[Anonymous]

This morning I noticed a small whitish pearly bump on my ear at the top. Since then I've been googling all day and what keeps coming up over and over and over again is basal cell carcinoma. This terrifies me. I called the GP and can't get an appointment until next week but in the mean time I'm fighting back tears, I know I'm not going to sleep until I see a doctor and I don't know what to do with myself.

I fit the risk factors - pale freckly skin, light hair and eyes, sunburn as a child, only I'm not in my 40s or above, I'm only 23.

I don't have a camera so can't take a picture of my ear, but it looks a lot like this:
http://eso-cdn.bestpractice.bmj.com/...ht_default.jpg


Please does anyone know if this could be something else? I have no piercings in that area, it doesn't hurt when I knock it. At first I thought it was a spot so tried to squeeze it but that didn't work. Has anyone got any idea what this is? I'm so so so scared

[daisydaffodil]

Could it be a skin tag? I have them - about 30 in total all over my body.

If it IS something nasty - what you've suggesed is very rare and very, very treatable, apparently it rarely spreads or kills. So I wouldn't worry too much, see a GP but don't panic x

[Gabor]

don't worry it's not bad at all. the nasty skin cancer comes from moles and this is not one. this is probs nothing.

[Todd]

I reckon that's unlikely to be cancer, I've got these before but on my ear lobes, they felt liek little bumps inside the earlobe, turned out they were basically just a spot in a weird place!! Don't panic

[tessap]

First things first, don't panic! You've done exactly the right thing which is to go see your doctor. The only thing you can do now is assume that it will be nothing, which it probably is nothing. If there is any major change in it before your appoitment then try and get the appoitment earlier, but other than that just try to focus on other things such as work, as the liklihood is its nothing.

[faber niger]

Really, there's no reason to be worrying yourself wobbly like that:

1) You're jumping to the worst conclusion with very little evidence/knowledge to do so.
2) If there does happen to be something relatively serious in play, which you absolutely can't assume at this stage, even that doesn't mean the worst. A very significant proportion of people with skin cancer respond to treatment and suffer no ill effects thereafter, especially young people.

So good luck, but try not to worry. Unnecessary/unfounded anxiety will only make things worse.

[Fuzzpig]

Ears are so extremely prone to getting these sorts of bumps (not cancer I mean). You've done the right thing of course, but in all likelihood it's nothing at all. Don't worry yourself.

I get them quite often, usually on the lobes but sometimes around the top too.

[Nick0110]

Good evening - basal cell carcinoma USUALLY looks as if it is eating away at the skin (it forms a little trough on the skin). I doubt it is that. Secondly, basal cell carcinoma is NOT a high risk, as long as you don't leave it. I suggest going to the doctor and getting a referral, they will give you one to get a biopsy and check if it is cancer. all that happens then is that it is cut out in a very short operation. BCC usually comes to people aged 40+ so it would be very unlikely, unless you have fair skin. All i can say is that you have fair skin- so it COULD be something, though unlikely. Get it checked out. Shouldn't be anything to worry about, most of these mild cancers can be cut away very easily.

I hope it all goes ok.

[Jessica no]

Don't worry I've seen spots like that on my bro hand and they turned into a wart which is nothing serious
You have done the right thing by making an appointment to see ur dr
Don't lose sleep over worrying about it. (I sometimes jump to worse conclusions too then it turns out to b nothing serious at all)
Good luck I hope it's nothing


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[Anonymous]

(Original post by Nick0110)
Good evening - basal cell carcinoma USUALLY looks as if it is eating away at the skin (it forms a little trough on the skin). I doubt it is that. Secondly, basal cell carcinoma is NOT a high risk, as long as you don't leave it. I suggest going to the doctor and getting a referral, they will give you one to get a biopsy and check if it is cancer. all that happens then is that it is cut out in a very short operation. BCC usually comes to people aged 40+ so it would be very unlikely, unless you have fair skin. All i can say is that you have fair skin- so it COULD be something, though unlikely. Get it checked out. Shouldn't be anything to worry about, most of these mild cancers can be cut away very easily.

I hope it all goes ok.

Yeah, when I google-imaged it I got a lot of pictures of very red looking open wounds which is nothing like what mine looks like at all. But then I read maybe 10 different site's descriptions of what it looks like and they all said pearly, whitish, hard bump is a classic sign - so I'm not sure why google images doesn't show more of them that look like that.


And thanks everyone else for saying not to worry pre-emptively, I've never seen anything like this on my ear before, or anywhere on me so I freaked out, but apparently some of you have similar so HOPEFULLY it won't be anything serious. I know I don't fit the age range for this but on the sites I looked at I match all the other warning signs which is why I'm so worried. Argh, I might go to a walk in centre because I'm not sure my sanity will last a week.