Tiny bump under left jaw bone...I guess around the tonsillar lymph node

[ConstantWorrying 8]

I have all kinds of permanent shotty nodes in my neck (have since I was a kid), but what worries me about this one that I just discovered is it's much smaller and has a different, disconnected sort of feel to it. It feels like a tiny pebble that's loose in there...it's much smaller than the size of a pea. I'm not even sure what to compare it to. It's like a really small seed or something.

Not even sure it's a lymph node and not just cancer of something else in that region. 

[bin_tenn 1252]

Cancerous masses don't move, they're fixed in place and hard as a rock..I have these, too, you'll be fine.

[MARC 431]

A few years ago I found a small lump below my left ear near my jaw. I went to my internal medicine physician who examined me and thought it was nothing, but sent me for an ultrasound of my neck to be sure. It turned out to be nothing and went away on its own in a few weeks. 

[ConstantWorrying 8]

2 hours ago, bin_tenn said:

Cancerous masses don't move, they're fixed in place and hard as a rock..I have these, too, you'll be fine.

This might be hard as a rock. I can't tell. I can't get a good feel of it because it's so small. The smallness and general feel of it is what makes me think this is probably cancer. I would guess it's about a millimeter in diameter. I don't even know if they would be able to biopsy the thing because of how small it is. 

[bin_tenn 1252]

17 minutes ago, ConstantWorrying said:

This might be hard as a rock. I can't tell. I can't get a good feel of it because it's so small. The smallness and general feel of it is what makes me think this is probably cancer. I would guess it's about a millimeter in diameter. I don't even know if they would be able to biopsy the thing because of how small it is. 

If it's not hard as a rock and fixed in place, I think you don't need to worry about cancer at all. Malignant tumors don't move around. If you're concerned then ask your doctor, but it sounds perfectly normal to me.

[ConstantWorrying 8]

When cancer spreads to the lymph nodes, does is grow on the lymph nodes? The sense I get is this is cancer that is growing on the outside of the tonsillar lymph node or something, which is why I feel this tiny, hard bump. I don't think lymph nodes themselves are only 1 millimeter or so in diameter even when they're healthy, so I would think this has to be a growth. 

[bin_tenn 1252]

Normal lymph nodes are generally less than a half inch across, about the size of a pea or baked bean. You may be feeling a normal lymph node, or you may be feeling a small cyst or lipoma. No worries.

[ConstantWorrying 8]

4 hours ago, bin_tenn said:

Normal lymph nodes are generally less than a half inch across, about the size of a pea or baked bean. You may be feeling a normal lymph node, or you may be feeling a small cyst or lipoma. No worries.

Not with the texture of this. If it were on the surface of the skin I would figure it's a keratinizing lesion...like I could pick it off. Feels like a grain of sand is in there or something. 

[bin_tenn 1252]

28 minutes ago, ConstantWorrying said:

Not with the texture of this. If it were on the surface of the skin I would figure it's a keratinizing lesion...like I could pick it off. Feels like a grain of sand is in there or something. 

If you're concerned, your doctor would be the best person to ask.

[ConstantWorrying 8]

2 hours ago, bin_tenn said:

If you're concerned, your doctor would be the best person to ask.

Problem is it's probably too small to even biopsy. They'd have to wait for it to grow. 

 

[bin_tenn 1252]

IMO you don't need a biopsy. Your doctor can feel for it, or go by your description of it, and tell you that it's harmless.