What causes a lump at the base of your skull?

What causes a lump at the base of your skull?

A bump on the back of the head has many possible causes, including injuries, cysts, fatty growths, inflamed hair follicles, and bone spurs. Bumps on this part of the body can be hard or soft, and they can vary in size. Injuries are a common cause of bumps and lumps on the back of the head.

What do skull base tumors feel like?

These tumors can grow slowly or rapidly. Symptoms of chondrosarcomas depend on their location in the skull base and may include headache, ringing in the ears, and problems with vision, hearing, or balance.

Where is a skull base tumor located?

Skull base tumors may grow in the area behind the nose and eyes, near the ear, and along the base of the brain. Not all skull base tumors are cancerous (malignant). But even noncancerous (benign) skull base tumors need evaluation because they can cause harmful symptoms.

Can you get a tumor at the base of your skull?

Skull base tumors most often grow inside the skull but occasionally form on the outside. They can originate in the skull base as a primary tumor or spread there from a cancer elsewhere in the body as a metastatic brain tumor. Skull base tumors are classified by tumor type and location within the skull base.

Are skull base tumors treatable?

Treatment for skull base tumors and conditions may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and/or observation. The treatment for a skull base tumor or condition depends on many factors, including: The location of the tumor or condition. For tumors, the extent of the tumor and whether it is benign or malignant.

Can skull base tumors be removed?

Many skull base tumors can be removed with minimally invasive approaches, which do not require making incisions through the skull. Sometimes, due to a tumor’s location or size, it may need to be removed through open surgery, called craniotomy.

How long can you live with a skull base tumor?

Using a simple Karnofsky scale for patients undergoing surgery for anterior skull base cancers, we found a highly significant correlation between the K score and survival (Gil et al, unpublished data): the overall 5-year survival of patients with Karnofsky scores >70 was 56 months compared with 23 months in patients …

Can you feel skull base tumors?

Myth 1: A bump on your skull is a symptom of skull base tumor. Fact: Since the skull base is within the helmet of your skull, you won’t be able to feel a tumor the way you might be able to feel a swollen lymph node or a tumor in another part of your body.

How do you detect chordoma?

How is a chordoma diagnosed? Sometimes, especially at the base of the spine, a lump will be found. In other cases, lesions show up on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. A biopsy will be done to diagnose a chordoma and to differentiate it from other types of tumors.

How do I know if I have a chordoma?

Types of imaging tests An MRI is the best way to see a chordoma and how it is affecting the tissue around it, such as muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. No matter where the tumor is located, an MRI of the entire spine should be performed to see if the tumor may have spread to or developed in other areas of the spine.

What does a chordoma lump feel like?

These symptoms may include pain, weakness, numbness, clumsiness, or tingling in the arms or legs. Tumors in the tailbone area can cause a noticeable mass; numbness in the groin area; bowel and bladder problems; or numbness, tingling, and weakness in the legs.

How do you know if you have chordoma?