Swollen Lymph Node On Child Head, It Doesn't Move, Hard. Please Suggest What Could It Be?

Posted on Tue, 10 Jul 2012

Question: When rubbing my granddaughter's head trying to soothe her to sleep, I discovered a lump on her head. It doesn't appear to be from an injury, no scrape or bruise. No redness. Right below it, maybe two inches, there is what appears to be a swollen lymp node. She has not been sick recently either. The lump doesn't move, and is hard. What could it be?

Answered by Dr. Sumitra Kumar Mukherjee (2 hours later)

Dear XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

I am sorry to know your grand daughter got a lump on her head. As you said there is no evidence of injury or acute infection my feeling is she must have a benign condition most likely "Dermoid cyst".

Sometime such lumps / cysts can get inflamed. The job of lymph nodes which are part of our immune system is to arrest infection. Doing this job they tend to get swollen up.

Since the child's pediatrician ruled out anything serious hence it sternly points towards the benign nature of the lump.

Kindest regards.

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

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