Hello and thanks for your question.

Regarding the symptoms which you are experiencing the most likely cause is a benign type of swelling. There are several different categories of this and I will review these with you and we can make some recommendations together regarding the best possible plan.

The first thing which comes to mind as you already mentioned is a fluid filled cyst. These are generally soft and somewhat mobile under the skin. Sometimes they become inflamed and when this happens it can become quite tender. Sometimes this may occur if some inflammatory fluid builds underneath muscles or tendons. This would occur generally in patients who are completing vigorous exercise regimens such as running and jumping for extended periods of time.

The next possible consideration is that this may be a soft tissue lipoma. A lipoma is a proliferation of fatty cells under the skin. These are generally benign. Next sometimes and insect bites may cause a small area of swelling as well. I suspect this is not the case for you otherwise you would have seen a local area of inflammation where the bite may have occurred.

As long as the remainder of your health is quite good and you have no additional symptoms I would feel safe in recommending that you continue to observe this area for the time being. I encourage you not to try to push or press on this area as it may cause more of an inflammatory response in the process of observing this.

If the swelling remains for more than six weeks beyond it today I would recommend that you visit with your biopsy. Otherwise he may refer you for a surgical consultation where a surgeon could evaluate you and decide if anything else needs to be done.

I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you have found my response to be both helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns regarding this I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga

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