My 3 year old baby has a lump in the neck. What to do?

Question

Hi doctor,

My 3-year-old child has a lump on the right side of his neck. We had observed this a few months back and it has increased a little in size right now. At present, he is having fever since two days. The pediatrician has advised to control temperature through medicines for three days and then if required; then we can go for the blood test. But, our concern and worries have increased due to the lump.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

1. It is not a big issue most of the time. These lumps if less than 0.39 inches size is a normal part of the body. We see unusual lumps in the case of tuberculosis and it does not appear in your case.

2. If it is not increased much, only one in number and less than 0.39 inches with soft in consistency, then there is no a problem.

3. If it gets enlarged, then we can give antibiotics for five days and see the response. Immediate investigations are required if there is any contact of tuberculosis case.

4. Better to follow the current advice of your doctor. We can do baseline investigations in the form of CBC (complete blood count) with ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) and the chest X-ray if required and further necessary investigations based on that.