About 10 years ago, i had a lump under my ear lobe and beside my jaw removed, it was small, and they said it was benign and something to do w/ a papillary gland or duct (i can t remember much about it, except that it was close to nerves that controlled the muscles in my face?) Shortly after that, I also had my thyroid removed due to a large goiter . Over the last several years, I ve noticed the lump near by jaw returning. It s hard and feels like it has ridges, it s somewhat tender to touch, but not terribly. My biggest concern is that it s growing. It s about the size of dime, and you can see it. I have a headache often and feel like my jaws are clenched a lot (I m not sure that they are not, or that I m not grinding my teeth , I have a lot of stress in my life right now, so the two may be unrelated) Is it possible this is the same problem from before?