Maxfacts

Benign lump

Benign (the medical term for non-cancerous) lumps are conditions which present as soft tissue swellings. Particularly those appropriate for surgical management in the mouth, jaws, skin of the face and the neck overlap with many of the other conditions outlined in other sections, for example cysts.

It is important to recognise that many of the swellings of the head and neck are entirely innocent and can be identified as being so by clinical examination, distinct history and some fairly simple diagnostic tests.

Appropriate treatment of these conditions very often is a relatively simple operation under local anaesthesia. Less often a “benign lump” may be symptomatic (making the term “benign” seem a little odd to the sufferer) or located in a very complicated place which necessitates a more complicated operation under general anaesthesia.

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