There is a lump on the left side of my neck that hurts when I press it. What's going on?

Neck pain is a common phenomenon in modern people's lives. This pain is persistent and has a great impact on the body, and will also affect work, study, etc. In most cases, neck pain is caused by fatigue or mechanical injury, while other neck pain may be caused by serious internal diseases. For example, why does it hurt when you press a lump on the left side of your neck? Let’s take a look at the explanation below.

Neck masses are common in clinical practice. Neck masses have complex tissue origins, different biological characteristics, and different treatment options. According to statistics, among non-thyroid tumors, 80% of neck tumors are tumors; among tumors, 80% are malignant; among malignant tumors, 80% are metastatic; among metastatic malignant tumors, 80% of the primary lesions are located above the clavicle.

Clinical manifestations

The course of inflammatory neck masses is usually 7 days, the course of tumorous neck masses is usually 7 months, and the course of congenital malformation neck masses is usually 7 years.

In terms of age, infants and young children mostly suffer from congenital masses, such as thyroglossal duct cysts, branchial cleft cysts, cystic hygromas, etc.; adolescent patients mostly suffer from inflammatory lymphadenopathy; young and middle-aged patients should be alert to malignant tumors; and elderly patients mostly suffer from metastatic malignant tumors.

In terms of location, thyrohyoid cysts and thyroid tumors are often located in the midline area of ​​the neck, branchial cleft cysts, salivary gland tumors, cervical schwannomas, and carotid body tumors are often located in the lateral neck area, and lymphangioma and metastatic cancers from the lungs and digestive tract are often located in the posterior neck area.

In terms of the nature of the tumor, malignant tumors of the neck are generally hard and have poor mobility. Metastatic cancer in the neck may cause multiple lumps, but the tenderness is not very obvious. Benign neck tumors are generally of medium texture, with clear boundaries and good mobility. Branchial cleft cysts, cystic hygromas, and epidermoid cysts are cystic tumors, but some thyroid metastatic cancers can also appear cystic.

Inflammatory masses in the neck have symptoms of redness, swelling, heat and pain. Acute cases have systemic symptoms including fever, fatigue, loss of appetite and increased total white blood cell count. When an abscess is formed, there will be obvious tenderness and pitting edema on the local skin, and superficial abscesses can be detected with obvious fluctuation.