An underarm lump can have many different causes, ranging from benign and harmless to malignant and cancerous.
Underarm lumps may be small or big, may or may not be painful, may or may not be discolored and while some may be more of less constant, others come and go in a recurring fashion.
Some of the causes of underarm lumps may be as follows (there are many more), however it is important that to be evaluated by a medical practitioner at the earliest rather an attempt being made to at self diagnosis:
- Swollen Lymph nodes could be the cause of an underarm lump and these could be caused by a virus, chickenpox, rubella, Hodgkin’s disease, infectious mononucleosis, lymphoma, etc.
- It could be caused by an allergic reaction to a cosmetic or personal care product
- It could be Folliculitis or an infected skin or hair follicle that causes the lump either due to improper hair removal methods or other reasons
- It could be an early sign of breast cancer
- Abscess could be another reason
- A cyst could be the cause
- Ectopic breast tissue could result in an underarm lump
- Lipoma or tumor of fat cells under the skin could also be a cause
