Lumps appearing in the thyroid gland are a relatively common occurrence. These appear low in the neck usually as painless lumps. A full evaluation in the clinic together with blood tests to assess the thyroid function. The main investigation of a thyroid lump is to use a small needle to take a sample of cells out, this is called a fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) this gives us a good idea of the nature of the lump and whether or not further action is required. Most lumps will also have an ultrasound scan which also gives an idea of the size of the lump and whether it is a solid lump. Depending on the results of these tests depends what happens to the lump. A lot of lumps are removed surgically to get an accurate diagnosis of the nature of the lump, but some can be safely left alone. The main aim of all the investigations is to differentiate benign lumps that could be left against cancerous lumps which need to be removed.