Roughly speaking, head and neck masses can be divided into three main categories: inflammatory diseases, congenital diseases and tumors. The manifestations of inflammatory masses are relatively easy to diagnose, and generally have some manifestations such as “redness, swelling, heat and pain”, such as acute lymphadenitis and neck abscesses, which are common in clinical practice and have pain, local redness and swelling, and increased skin temperature. Most of the congenital diseases can be detected in childhood or adolescence, and most of them are cystic diseases, such as thyroglossal cysts, parotid cysts and cystic lymphangioleiomyomata, which are usually found in the middle of the neck, and most of them are soft cystic masses, which may increase in size slowly or suddenly in a few cases, without pain and itching, and can be diagnosed when combined with age characteristics. Tumors are most common in neck masses and can be classified into benign and malignant tumors. Benign tumors include neurogenic tumors, vascular tumors and tumors of organ origin such as thyroid, parotid and submandibular glands. Neurogenic tumors are generally asymptomatic, slow growing, and more common in submandibular area and cervical root; vascular tumors are generally deeper in location, and if they are arterial tumors touching with vascular pulsation is the most important way to differentiate them. Thyroid tumors are mostly located in the front of the neck on both sides of the lower trachea, parotid tumors are mostly located in the front, bottom and back of the ear, and submandibular tumors are located in the lower jaw. Malignant tumors can be further divided into primary and metastatic ones in the neck, and metastatic (mainly lymph node) tumors are more common. The primary malignant tumors are commonly malignant lymphoma and cancer of the thyroid gland and other organs. Malignant lymphomas are mostly manifested as the fusion of multiple masses with a relatively hard texture and poor mobility. Metastatic tumors mostly originate from the head and neck, and a few originate from the thoracic and abdominal organs, mostly located in the lateral cervical region. Generally, metastatic cancer from nose, throat and larynx are mostly located in the upper part of the neck, while metastatic cancer from thyroid gland and thoracic and abdominal organs are mostly located in the lower part of the neck. The diagnosis of neck lumps should be based on a combination of disease duration, lump location and nature. Generally speaking, masses that occur within a short period of time (e.g., 7 days) are usually inflammatory, those that have been found for a long time (e.g., 7 years) are mostly congenital, and those of moderate duration (e.g., 7 weeks) are mostly tumors. If the mass is located below the anterior neck, thyroid tumor should be considered first, if it is located under the jaw, submandibular gland tumor or lymph nodes should be considered, and if it is located in the area below the periaryngeal area, parotid origin should be considered. If the mass is single and not painful, benign tumor of neurological origin should be considered first. If they are arranged longitudinally in a bead pattern, the possibility of tuberculosis should be noted. If the mass is painless, multiple, fused, and if accompanied by fever, malignant lymphoma should be considered. If the tumor is located below the ear, with hard texture, poor mobility and more obvious recent enlargement, metastatic tumors of pharyngeal and laryngeal origin should be considered, especially for residents of southeastern region of China, because nasopharyngeal cancer is highly prevalent in the south of China.