# skin bump by the ear

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-bump-by-the-ear/193701>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 7, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-bump-by-the-ear/193701 "2003-08-07T23:41:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Armen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Armen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Armen)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-bump-by-the-ear/193701/1 "2003-08-07T23:41:34Z")

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My brother has a bump right in front of his ear. I’ve seen the same thing on 2 other people that I can think of, possibly more. It’s always the same - a small, skin covered bump, like a small rounded rubber eraser, coming straight out of the skin. At most it is a quarter-inch tall. The skin is in no way irritated, and while the thing itself is somewhat stiff, it is not hard. Any idea what this is? My brother has had it his whole life, and it’s shape has never changed.

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**Author:** ![RexKatWA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@RexKatWA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexKatWA)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-bump-by-the-ear/193701/2 "2003-08-08T00:29:55Z")

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SKIN TAGS!

> **[Cutaneous skin tag: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000848.htm)**
>
> A cutaneous skin tag is a common skin growth. Most of the time, it is harmless.

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**Author:** ![Armen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Armen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Armen)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skin-bump-by-the-ear/193701/3 "2003-08-08T00:33:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RexKatWA \*  
> \*\*SKIN TAGS!  
> [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000848.htm#visualContent](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000848.htm#visualContent) \*\*

Well - no, not really. I guess I didn’t point it out quite so well in my question - each of the 3 examples I’ve seen have been almost identical in placement and shape. None of them looked like what you’d normally consider a skin tag, and I should note that none of them were cysts.