I think it is linked to sugar intake. I agree they are boil-like, when they burst it's (apologies for grossness) a pus/blood mix. If they get big, I do pop them so I can reduce them quickly.

Earrings out & let them close up.
Ask GP for swabs to see what infection is present.
Perhaps a prescription for a topical cream like fucidin or similar.
Maybe also a referral to dermatology.
I would not be happy with GP action so far.

In meantime keep very clean, bathe with saline or boiled (cooled) salt water.

She’s had multiple types of earrings in. Changed to hoops so that she could get them in and out easier for netball and so they weren’t digging in to the back of her lumps.

she has decided (and is really sad) to take the earrings out and see if the lumps go down. This morning the second one is massive. She says they don’t hurt but she’s so self conscious of them.

antibiotics are finished now so will give it a few days to see what happens and will prob head back to Drs on Friday (has big netball match on Thursday so not wanting to add into anxiety.

Waiting times for dermatology here are approx 9 months. They’re so reluctant to refer to them too. They nurse don’t advocate popping them for infection reasons. Can’t keep pumping her with antibiotics but she was hoping to blast the original one this time (second one has appeared since prescription was given). Now beginning to think there’s something else going on internally that we need to figure out.

Oh really. Thats super interesting. The sugar thing could be a factor. To get the liquid antibiotics down her 4 times a day (2 spoonfuls) she has been washing them down with squash and a bite of fizzy sweets. The stuff is rank. Smells like farts so I’d struggle with that. Being autistic you can imagine her diet can be limited at times.

there’s no way she’d allow me to
pop them.

You could get stainless steel flat back piercing studs. Get the length so it’s not sticking out more than it needs to.

You could also get silicone wound patches, like spot patches but bigger and cover them up, obv replacing regularly. Would keep any yuck enclosed and avoid any bacteria transfer. Teens seem to be going about on the regular with visible spot patches on so could help with the netball hairdo visibility.

Just thinking, if she’s autistic she might well be able to feel them all the time, plus the being aware of them and the potential for reactions from other people. Both things will be taking up brain space and reducing her capacity. Might help get things progressed at the GP.

We had those in initially but she couldn’t change them herself and we wanted her to be able to do it herself. She has the tiniest little ears and with all the swelling behind it there’s not really much room. She’s decided to cut her losses and just take the earrings out as she says it’s painful each and every time they’re in and out. Don’t know if the lumps are connected to the piercing but a good way to rule it out I guess.

Nurse is aware but didn’t seem to make a difference. The sensory side of it is massive tbh. Everything is amplified x10 reaction wise.

I had lumps behind my ears when I was younger, they were cysts. They went up and down periodically. Never did anything about them but they weren’t irritated like that. I would take the earrings out and start cleaning them with cooled boiled water and salt

Thank you. Nurse said they were likely cysts. Earrings are now out and we’re going to make a concerted effort to clean daily with the Neilmed spray we have from piercers which is a saline spray.

IME medical staff being aware isn’t enough. The exhausting process of spelling it out is required every single time.

You can try but honestly salt water is brilliant for stuff like this. I had a birth injury that would not heal for months and they kept prescribing all sorts of stuff. In the end I sat in a salt bath every night for a week and I finally healed. Hope you get sorted

Ah ok. I have some Epsom salts. Could I use that? I only have table salt. I do remember making up a flask of boiled salt water for my other daughter for something for her a few years back but think it was just table salt as that’s all I had.

Agreed. And education. And friends. And family. It’s exhausting.

Just cheap table salt. I would soak some cotton pads with the salt water and give them a good clean with those.

It’s absolutely draining. I don’t know if this is a universal experience but I find the endless explaining brings the differences and challenges into stark focus which in turn makes the on going soldiering on and being positive harder. Plus it feels like a betrayal of your child because it’s all negative and othering.

But if I try to mitigate the negative narrative with any positives it reduces the engagement with the idea that differentiation is needed.

I’ve been doing this for over 10 years now and I find it debilitating now as I did at the beginning.

Sorry I have no solution, only empathy.