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ray83 · Jan 27, 2009, 08:07 PM

Hi my nephew has a bump just below his knee its been there for about 2 weeks. I am not sure if he just had a nasty fall and the bump will soon disappear. Can having a bump that doesn't go away mean something serious.

ultimate_user_name · Jan 27, 2009, 08:33 PM

You need to describe the bump MUCH more, is it discolored? Is it just red and puffy? What is the area like around the bump?

A bump that doesn't go away could mean a lot of different things (especially when we don't know the nature of the bump). Let me share with you two of my experiences.

First, the scary one, our family has had a nasty battle with staff infections. My father had one on his leg below his knee, it was red and shiny, and raised. Staff infections go for damaged tissue; a small scrape, or even a bruising can become the target of a staff infection. Staff infections will typically be very sore and firm, but sometimes they are not either. Staff infections (especially MRSA [anti-biotic resistent]) can be a huge pain to get rid of, and if your doctor thinks it's getting into your blood stream, you will need IV antibiotics. If you see a shooting red line coming away from the bump, that's generally not a good sign :/

Now, for the less scary. Once I had a firm bump on my cheek that just wouldn't go away, it was sort of an odd, oval shape. It was sub-cutaneous (below the skin, but not on a muscle or anything) so I could move it. Finally after about a week, it hadn't gotten better, it had even gotten a little bigger.

So I went to the doctor, what he basically said was, "Eh, it happens". He told me to wait another week or two, then he might be worried, but sometimes bumps like that just happen. Sure enough, after about a week it started slowly shrinking, it was entirely gone in another week and a half.

So I guess be more descriptive about the bump :)

J_9 · Jan 27, 2009, 08:40 PM

Actually the term is STAPH infections, due to the Staphylococus aureus bacteria.

It very well could be staph, however, staph is usually VERY painful.

It could be a deformation of the bone.

It could be leukemia.

It could be a simple bump.

Only a doctor can diagnose properly what is going on here. Please have his mom make a doctor's appt as soon as possible.