A flesh-colored tumor on the scalp

A flesh-colored tumor appears on the scalp. There are many causes of such tumors, such as sebaceous cysts, lipomas, hemangiomas, etc. Such diseases will have such symptoms. If you are unable to determine the cause of any discomfort, you should go to a regular hospital for a detailed examination in time, so that your health will be better protected.

There are several possible causes for a pimple on your scalp. The most common type may be local common warts, which are mostly caused by infection of the human papillomavirus in this area, resulting in abnormal local proliferation of the scalp, accompanied by varying degrees of keratinization. The main manifestations are generally local wart-like hyperplasia with a rough surface and obvious keratinization. In addition, it may also be a warty nevus on the scalp or a sebaceous nevus on the scalp. These generally appear as local wart-like hyperplasia, but have a rosy surface and soft texture, and pose no substantial health hazards to the human body.

What tumors can grow on the scalp? What are the typical symptoms?

Some skin tumors may be accompanied by lumps and generally grow slowly. When they grow to a certain size, they may cause local redness, swelling, heat, and pain, and may also cause local ulceration.

1. Sebaceous cyst

The tumors are spherical, single or multiple, and vary in size, ranging from a few millimeters to nearly 10 centimeters. It is of medium hardness and elasticity, protruding from the skin surface, adhered to the skin, not easy to push, with a smooth surface and no sense of fluctuation. There is a needle-head-sized umbilicus-like opening in the center, which is blue-black in color and shaped like a needle-head acne. Squeezing can produce tofu dregs or noodle mud-like contents, which are sebum and broken sebaceous gland cells, often with a rancid odor.

2. Lipoma

Subcutaneous lipoma is a very common skin lesion formed by the accumulation of normal fat cells. It accounts for about 80% of benign soft tissue tumors. It often occurs under the skin and can also occur in deep tissues such as internal organs. Mature adipocytes are arranged in groups, and most are surrounded by a fibrous outer membrane. However, sometimes there are scattered patches of irregularly marginated fat tissue infiltrating the muscle tissue. They are usually slow growing, round, soft, movable, and painless to palpation. Subcutaneous lipomas generally do not require treatment, but if they are large, interfere with other body functions, and cause subjective symptoms, they can be surgically removed. During the operation, the tumor lobules extending into the surrounding tissues should be completely eradicated to avoid recurrence.

3. Hemangioma

It is a benign vascular tumor formed by abnormal development of embryonic residual vascular tissue and can occur in the skin and subcutaneous tissue throughout the body. It is generally divided into capillary hemangioma, cavernous hemangioma and racemose hemangioma. It is more common in young and middle-aged people. Localized or regional spread-like protrusions appear on the skin with unclear boundaries, softness, and rapid growth. Sometimes tortuous and thick blood vessels can be felt, with pulsation or cat-like panting feeling, and a continuous blowing-like murmur can be heard.

4. Neurofibroma

Neurofibromas are diseases that originate from the nervous system, but they tend to occur at the nerve endings located in the skin. Patients often accidentally discover scattered subcutaneous tumors on the limbs and trunk. These are bean-sized, painless and tender, movable, with clear borders, dark brown in color, single or multiple, and slow growing. If it is neurofibromatosis, the number of cases may gradually increase. Single cases need to be differentiated from lipoma, epidermoid cyst, leiomyoma, and eccrine adenoma.

5. Sarcoma

Sarcoma is a general term for tumors originating from mesenchymal tissue, which mainly includes blood vessels, nerves, bones and muscles. Capillaries and peripheral nerves are located in the skin, so tumors originating from these two tissues can occur in the skin.

6. Basal cell carcinoma

It is a common low-grade malignant skin tumor. In the early stage, the skin surface has localized raised, nodular, pink, clear borders, hard texture, and painless swelling, which gradually turns into gray-black or dark brown with a slight depression in the center. The skin becomes dull and gradually rough. After a few months, scaly changes and shedding gradually appear. Due to scratching, bleeding, ulceration, scabs, and desquamation occur repeatedly, manifesting in various forms.

7. Melanoma

It is a less common malignant tumor that often occurs in the skin or at the junction of the skin and mucosa throughout the body. May appear as pigmented patches that are raised or not raised above the skin. Most are black, but can also be dark brown or dark blue, and some are light colors. After the tumor grows rapidly, the lesion site may bleed, rupture, or become infected. The adjacent lymph nodes may swell and even metastasize to important organs such as the lungs, liver, brain, and kidneys.

8. Squamous cell carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma occurs in the skin, often in areas of wounds that do not heal for a long time. There are two forms:

(1) Cauliflower type: Most of them originate from small papules or boils on the skin. The ulcers become infected and gradually increase in size. The wounds do not heal for a long time. The base becomes wider and harder. It is dark red and has scabs. It bleeds easily when touched. There are keratin and scales around the wound. If accompanied by infection, purulent secretions will appear on the surface of the wound.

(2) Latent type: Because it often grows in the dermis, it grows and expands rapidly toward the subcutaneous tissue and the periphery. It has a wide base, unclear borders, and a sunken center. If it ruptures, it is difficult to heal. There are purulent secretions, new capillaries around it, and it is easy to bleed. The adjacent draining lymph nodes are swollen.

9. Metastatic tumors

Skin metastases are very rare. Patients with other primary tumors should pay attention to this disease when skin nodules appear.

Among the above scalp tumors, benign tumors include sebaceous cysts, lipomas, hemangiomas, neurofibromas, etc.; malignant tumors include angiosarcoma, basal cell carcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, etc.