What is the nickel sized lump on my childs arm???

Question

Last week I noticed a small, hard, pea- sized lump on my 3 y/o sons arm, between his wrist and elbow. It seemed to cause him no pain, so I assumed it was a cyst, and decided to wait to make a doc appt. Well, today I felt it again and it is nickel-sized. It isnt fully round anymore either. It looks as if it is going to pop out of the skin. His skin above it is starting to turn lighter color like it is stretching. I am definately taking him to the doctor in the morning, but what could it be?

Answer 1

The doctor might request an ultrasound but if I were you, I would turn that down.  I would ask for a fine needle extraction (yes it will hurt).  They can extract some of the fluid out of the cyst and then test it for infection.  I would request an MRSA test along with anything that the doctor thinks might be going around in your area.

MRSA can be picked up anywhere and can lead to death if not treated.  Relax, my son had it for over a week before he was properly treated.  However, he spent a week in the hospital on IV antibiotics and then 2 weeks at home on antibiotics.  If we would have pushed for the fine needle extraction instead of waiting on x-ray's, ultrasounds, and CAT scans of the growth, we could have treated it sooner.