What is the cause of the small pimple behind the baby's ear?

In daily life, when parents are taking care of their babies, they sometimes find small bumps behind their babies' ears. In most cases, parents do not understand the situation of these small bumps. Therefore, this article is going to analyze the reasons why there are small bumps behind the baby's ears. So what is the reason for the small lump behind the baby’s ear? Let’s take a look below.

Some parents of children may encounter such a thing. Sometimes they can feel some lumps of varying sizes behind the children's ears, neck, under the jaw, thigh roots, etc. Most of them are mobile and can slide under the skin. You may be worried about this. In fact, these small bumps are lymph nodes. Because lymphatic tissue, especially lymph nodes, develop rapidly within one year of age, healthy children may feel lymph nodes in superficial parts of the body such as behind the ears, neck, under the jaw, armpits, and groin (i.e., groin). However, the lymph nodes in these areas are normally no larger than soybeans, are mostly single, soft in texture, can slide under the skin, are painless, and are not adhered to surrounding tissues. However, lymph nodes should not be palpated under the chin, supraclavicular fossa, or elbows.

In some abnormal cases, lymph nodes may also become abnormally swollen. Because lymph nodes can produce lymphocytes in the blood, these lymphocytes have the function of defending against bacteria. The lymph nodes in various parts of the body are connected to nearby organs or tissues by lymphatic vessels, just like "sentry posts" around the body. When nearby tissues or organs are attacked by bacteria, they can kill the bacteria and prevent them from spreading outward. As a result, the lymph nodes themselves become enlarged, can be felt, and may be painful or tender. Therefore, the location of the bacterial infection lesion can be inferred from the location of the swollen lymph nodes. For example, swollen submandibular lymph nodes may be caused by inflammation of the oral cavity and pharynx, and swollen occipital lymph nodes may be caused by inflammation of the skin on the head and back of the neck.

Although the lymphatic system develops rapidly within the first year of life, its barrier defense function is still poor in the early stage, and infection is not easy to control. Therefore, once an infection occurs, it is easy to spread and even cause sepsis. By the end of one year, the lymphatic system has become relatively mature and can begin to surround invading bacteria in local lymph nodes and eliminate them, preventing the infection from spreading. For example, tonsillitis or tonsil suppuration, which is common in children at the end of one year, is a manifestation of the localization of infection by lymphatic tissue (tonsils are also lymphatic tissue similar to lymph nodes).

Generally, lymph node enlargement lasts for a long time. Often the infection at the site of bacterial invasion has been controlled, but the nearby lymph nodes may still be swollen. If the same area is infected repeatedly, the same lymph node may swell repeatedly. The result may be that the infection has been cured but the swollen lymph node will not completely return to normal, and it may even become a hard lump that remains swollen for life. This palpable lymph node lump does not indicate infection and does not require special treatment.

What's the matter with the small lump behind the baby's ear? As mentioned above, the small lump behind the baby's ear is actually a small lymph node. Normally, if there is no abnormal situation, these small lump will not show symptoms of swelling. As for these small lump, as long as they do not grow bigger, parents do not need to worry too much.