Have Painful Raised Lump On Collar Bone Between Neck And Shoulder. Any Cure?

Posted on Mon, 11 Feb 2013

Question: I have a lump about 1 in wide by 4 inches long on my collar bone between my neck and my shoulder. It is only painful when I raise my arm or lie down on my right side. The skin is a little numb when I touch it. There is no discoloration. Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Nsah Bernard (4 hours later)

Hi XXXXXXX,

Thank you for posting on XXXXXXX

From your description your having a soft tissue swelling and given the presentation it is most likely to be of tumoral origin (benign or malignant). Your doctor will have to take your complete medical history (including family history), examine the mass carefully to determine it consistency (firm or soft?), surface (smooth or rough), mobility (mobile or not), temperature, size, contours, colors etc and lymph nodes swellings around the area. This is to determine the possible causes of the mass such as lymphoma, lymphadenitis, fibroadenoma, cysts etc Your physician might indicate a fine needle biopsy or a surgical excision of part of the mass for laboratory analysis to determine what kind of mass. If benign mass, then complete surgical excision can be done.
Other laboratory tests will also be indicated including imagery studies.
It is also important to rule out soft tissue infection due to bacteria or viral infections. If that is the case, then a course of antibiotics and antiinflammatory will help to treat the condition.

Hope this helps and let me know if you got other questions

Dr Nsah

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar