Child Has A Painful Nodule Anterior To Ear That Pains On Opening And Closing Jaw. Possible Diagnosis?
My 12-yr old son has a 1 cm x 2 cm painful nodule just anterior to his left ear. It hurts when he opens and closes his jaw and when I apply pressure directly to the nodule. We went to see our pediatric dentist and he ruled out any dental involvement. We are scheduled to see an oral surgeon, but I was wondering what differential diagnoses I should be aware of. Thank you.
Hello & welcome
it could be a parotid mass, parotitis, preauricular cyst or a cyst in front of your TMJ.
sometime they got infected & can lead to pain.
preauricular nodes are kind of developmental defect. So don't worry and visit your maxillofacial surgeon.
Thanks and take care
Hello and welcome to HCM,
Painful nodules in front of ear most probably suggests parotid gland inflammation called parotits or a parotid gland cyst.sometimes lymph node near the auricles are involved called lymphadenopathy which is common in many infections. NOdules related to tooth can be periodontal cyst involving the root portion of upper molar teeth. you need to visit an oral surgeon and get an OPG radiograph done that shows the exact picture of the nodule. Accordingly enucleation of cyst or other treatment otions can be planned. i hope that helps. take care.
Hi Amyjoy,
Thanks for writing to us.
Painful lump anterior to left ear may be due to-Inflammation of parotid gland or parotitis.
Inflammation of lymph nodes/lymphadenopathy.
A clinical evaluation of the area may help to rule out the condition.
Apply frequent hot/cold packs.
Take complete course of antibiotics.
Avoid mouth opening too widely.
Chances of TMJ dislocation also has to be monitored.
Please do visit your oral surgeon for further reference.
Take care.
According to your clinical history i suppose that presence of painful nodules in front of the ear can be due to lymphadenopathy due to infections, nodules can be due to infection in the tooth can be a periodontal cyst related to an infected upper molar.
I would suggest you to visit an Oral Surgeon and get the checkup done take an OPG radiograph for proper diagnosis and appropraite treatment plan.
Other than this it ca be due to parotid gland inflammation called parotitis or a parotid gland cyst.
Hi,
Thank you for the query.
Painful nodular mass in front of the ear can be a infected benign cyst of the ear, parotid gland cyst, a cystic acne. So removal of the cyst followed by a course of antibiotic and analgesics will help you.
Hope this information will help you .
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Child Has A Painful Nodule Anterior To Ear That Pains On Opening And Closing Jaw. Possible Diagnosis?
Hello & welcome it could be a parotid mass, parotitis, preauricular cyst or a cyst in front of your TMJ. sometime they got infected & can lead to pain. preauricular nodes are kind of developmental defect. So don t worry and visit your maxillofacial surgeon. Thanks and take care