What kind of doctor do I go to for a lump on my arm?

[Leros]

I found a lump on my arm about the size of a small marble. Probably just a cyst or something. What kind of doctor do I go to? A dermatologist?

 

[lxskllr]

Probably a GP, and he'll refer you to someone to cut it out. Or you could hit it with a book. I've heard of that, but never did it myself :^D

 

[nageov3t]

general practitioner/family doctor/internist

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

If it just appeared it's most likely a subcutaneous infection, however diagnosis of something unseen based on speculation isn't useful.

A GP or equivalent is a good place to start.

 

[Leros]

Ugh. I need to find a GP. I haven't had the need for one in years.

 

[Tsavo]

Well, if you are in the military, you could go to an army doctor.

 

[MichaelD]

Well, if you are in the military, you could go to an army doctor.

Who would tell you "It's just a cold, you don't need antibiotics" and send you back to work.

 

[Slew Foot]

One in Mexico, itll be cheaper

 

[Sunburn74]

Post a pic.anyway growths in the extremities tend to be benign. Rarely you get sarcomas but these tend to be massive tumors. Skin malignancies are also something to think about but these tend to be lumps above the visible skin not smooth growths below the visible skin.

if it's smooth soft flesh colored and and mobile its probably a lipoma. If it's relatively firm but smooth and mobile its probably a dermatofibroma or a cyst. If it's painful it's something infected or trauma related. If it's freely bleeding it needs examination.

 

[Sea Moose]

Have you considered homeopathic medicine?

 

[I Saw OJ]

How about a coroner?

 

[styrafoam]

Get a coffee straw, grasp said straw in your fist while placing your thumb over the end, stab lump. Its easy to be a doctor.

 

[Captante]

Why the ATOT doctor of course!

 

[JEDIYoda]

get a coffee straw, grasp said straw in your fist while placing your thumb over the end, stab lump. Its easy to be a doctor.

apparently its also easy to be an idiot....

 

[styrafoam]

apparently its also easy to be an idiot....

Have you ever seen a NEKKID girl? Do you want to? Do the same thing in your eye, it will give you x-ray vision. It works, I promise.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

GP.

 

[Puppies04]

Judging by the US healthcare costs I keep seeing I would imagine going to a fancy dress shop and renting a cow costume then calling a vet would be best.

 

[Red Squirrel]

How about a coroner?

Those are my favorite kind of doctors. "yep, you're still alive" and that's it. Cut and dry, straight to the point, and none of this "you have aids" bullcrap. :biggrin:

In the US medical system, what I would do is see if it's something that has puss in it, and pop it myself.

 

[lykaon78]

You'll get into a GP faster. Its a 3-6 month wait for a dermatologist around here.

 

[The Sauce]

Go to the ER like everyone else. That lump might explode and take out half your block. That's an emergency.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

GP.

~14 years ago I had a huge lump under my arm. Went to my GP, who had no idea what it was. He sent me to a general surgeon, who also had no idea what it was but determined that it was probably not cancer after he drained ~1300ml (yes, 1.3 liters) of lymph fluid from it. He sent me to another surgeon in the area, who also had no clue what was causing it. Ultimately I ended up down at UVA medical to see a surgeon who specialized in removing "lumps and bumps" from people. Turned out that part of the lymph gland under my right arm had weakened and lymph fluid excreted from the gland started causing that part to "balloon" outward. Until I had surgery it had to be drained every few days or I would lose feeling in my arm (the "bulge" had wrapped itself around the brachial plexus). Diagnosis was made after undergoing 3 fluoroscopies, a 5 hour long MRI (lots of holding my breath), and CT scan.

Anyway, I ended up having surgery performed by two different surgeons - the lump and bump guy and a vascular surgeon. Took about 5 hours in total to fix, mainly because the docs wanted to be sure not to damage any nerves. They did a pretty good job, but to this day I cannot feel anything on the lower part of my upper arm, from my right armpit down to my right elbow.

Long story short - get checked out by a doc. And keep pressing for second and third opinions if the first one you get does not seem reasonable.

 

[SirStev0]

General Surgeon. Likely a cyst or lipoma. But they can cut that sucker out if it really bothers you.

 

[Fritzo]

Just cut it out with a steak knife you pansy-ass girly-man.

 

[Ichinisan]

I noticed a hard area of muscle on my arm and wondered why it was that way. Then I remembered that was the location where my flu shot was administered days earlier.

 

[manimal]

Some people get those cysts all the time like my wife then one day they just stopped. She ended up getting a weird macrosomething virus in her blood that gave her arthritis like symptoms and the antibiotics she took for that ended up stopping the cysts is all we can assume. Literally after she got that blood issue taken care of her cysts stopped appearing.