I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I'm about to fly apart at the seams here and I'm in desperate need of some information, support, a slap upside the head, whatever...

Here's the story:

My husband (36) has had a small lump on the back of his neck (on the right, towards the center, an inch or so inside the hairline) for the last four years or so. It's about 6 mm around (we measured against a pencil eraser and it's slightly smaller) and pretty firm to the touch. It's almost perfectly round. It doesn't move freely, but does 'slip' slightly under the skin (or with it, it's difficult to tell).

Anyway, in the last four years this has not changed in size or shape. It's not tender and visually, you wouldn't note it at all, it's definitely under the skin. However, I'm terrified that it's something serious and am always convinced it's getting larger...even though when we measure it against the eraser, it measures the same size as it always has.

My husband is convinced that it's nothing to worry about, he thinks that it's just a cyst or a permanently slightly enlarged lymph node. He maintains that, if it were something serious, it would have grown in the last four years or he would have been experiencing other symptoms (which he has not).

However, I'm still terrified. I think I've got him convinced to see a doctor this week, just to put my mind at ease, but since our PCP decided to drop our insurance and since she's a part of the largest association of physicians in the area that means that the entire medical group has dropped our insurance. So, I'm on the hunt for a new doctor and not having much luck and meanwhile I'm really freaking out here. I wanted to ask if it's likely I'm overreacting and worrying needlessly over something that is most likely non-cancerous. I'm so worried he has some kind of lymphoma that I could just sit in the corner and cry.

personally, i don't think it is anything serious..... i think that if it has stayed the same size and he doesn't have any other symptoms in 4 years, then it is benign. my dad had (and has) what are called lipomas under the skin. they are just growths of fat that feel like little marbles under the skin, and they are totally harmless. i would see the doctor if you are really concerned, but i am sure that it is nothing to worry about. best wishes!

Sunshine,
I too had the same thing. It was on the lower part of my scalp on the back of the head and was the same size for yrs.
then it got larger and that's when I showed it to a surgeon who felt it was nothing to worry about but that he'd ck it out anyway.
it turned out to be a Trichilemmal cyst.

Lipoma's consist of fatty tissue and I've also had one removed from my lower back. I've had multiple lumps and cysts grow on different parts of my body and it's alway reasurring to get a biopsy.

Which is:
A trichilemmal cyst is a cyst derived from the outer root sheath of the deeper parts of a hair follicle. It consists of a well-keratinized epidermal wall surrounding semi-solid hair keratin.

Epidemiologically, they are more common woman and in middle age. There is an autosomal dominant association. Often patients have multiple lesions.

The most common sites for trichilemmal cysts are hair-bearing areas, typically the scalp. Clinically, they present as smooth and mobile cysts within the dermis. The cyst may marsupialize by fusing with surrounding surface epidermis. Patients may complain of discharge. Rupture may exacerbate local inflammation. Complications include rarely extensive local invasion - proliferating trichilemmal cyst - or malignancy.

Treatment is by excision.

there's many possibilites besides lymphomas. but we're not taught that.
so of course one will be alarmed to find a lump on their body. It's basic instinct to fear the worst.
I wish you both the best outcome and hope you find a dr in your area.
sincerely,
Linda