How Can Painful Swollen Lymph Node Behind Ear Be Treated?

My daughter has an extremely painful swollen lymph node behind her ear that was treated with 2 cycles of antibiotics. The lume was still there and she was sent to an ENT specialist who in one minute diagnosed it as a trapped lymph node. He said it somehow got trapped between the bone and muscle and that since the antibiotics didn't work the only solution is surgery. He said 99 % of the time these are benign. Can you explain this a bit more?