Hi Chris,
I'm glad your dentist was quick to refer you to an oral surgeon. My dentist kept reassuring me that the lesion on my tongue was not cancer and said not to worry. 1 1/2 years later, I was diagnosed with stage 3 tongue cancer, if only it had been checked out when I first complained of it, I could have been spared aggressive treatment. I was neither a smoker or drinker. Please let us know the outcome.

Good Luck to you and Best Regards,
Pamela

Hello,
I'm a licensed oral surgery assistant and a registered dental assistant. I'm a 38 yr old female, non-smoker (although I smoked some during my late teens/early twenties), very light drinker (a few drinks/yr). I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, but otherwise healthy. 3 months ago I noticed the same/similar thing that many of you have described. A pea-sized lump inside my tongue, just to the right of the midline, about 1/2" from the tip. No discoloration or any other change on the surface. Mine IS painful, and that is one of the reasons I first noticed it. I kept running my tongue between my upper and lower teeth when I first noticed it, trying to figure out what it could be! I did it so much that I finally caused a small ulcer on the surface of my tongue, so I stopped, duh! Work has been really busy, so I never bothered mentioning it to my boss...the oral surgeon. I ignored it for weeks and the ulcer went away and the lump slightly decreased in size, so the pain improved a little bit to the point where I could ignore it. About 2 wks ago the pain started again and I became aware of it again, although it still didn't get as big as it originally was 3 months ago. I was at my routine dentist appt 2 days ago and mentioned it to my hygienist, who immediately had the dentist check it. He works closely with my boss, so he said I had to have it checked ASAP. Yesterday, my boss...the oral surgeon...checked it and couldn't believe I hadn't told him sooner! He said I can wait longer and see what happens with it, but since it's already been 3 months he strongly recommends a biopsy. He admitted it will be quite painful and there will be a lot of bleeding. I assist this type of surgery frequently, so I know exactly what he means. He strongly recommends IV sedation to do it so I don't have to try to relax my tongue while the assistant is pulling it out. He said he needs to make an incision on top of my tongue (not the bottom due to the nerves and blood vessels), remove the lump, then stitch up the layers with a fine dissolvable suture (4-0 or 5-0 chromic gut) in the muscle, and a fine non-dissolvable suture (4-0 vicryl)at the surface so it doesn't open prematurely. I will have to have those surface sutures removed after it heals. I will also take a round of antibiotics, pain meds, and use a topical anesthetic post-operatively. My surgery is scheduled for next week, and yes, I am quite nervous! That's probably why I'm adding more details than you want! I will try to post the outcome...
Thanks for listening!!

Hello Suzie

The biopsy will tell you what it is. It might not be anything serious. Good luck for next week. Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes

vinod

Hello,
Here's an update to the biopsy. Sedation/surgery went well. It's 2 days post-op now and my tongue is quite swollen and firm, also a lot of bruising. The incision itself is fine, dissolvable sutures are there. Hard to eat since there is still some numbness and it's so enlarged. Couldn't keep taking vicodin since it made me throw up. Just taking ibuprofen every 6 hrs. If it gets past 6 hrs, it starts hurting a fair amount. I'll post biopsy results next week.
Thanks,
Suzie

Dear Suzie,

Don´t even try to eat solids while your tongue is inflamed, but do indulge yourself with ice cream (NOT the citric flavours, though!)
I do hope the biopsy will reveal a benign kind of lump.

Good luck!
Shoshana

Biopsy results are good:

Diagnosis: Consistent with chronic sialadenitis

Micro Description: Sections reveal minor salivary gland lobules exhibiting patchy chronic sialadenitis and fibrosis. Regenerative changes are identified. Numerous neurovascular bundles are also seen. Ectatic vascular spaces are also identified. The presence of a subtle intramuscular hemangioma cannot be totally excluded. No surface mucosa is identified.

Comments: No evidence of malignancy is identified in the tissue submitted and examined.

So, that's good. The pathologist said this is very uncommon and wishes we had taken photos during the procedure since it's not well-documented. We photograph a lot of our big cases, but did not take any this time!

It's 4 days post-op now. Went to work today but had to limit talking. Still hypersalivating. Tongue is still quite swollen but getting better; bruising is much better. Still numb from tip of tongue down the center along the incision; that could last several weeks. Floor of mouth somewhat swollen and still having chin/lower anterior jaw/lower anterior teeth pain. Warm compresses and drinks. No cold foods/liquids after the first 24hrs at a surgical site since that slows down healing. Heat is necessary to keep adequate circulation and promote healing. Still on ibuprofen 600mg every 6 hours. Vicodin has been necessary for the lower jaw/chin/teeth pain, taken with food to help prevent nausea. The pain in that area is due to the lymphatic drainage from the tongue, from the inflammation and healing process, it drains below the tongue toward the chin then down the neck. A warm compress is helpful when it gets really painful.

Thanks for the feedback. Good luck to everyone else, and I hope someone else finds this beneficial in the future :-)

ps: thank you Shoshana for the positive thoughts!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smrose,

Hi Suzie

That's wonderful news! I wish you a speedy recovery.

Julia

Hi, I too have a lump inside my tongue for at least 6 mos now. It is about the size of a pea but comes and goes. It is inside the tongue, rather than on the surface, on the left side about 1/4-1/2 from the tip.The odd thing is that it seems to get larger when I bend forward to pick something up off the floor. I went to see an ENT back in July and he could do nothing because I didn't have it while in his office. He told me it couldn't be cancer because cancer doesn't come and go, but he had no idea what it could be. He told me to try to take a picture of it or come back when I have it. Both are impossible because it wouldn't show up in a picture and it normally only lasts a few minutes. I'm unemployed and just got a bill for this consult for $275! What a rip-off, I wasn't there more than 10 minutes! I'm still concerned but not sure what to do. If I don't have it when I arrive at a Dr's office I'm wasting my time and money. Any ideas??

I am so glad I found this website/forum. I am having the same issue with the Lump within my Tongue. I have an appointment with an Oral Surgeon on 4 Jan 2011. The lump was an inch in diameter, has seem to have shrunken but is still there. Wish me luck!

Hi scedef2

I truly hope that everything goes well for you on Tuesday. I'm not a doctor (don't even play one on TV), but the fact that it seems to shrink could be a good sign. If the oral surgeon isn't able to give you any answers, the next step would probably be an otolaryngologist. My fingers are crossed that it won't be necessary.

Hope you're having a good holiday season.

Julia

I am so glad to find this forum. I have had an array of tongue issues the past few months. Here is the short of it: In early Oct. I noticed the top of my tongue burning. I blamed it on the new toothpaste I was using and switched. The burning got worse over the next few weeks and my tongue had a disgusting coating on it (looked like hariy tongue). Then, in mid November, the burning subsided a little but the left side of my tongue became extremely sore, as if it was rubbing on a tooth. Then, I discovered a small lump (pea-sized) on the top left of my tongue. The lump can only be felt when I stick my tongue out and flex it. I have seen two oral surgeons and an ENT, all of whom don't seem concerned. I have also had an array of medications -- Nystatin, medicated mouthwash, etc... None have helped. I also, in the last two weeks, have been able to feel/hear fluid in my left ear, but I have had somewhat of a slight cold. I have convinced myself that I have oral cancer. The general opinion of the docs I've seen is that I have burning tongue syndrome, an unexplained sore spot on the left of my tongue, and a lump that isn't dangerous. No one has biopsied, however. Also, I am now pregnant and on pins and needles worrying.

I am having the same issue with my a small lump in my tongue. It can not be felt with the fingers only when I press it between my teeth. I noticed it after having several fever blisters in a row. My doctor told me they are only worried about sores on the outside of the tongue, for those could be cancerous. I try not to worry about it but I seem to play with it a lot with my teeth and then it gets sore. I wonder if any of you had a bout with fever blisters first then noticed your lump?

Hi I'm 18 I am a smoker and I dip regualary. Two days ago I found a lump on the inside of my tongue. It's about a inch back in the middle on the right of it. It doesn't hurt at all it just scares me alot cause I'm not sure what it is I have looked around and found out a list of things it could be such as, cancer, infection, maybe something I have eaten, saliva glands or something, I have to work all week and can not take time off anyone help?

Hi X_H4J

The first thing you ought to do is quit smoking and dip. I will now jump off my soap box.

It could be any number of things, but this really isn't the place for a diagnosis. You might call your doctor to see if the office has evening or weekend hours to accommodate you, or go to your local urgent care center. You said that you found it a couple of days ago--could you have perhaps bitten it while eating (happens to me all the time)?

Please let us know what happens.

Julia

Im 20 i just got my tongue periced about a week 1/2 ago & the swelling has gone down but i have pretty much the same symptoms as everyone on here, a very small bump on the tip left side, does hurt when i mess with it, kind of redish, i dont smoke or drink so im really scared.. what should i do? alot of ppl tell me its normal but from reading this site im not to sure anymore..