Have Painful Lump In Armpit And Itchy Outbreaks, On Face And Chest With Night Sweats And Leg Pain. Suggest?

Posted on Thu, 5 Sep 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 5 Sep 2013 Answered on

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi I have a painful lump in each armpit and have also been suffering with outbreaks and sores on my face and chest also itching all over my body coupled with infrequent night sweats and leg pain (which may be caused by an existing back problem .I am a43 year old female who smokes:(XXXXX XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Kalpana Pathak (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Please see a detailed answer below

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing to us.
There could be many causes for lump in your arm pits like
Boils
Hidradenitis suppuritiva
seborrheic dermatits- it might cover your other symptoms of itching, sores rashes over body
Scrofuloderma- cutaneous tuberculosis( night sweats can be accounted for)
Reactive lymphadenopathy( axillary lymph node swelling) due to infection
infected sebaceous cyst

I would like to know since how long are you having this
If your scalp is flaky, covered with greasy scales
If there is any discharge from the painful lumps
If there is any history of tuberculosis in past or if having low grads fever, cough, night sweats
If these lumps were painless in past and have now become painful.
Since how long are you having itching, rashes over body
If you have history of such lumps in past that might have healed with scarring and are associated with multiple blackheads in adjacent areas

I would also appreciate if you could attach clear resolution images of the rashes over face and chest and those of your underarms depicting the lump.

Hoping to hear from you soon.
Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar