I have a lump in my armpit. It’s a fairly new arrival – it will be four days old today. It is roughly marble sized altogether, with about 1/3 to 1/2 sticking up and the rest submerged under the surface. It is reddish in color, but not a raging infection type of red; it’s just a calm, irritated color of red. It doesn’t really hurt, but it is sensitive to touch, and when I outstretch my arm my armpit feels “tight,” for lack of a better descriptive word. Oh, and I have a slight cold right now; just a runny nose, mostly.
I’m not looking for a diagnosis or anything. I have read a bit about armpit lumps, and I know the gist of the various benign and not-so-benign possibilities. What I haven’t been able to find – and what I’m hoping you folks can provide – is information about what I should look for to help determine if and when I should see a doctor. For example, should I wait a week, and if it goes away just forget about it? Should I go RIGHT NOW? Should I go or not go based on its appearance? Should I try some home remedies, and if they don’t work then head to the doc’s? In short, what are some rules of thumb I can apply? I don’t want to bother my doctor any more than I have to.
IANAD. But I have had a swollen lymph gland under my arm before. Kind of a nagging soreness. I had a strep infection at the time. The lump went away after I finished a course of antibiotics.
Are you running a fever? Go to the doctor. You may have an infection that’s turned your immune system up. If the lump doesn’t go away on it’s own within a week, you need to see a doctor. It could be many things, from a little sebaceous cyst to a swollen lymph gland to just about anything. It’s probably nothing but if it doesn’t go away, you need to see a doctor.
And I’ve never heard of any home remedies for this. Sorry.
Hmm, is sounds like you may have something similar to what I had a couple years ago. I wasn’t too worried about it at first, but after a month it grew to the size of a golf ball and hurt like hell. When I went to see the doctor (they cut it open; it was quite messy), they told me that people have died from this. So if it doesn’t get any better, I definitely suggest seeing a doctor.
I am not a doctor and you should of course go see a health care prof anytime you have concerns such as that.
However, one benign possible explanation for the lump is that you’ve developed an allergy to your anti-perspirant.
Try switching to deodorant, or to a brand without any ‘aluminum-something’ as an ingredient. I had the same thing, and it cleared up in just a few days. So if you’re obsessing about all the terrible possibilities, you can reassure yourself with this option while you’re waiting for your dr.'s appointment time.
Well, the good news is I’m not dying. The bad news is I have two different infections battling for supremacy in my body (the lump, and a bi-lateral ear infection). Fun stuff. I’m on antibiotics now and all should be well again within a few days. Thanks, all, for your opinions on this.