4 Yr Old Lump

This is a small cyst that has formed where the original piercing occurred in her ear. Happens all the time but you need to get rid of it. These usually don't go away by themselves. I have had this as well as dealt with these buggers with all my daughters and their pierced ears. You need to first remove the earring and clean the ear real good with alcohol or even a soap a water lather and a good rinse. Then, you need to apply pressure to the lump until it burst. It will more than likely drain from the opening of where the piercing is.....and be ready because this is gonna be gross! You will wonder how that much gunk can come from a tiny earlobe! It's infected. There will be pus and goop. Drain it out all the way and then clean it real good again.
Now...here's the key part.....you need something to fight the bacteria but also dry this up so it will close. Go back to your daughters starter studs and place the studs in a tiny capful of hydrogen peroxide for 10 minutes. It will bubble when ou do this. Wipe the ear down with alcohol again or pierced ear cleaning solution. Dip the starter earring post in Bacitracin ointment and put it back into her ear....the back needs to be on but not pressed right up against the ear. Clean the earlobe three times a day with the ear piercing cleaning solution or with and alcohol swab. Leave the starter earrings in and rotate them twice a day until everything heals. This usually happens for two main reasons....the back of the earring was too tight and didn't allow circulation and ventilation to the back of the piercing or your daughter might be allergic to nickel.
Good luck and hope it clears up very soon. If it keeps happening, switch to palladium, titanium, or surgical steel nickel free earring only.

Sounds like she has a cyst.

If it's red and hot to the touch? It could be infected. Would I take care of it myself? Nope. I would take her to a doctor and see what's going on...an infection left un-checked can cause many health problems.

I would NOT attempt to pop it on my own. You don't know what's in there - and if it's an infection - what other areas might get infected/contaminated because I tried to handle it myself?

Good luck!

My daughter had a painful lump too. It was a cyst and went away with antibiotic. Take your daughter to the doctor.

It is probably a cyst or other infection. Take her to the dermatologist because messing with it at home can result in scar tissue and other problems.

My ears get that way if I wear earrings that aren't 14K gold, because I'm allergic to other metals. So I would suggest wiping her ears with hydrogen peroxide at least once per day, to keep them from getting infected, and to make sure she is only wearing gold earrings from a jewelry store. She may never be able to wear cute inexpensive earrings.

And make sure the earring back is the one that came with it. If she wears gold posts, but loses the back and puts a cheap (non-14K gold) back into the gold posts, she'll have the same reaction even just from the earring back.

It shouldn't take more than a few days to clear up once you switch earrings.