What should you know about a pea-like lump under the skin?

A small lump may feel soft, firm, mobile, or fixed, and the surface may look normal or show redness. Tenderness and warmth can occur with inflammation, including a boil, while a smooth lump under otherwise unchanged skin may have a different cause. A lump that keeps growing, bleeds, crusts, ulcerates, or changes in colour needs a clinician’s assessment; a skin lump is not a diagnosis by itself. The examining clinician may inspect the surface, feel its depth and mobility, and decide whether monitoring, imaging, drainage, or sampling is appropriate.

Do not squeeze, puncture, or repeatedly press the lump, because this can worsen inflammation or introduce infection. Note when it appeared, whether it is enlarging, whether it moves, and whether pain or discharge is present. Take a clear photograph beside a ruler if its appearance changes. Arrange a routine medical review if it remains, returns, or worries you. A clinician may discuss treatment such as a [Steroid Injection Into The Skin](/treatments/injectables/intralesional-steroid-injection/) only after identifying what the lump represents.

Seek prompt medical advice for rapid enlargement, severe pain, spreading redness, warmth, pus, fever, or red streaks. Arrange assessment for a persistent or changing lump, especially one that bleeds, crusts, breaks down, or feels fixed. Urgent care is appropriate if you feel very unwell or the swelling affects breathing or swallowing.

Ask what examination findings make a cyst, boil, scar, or other growth more likely; whether the lump needs observation or testing; and which changes should trigger a sooner review. You can read more about [Skin Lumps](/symptoms/skin-lumps/), [Boils](/conditions/boils/), or [Basal Cell Carcinoma](/conditions/basal-cell-carcinoma/) while arranging an assessment.