How to treat neck lumps based on the cause

A lump in your neck might make you panic quickly. This is especially true if the lump is causing pain and tends to get bigger. If so, you will want to immediately find a way to treat the lump in the neck so that it returns and heals. So, what are the treatments that can be done? Let's look at the following reviews.

Are neck lumps always dangerous?

The appearance of a lump on the neck certainly makes people who experience it panic. However, most of the lumps on the neck are not harmful to health. The lump in the neck can be small or enlarged, depending on the cause of the lump in the neck itself. However, most of the lumps that appear on the neck are classified as benign, aka non-cancerous.

Most cases of neck lumps are caused by inflammation of the thyroid gland. Usually, the lump will enlarge and make it difficult for you to swallow or breathe. Lumps on the neck can also be caused by insect bites or by a cold infection. Usually the lumps tend to be small and easier to heal.

How to detect the cause of neck lumps?

Before you decide how to treat neck lumps, you need to first know the cause. Some neck lumps can be potentially cancerous, so treatment cannot be arbitrary.

That's why you should still go to the doctor first to get an official diagnosis. Disease detection is very important to prevent the spread of the disease before it gets worse.

According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, head and neck cancer that begins as a lump can be more easily cured. But with a note, the disease was detected early and treated immediately, as reported by Healthline.

There are two ways you can do to detect lumps in the neck, namely:

1. Imaging test, including ultrasound, X-ray radiation, CT scan, MRI, or PET scan.
2. Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC), which is a type of biopsy by inserting a small needle into the lump and taking a sample of tumor cells for examination.

There are many ways to treat neck lumps

As previously explained, how to treat neck lumps depends on each cause. If your lump is caused by a bacterial infection, it can be treated with antibiotics from a doctor.

However, if the lump in the neck tends to lead to cancer, your doctor may order surgery. Because if not, cancer cells can spread to the lymph nodes and cause lymph cancer.

Various ways to treat lumps in the neck include:

1. Operation

Lumps that are already large and tend to be dangerous need to be removed immediately through surgery. In addition to removing the tumor, this operation also aims to restore the function of swallowing and speaking which is obstructed due to the tumor.

At certain times, plastic surgery or speech therapy may be needed to optimize the skin from surgery and speech disorders due to tumors. Don't hesitate to ask your doctor if you need it.

2. Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is one method of treating a neck lump using strong X-ray radiation. This method is generally done if a lump on your neck is a sign of cancer.

Radiation therapy can help shrink the cancer cells in the lump while keeping healthy tissues from being damaged. The doctor will choose the type of radiation therapy that is most suitable for your type of cancer.

3. Chemotherapy

Same with radiation therapy, chemotherapy can only be done on lumps that lead to cancer. Chemotherapy can help shrink the tumor before you undergo surgery or radiation therapy. In addition, chemotherapy can also relieve pain that many cancer sufferers complain about.