What should you know about a lump growing on the forehead?

A forehead lump may follow an injury, arise from a blocked skin gland, or be a benign fatty or connective-tissue growth. A skin lesion can also become raised, scaly, crusted, or prone to bleeding. In children, a new lump may need an age-appropriate assessment because the causes differ from those in adults. A growing mass can be a presentation of cancer of unknown primary, breast cancer, childhood cancer, or vulvar cancer in the appropriate clinical setting, but a forehead lump does not show that cancer is present.

A clinician may assess the skin, movement, depth, tenderness, and relationship to the underlying bone. The next step may be observation, imaging, or removal and laboratory examination of tissue.

Take a dated photograph and note the approximate size, rate of growth, pain, itching, injury history, and any discharge. Do not pick, pierce, or repeatedly rub the lump. Arrange a medical review when it is enlarging, firm, fixed, recurrent, or changing in colour or texture. Mention headaches, vision symptoms, fever, or a history of other lumps.

Seek urgent care after a significant head injury with vomiting, confusion, fainting, severe headache, or weakness. Get prompt medical attention for rapidly increasing swelling, spreading redness with fever, uncontrolled bleeding, or a lump near the eye that affects vision.

Ask whether the lump is in the skin, soft tissue, or bone; what features make imaging useful; and whether removal would provide a diagnosis. Ask how to protect the area from sun and which changes should trigger an earlier review.