Pea-sized lump in underarm. Should I fly home at once, or can I wait and see if it improves?

June 17, 2009 6:47 PM

You are not my doctor, but I need your advice to help me decide if I should fly home and see one immediately, or wait things out a bit. I have a pea-sized lump in my underarm that is a bit painful when touched. I am a Canadian, uninsured in the States. Male, mid-twenties.

Until I discovered it, I had been using an aluminum-based antiperspirant (Mitchum) on a daily basis, more frequently than I usually do given the muggy weather. On Sunday I noticed it and promptly stopped. Since then its size has remained constant and the discomfort too.

I can fly home and see a doctor, but that would involve reneging on some important commitments. Seeing a doctor here is not within my reach, particularly if it involves paying for tests. I've called my family doctor back home but he is out of town at the moment and so unable to dispense advice on the phone. (Other doctors are available, though, if I go back, obviously.)

I've been experiencing a tremendous amount of anxiety lately (unrelated to my health) and have taken NyQuil several nights in a row to help me sleep. (Doxylamine is the only OTC hypnotic that works for me.) Otherwise healthy and not on any medication.

My plan is to wait a bit and see if it improves. Am I being reckless?

I realize you are not my doctor, that this is not substitute for professional advice, and absolve you of any responsibility.

posted by limon to Health & Fitness (26 answers total)

This could be any number of things ranging from mostly harmless, like an ingrown hair or boil, reaction to an infection elsewhere (kind of like cat scratch fever) to a sign of something more serious. However, the non-serious causes are FAR more likely. I had a lump under my arm similar to what you describe when I was a teen, and it turned out to be a mild infection. There are a lot of things that would be helpful to know:

Have you inspected the lump to see if it feels hard, or soft/fluid-filled, warm or not warm?

Does the lump seem to be under the skin, or something to do with the skin itself?

Do you have any other symptoms? Fever, aching, sweating, malaise?

Do you have any cuts, abrasions, etc., anywhere else on your body that could be infected?
posted by ishotjr at 6:55 PM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

oh yeah, and IANAD
posted by ishotjr at 6:55 PM on June 17, 2009

IANAD, but a couple friends of mine have had the same thing you are describing, which turned out to be a cyst. Both of them had theirs removed by a dermatologist, but they weren't dangerous, just annoying and possibly painful.
posted by LolaGeek at 6:58 PM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's probably an ingrown hair.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 6:59 PM on June 17, 2009

An uninsured doctor's visit is probably not as expensive as you are imagining. Granted, if extensive testing is required, it might be, but you could surely at least get it looked at without flying back to Canada.
posted by srrh at 7:02 PM on June 17, 2009

How long have you been out-of-country? Your provincial health coverage may have lapsed, and you'll have to pay for the tests anyways. (i.e. In Ontario, you must be in-province for 153 days of the past 12 months and other provinces are similar)
posted by cathoo at 7:08 PM on June 17, 2009

Have you tried popping it?
posted by Jacqueline at 7:08 PM on June 17, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far.

Have you inspected the lump to see if it feels hard, or soft/fluid-filled, warm or not warm?

It's hard, below the skin, and not any warmer than the area around it.

I do not understand, however, how it is that you can afford to fly to Canada but you cannot afford a single doctor visit in the U.S.

I would actually be taking the bus, not flying. I wrote "fly" because the possibility of taking the bus suggests that the distance is not far (in fact, it's a 12-15 hr. ride) so fly seemed like an adequate shorthand.
posted by limon at 7:08 PM on June 17, 2009

Pop it. Painful at first, but it hurts so good afterwards.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:15 PM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

by coincidence, ThaiVisa has an on-going forum thread about underarm lumps.

scary.
posted by altman at 7:16 PM on June 17, 2009

My husband gets lumps similar to what you have described in his pits when he uses an antiperspirant with too high a percentage of aluminum. This has happened to him several times. In his case, he stops using the antiperspirant, stinks for a couple of days, and then the bumps go away. I've also had male roommates with this problem, but interestingly, I've never known a woman with it.

This is just a story about my husband's pits. Lumps are scary, and your pits may have nothing in common with my husband's pits.
posted by defreckled at 7:27 PM on June 17, 2009

Defreckled, I used to get it all the time in my early twenties. It was from deodorant and exactly like you and the OP describe.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 7:29 PM on June 17, 2009

Do you have a walk-in, non-emergency clinic in your area? If so, go see a doctor there for a quick visit and assessment (in my area, the cost is about $70). They'll be able to tell you whether it's something harmless or whether it's something that requires further diagnosis (at which point you can make plans to return to Canada if need be).
posted by amyms at 7:56 PM on June 17, 2009 [2 favorites]

Getting the assessment is probably a lot cheaper than heading home.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:01 PM on June 17, 2009

Waiting two more days without antiperspirant to see if they go away is even cheaper than that. Then go to a doctor.
posted by rokusan at 8:23 PM on June 17, 2009

If you decide to wait a few days, just watch out, in the meantime, for any systemic complaints -- joint aches, fever, ill feelings overall -- that might indicate a serious infection.
posted by palliser at 9:08 PM on June 17, 2009

It's probably a swollen lymph node, and probably nothing to worry about. It should stop hurting after a few days and the swelling will last a few days after that.

IANAD.
posted by mmoncur at 12:30 AM on June 18, 2009

I found this about how antiperspirants work on Secret's site.

As with other aluminum-based deodorants, the aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex GLY in Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant/Anti-Perspirant works in two ways: one, its capsules clog pores (preventing moisture release) and two, it absorbs moisture from non-clogged pores (hence preventing malodorous-ness, as bacteria breakdown sweat and release a scent ). The net result? Dryness.

Maybe your pore is seriously clogged. I'd try washing the area with dish soap or wiping it with rubbing alcohol and see if it helps. If it doesn't go away or start getting smaller after a day or so, I'd go to a doctor.

If you're worried about money, call around and say tell the office you don't have insurance and ask what they charge if you pay cash. Many doctors by me are giving patients a cash discount if they pay upfront so it's not so bad. Non-insured patients who pay cash save them money since they don't spend time on paperwork and some patients go and then say they only can pay part and stiff them so they like getting cash on the spot. The last time I went it was around $60 which is probably less than your bus ticket. If you do have to have tests done, then ask costs and if it's too pricey, head back home.
posted by stray thoughts at 12:34 AM on June 18, 2009

Are you in NYC? If so, please consider seeing Dr. David J Ores, MD, also known as The Rock and Roll Doc. He provides health care for those with low-income or no insurance, cheaply. I have never been a patient of his, but some of my friends have and recommend him.
posted by chillmost at 12:42 AM on June 18, 2009

You could try calling Telehealth Ontario. They can't actually examine you, but they can talk you through it and help you figure out how serious it might be. It won't be toll free since you're out of the province, but it will still be cheaper (and faster) than a visit to the doctor, or a bus ticket, and more authoritative than AskMeFi.
posted by benign at 9:12 AM on June 18, 2009

That sounds like the swollen lymph node I had a couple of years ago. I understand the anxiety--my dad died of cancer, so that's where my mind went immediately. I went to the doctor, got on a course of anibiotics, and it went away in a week. For all I know, it would have gone away in a week, anyway.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:45 AM on June 18, 2009

I've had the same kind of bump when I switched to Mitchum roll-on and used too much. It went away in about a week. Mitchum has one of the highest percentages of active ingredient out there.
posted by mendel at 12:18 PM on June 18, 2009

IANAD but I believe if it is cancerous, then it is NOT sore to the touch. Soreness indicates an infection of some sort. Probably an infected hair follicle/ingrown hair.
posted by heather-b at 1:07 PM on June 18, 2009

I had this same thing happen two or three times. My old standard cure of "ignoring it" worked yet again!
posted by pantsonfire at 11:11 AM on July 1, 2009

that happened to me in college--turned out to be a swollen lymph node that went away on its own.

just keep an eye on it--if it grows quickly or others pop up, it might be worth seeing a doctor more quickly about it.
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:16 PM on July 1, 2009

I've also had male roommates with this problem, but interestingly, I've never known a woman with it.

My theory is that it has to do with underarm hygienics & hair - girls (generally) don't have underarm hair and therefore the area stays cleaner, and sweat doesn't build up and stay around.
posted by alon at 6:34 PM on September 26, 2009