When in doubt about something not being normal in your body, it is time to check with your primary doctor.

Go see your primary doctor and have it checked out. Could be just muscle strain from sitting in the position you sit in for work, could be something else.

Do you have any other symptoms, headaches, pain in shoulder, arm, hands, fingers? Do you have any weakness in your arm? do you have any numbness or tingling?

Fran

Today I found a soft lump under the right side jaw line. It's about the size of a half dollar or a little bigger. Mildly painful, and soft. I am not sick, or have not been sick. What could this be? I currently do not have health insurance
, so I will not be able to go to my GP for a couple of weeks.

You should not be diagnosed by a physical therapist, but rather a spine specialist as I stated in my first post.

In the US, at least in almost every state, if not all, a physician must right the orders for physical therapy and must include a diagnosis.

Physical therapists are not diagnosing patients in the US. they are an assistant to the spine specialist in this country.

Suggesting that a patient look at a website that shows how to do certain exercises without a proper diagnosis is a dangerous thing to do.

If the member elects to try some of them and they are the wrong exercise to do or the member shouldn't be doing any of them, the member can cause further injury to the spine, make the spine injury worse, cause further damage.

Exercise should not be done, when there is an injury of any kind without a proper diagnosis from a specialist that deals with the part of the body that has some kind of injury or problem.

Once a proper evaluation and diagnosis is made by a spine specialist, either an orthopedic surgeon that specializes in spines or a neurosurgeon that specializes in spines only and not a physical therapist, then a treatment plan can be started, which may or may not include physical therapy.

The OP, needs medical care, evaluation and diagnosis, not self treatment with exercise or a diagnosis made by a physical therapist that is not capable in diagnosing, doesn't have access to MRI machines or is able to order and MRI and is not capable or trained to read an MRI or any other test that a doctor would order.

Physical therapists are a wonderful adjunct to orthopedic are, but that is what they are, and adjunct, not a diagnostician, not a doctor.
They work well with doctors, unless you have one that doesn't believe in physical therapy.
Unfortunately there are some orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons that do not believe in physical therapy, do not send their patients to one, including spine patients, pre and post surgery, and that is sad, because the patient will never regain as much function without PT as they will with.
But they patient needs the doctor first and the PT afterwards, not the other way around.

Fran