What is a bump on the back?
A bump generally refers to a swelling of the skin tissue due to irritation. The swelling can occur in different skin layers. A swelling or tissue growth under the skin can also look like a bump.
In the case of bumps that are caused by trauma (bumping of the affected area), for example, they usually disappear again after a few days. Bumps, which are due to increased tissue growth, usually remain for a long time and may have to be removed surgically. In general, such bumps can occur anywhere on the back. Depending on the localisation, however, different causes are possible.
Causes
- Bruise
- Edema (water retention)
- Hematoma (bruise, bleeding)
- Abscess (collection of pus in an encapsulated cavity)
- Benign tissue growth (benign tumour) : fibroma (connective tissue tumour), lipoma (tumour in fatty tissue), myoma (tumour in muscle tissue)
- Malignant tissue growth (sarcomas): fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, myosarcoma. An abscess refers to the accumulation of pus in the tissue. The pus lies in a newly formed body cavity.
It is also called a melting of the pus into the tissue. On the back, abscesses are usually caused by superficial inflammation that penetrates into deeper layers of skin. The cause of the inflammation is bacterial infection, which often starts at a sebaceous gland.
The infection causes inflammatory cells to be flushed out to the affected area. After the work is done, the cells die and form pus together with the bacteria. If the abscess persists over a longer period of time, a connective tissue capsule often forms around it.
On the back, sebaceous glands always appear together with hairs. At each hairline there is a gland responsible for sebum production. The sebum consists mainly of fats, but also partly of proteins and protects the skin from drying out.
If the sebaceous gland is blocked, the sebum can no longer be released to the outside. In most cases the sebaceous gland is infected by bacteria, resulting in a painful swelling. This causes the blocked sebaceous gland to impress as a reddened bulge on the back.
The lump recedes after a few days, but may leave a small scar on the skin. A bump next to the spine can have various causes. Contusions, bruises or sebaceous gland congestion can occur on the entire back and are therefore also conceivable as the cause of a lump next to the spine.
A disease that typically occurs directly next to the spine is lipoma. This is a benign tumour of the fatty tissue. The so-called subcutaneous fatty tissue, i.e. the fat located directly under the skin, begins to grow and thus forms a bulge.
These lipomas usually have a size of less than 5 cm and initially appear as a painless lump. Normally they grow very slowly and are initially only perceived as cosmetically disturbing. After a certain time, however, pain may occur at the affected area, so that removal of the lipoma is recommended.
Very rarely, malignant tumours can also appear next to the spine. If they originate from fatty tissue, they are called liposarcomas. This soft tissue tumour grows much faster than the lipoma, is painful and usually does not move in relation to the surrounding tissue.
If the suspicion of a liposarcoma is confirmed, the malignant tissue should be removed as soon as possible. Back bumps, which originate under the skin, often occur due to tissue growth. In most cases these growths are benign.
In addition to the lipoma, the benign tumour of fatty tissue, the muscles (myoma) or the connective tissue (fibroma) can also be the cause of the bulge. These benign tumours only need to be removed if they are cosmetically disturbing or cause other complaints (such as pain). In rare cases, malignant tumours also occur. In suspected cases, a tissue sample is taken and examined under the microscope.
