What are skin bumps and when should you be concerned?
The term “skin lump” can be misleading, as this symptom can be due to many different causes.
Understanding what these changes look and feel like can give you a clearer idea of what’s going on, give you peace of mind, and help you decide if treatment (and exactly which one) is needed.
“When patients complain of lumps, they usually mean that there is something sticking out of the skin or there is a formation under the skin that is lifting it,” says Dr. Lucia Seminario-Vidal, a board-certified dermatologist at Morsani College of Medicine at USF Health Medical Center in Tampa, Florida.
Three categories of skin seals
Skin lesions can be divided into three main groups:
Benign – these are not cancerous and may not require treatment.
Inflammatory or infectious: require treatment, but are not life-threatening.
Malignant – cancerous formations that require rapid treatment
Symptoms of Skin Seals
According to Dr. Rebecca Hartman, a cutaneous oncology specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, bumps can manifest in a variety of ways:
Soft, mushy, or spongy to the touch
Move under the skin
