*Lump on forehead and Headaches*

[bwesa]

I am a 23 year old female and last week I was in the car on the way home and it was night time and all the cars lights were hurting my eyes and I started to have a headache and was feeling nauseous. I didn't think too much about it and just tried to ignore it until we got home. I got home and my head was still hurting and I was nauseous and light was really making my head feel worse and I was irritable. However I am on my period so that could explain the nausea since I always feel like that and am irritable when it’s that time of month. Then the next day it happened again and as I was rubbing my head I felt a knot like lump on my forehead (right side above my eye and above my temple). Now I am scared. I have on and off headaches and lights seem too bright and I am nauseous. Also I just recently had some work done on my teeth; about 8 cavities were filled and I am now using a retainer that is tight on my teeth and the whole right side of my upper teeth hurt anyways so I'm not blaming it all on the bump but my headache is where the bump is. I do not remember ever hitting my head on anything and I am extremely tired everyday. I'm scared I am going to go to sleep and not wake up because of my headaches being at night. I also had headache problems when I was 18 and had cat scans on my head and everything was fine then and now I'm worried about this lump. I've had people feel it and they don't seem to feel anything but I do. Please help!!

[Maria RN]

Hi. Lump in the forehead may be caused by rather harmless skin conditions such as dermoid cyst or sebaceous cyst:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermoid_cyst
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000842.htm

I recommend that you consult your doctor about your tiredness as there are many possible conditions that may contribute to that symptom. Good luck

[Dr. Tadeo]

In this case there are 2 problems.

First one is an enlarged sebaceous gland on your forehead, second one is a headache.

You must know that enlarged sebaceous gland is not a serious problem - the main symptom is a pain and a lump - which can be seen on the forehead.
Pathomechanism of the problem is simple. Sebaceous gland is clogged and sebum is produced and can not be evacuated from the gland. Inside the gland bacteria multiply and inflammatory cells start to produce cytokines.
Cytokines are a special group of chemical substances, that develop inflammation, which is always accompanied by pain, swelling and rubefaction.

As a result of sebum retention in the gland and inflamation - there is a visible, painful lump on your forehead.

Second problem is a headache. 80% of people develop idiopathic headache, which doesn`t reveal any medical disorder on CT-scans. Other 20% of people with a headache have: vascular diseases (like aneurysm), tumor, hormonal disorder, hypertention, diabetes.

You must examine yourself - I think about: blood morphology, glucose blood level, blood pressure - those are basic tests, that must be done.