Small lumps under the skin all over the body

Lumps may be cysts, blocked follicles, inflammation, or other growths, and more than one process can occur at once. Record whether they are similar or different, soft or firm, mobile or fixed, painful or not, and whether the surface is normal. A sudden crop with itching differs from longstanding, slowly changing nodules. Red, warm, tender bumps with drainage may fit boils, but this cannot be confirmed from location alone.

A clinician may examine the whole skin surface, ask about medicines, family patterns, recent illness, friction, and exposures, then decide whether selected lesions need imaging or sampling. The number of lumps does not by itself establish a diagnosis.

Make a simple body map and note when the first and newest lumps appeared. Photograph representative areas in consistent light, without repeatedly pressing them. Use gentle skin care, avoid squeezing, and stop any product that burns or causes a rash. Background on Skin Lumps and Boils may help. Steroid injection into the skin is reserved for particular inflammatory lesions after a clinician has identified what is being treated.

Arrange an appointment if lumps are multiplying, changing, persistent, painful, unusually firm, or associated with persistent itching or a non-healing surface. Seek urgent care for fever with rapidly spreading redness, severe pain, sudden swelling, or feeling seriously unwell. A single bleeding or ulcerated lesion also needs examination. Basal cell carcinoma is among the conditions a clinician might consider for a particular changing lesion, not an explanation for every lump.

Ask whether the lumps appear related or represent separate findings. Which features should be photographed or measured? Do medicines, allergies, family history, or recent infections matter? Would blood tests, imaging, a swab, or biopsy clarify the cause? What treatment is appropriate for painful lesions, and when should follow-up occur?