Hard lumps along windpipe?

[YoungHeart]

Hi, I am new here and I have suffered with health anxiety ever since my mum had breast cancer. I am always worrying about lymphoma and leukaemia but have had blood tests and everything has come back fine. My newest fear is due to small hard lumps which I can feel along both sides of my windpipe although further back...I think! They don't get bigger and feel more like bones than other lymphnodes, I was wondering if anyone else could feel things like these? They are symmetrical also which I don't know if that's good or not? Ive been trying to convince myself that they are just bones or cartilidge but could use some reassurance... Please help! :(

[Devyn]

is it right below your adams apple? if so that's just neck cartilage. i freaked out myself out about it alot also.

---------- Post added at 20:43 ---------- Previous post was at 20:33 ----------

http://i48.tinypic.com/r09mie.png

if you're talking about right below the adams apple, it's impossible for there to be a swollen lymph node there. those green dots are where lymph nodes are located. they can't spread throughout your neck, so please stop worrying.

[YoungHeart]

Thanks for your reply!
I can feel tiny lymph nodes along the side of my neck but these lumps are closer to the windpipe. Your diagram has really helped me because these lumps don't feel like any other lymph nodes I've had which was what was worrying me about them. I'm sure they are nothing but can't help thinking "what if". I've prodded them so much that now my neck is sore there!

---------- Post added at 05:33 ---------- Previous post was at 05:30 ----------

After looking again I think that these may be anterior cervical ones! I'm freaking out again! :(

[YoungHeart]

After having another feel around I can feel them one on each side where your diagram showed the anterior cervical ones, however if I move towards my windpipe I can feel them more prominently and all the way up. I am worried because they are solid like bones and don't move at all but they haven't changed in size. I've had them for a few months now and I've had blood tests for another thing which have all come back clear. What could these be?

[YoungHeart]

Sorry to keep adding to this but I couldn't decide where the lumps were so I took a picture to give a rough idea. The two lumps are much deeper than any other lymph node I have felt before and they are around the same size. After having more feels of them I am still concerned about them being hard and immobile but as they haven't got any bigger and don't feel rubbery I am going to try to stop feeling them and I'll see how they are in a few weeks. I am sick and tired of making myself worry and surely my other lymphnodes that I can feel would be the same if there was a problem?

[Ronno]

Hi young heart.
Some 6 years ago my wife had lymphoma ,and over the year she was having treatment we became experts in regards of the illness ,
The lymph nodes were large , in her case under the arm pit . Around the size of a chicken egg , and for some reason on the left side , which is usual .
Also weight loss , tiredness and itching , also drenching night sweats .
Having a few small lymph nodes in your neck or any where else is ok , but if they are tender it would mean you may have a infection ,which can be treated.
Lymph nodes are rubbery to feel and mobile . The more we feel for things we find , which are normal , ban yourself from constantly examining your self ,and if you can get into that habit you'll be fine ... Like me.

[YoungHeart]

Thanks for your reply. I have been feeling around every since my mum had breast cancer and have convinced myself numerous times that I have various types of cancers. My main concer with these ones was that they were solid, could it be just bone?

[lo89]

Your windpipe is surrounded by rings of cartilage, it feels like lumps if you rub up and down the way but if you rub across the way you should feel a ring like structure. This is what holds your windpipe open. I would try not to worry (although I am currently freaking about lumps in my neck too, easier said than done I know!)

[Ronno]

Your right , your neck as well.as other places have lumps and bumps , some hard some soft , but normal , your mothers illness has , got you worried
And if she had had a heart attack perhaps you'd be having chest pains and missed beats now . That's what stress , worry and anxiety does to you .
Makes you think you will be next . If the lumps in your neck were. A sign of illness you would have other symptoms .

[YoungHeart]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I feel so much better now other than a sore neck from where I've been prodding so much! Haha

[swgrl09]

This freaked me out too a lot!! I don't remember, I may have posted on here about it but may not have. I finally figured out that it was the cartilidge, it feels rock hard on both sides and doesn't move except when I swallow. But you are normal :)

[YoungHeart]

Thanks for all your replies, I've been doing quite week the past week or so as I spoke to my mum. Over the years I've made her feel lumps all over me and none of them have felt like her breast cancer lump. I have now started to prod about my neck again and I don't want to tell my mum again so soon after the last time. These hard lump things are about 1cm in size and feel deeper into the neck than other lymph nodes I have. My mum said that I can feel all of this because I'm thin but I would like a bit of reassurance elsewhere too. I don't think that this is cartilidge because they don't move up and down when I swallow at all. If you were to push down at either side of the windpipe you can feel them and there are two more further up as well. I'm so scared that these are deep lymph nodes as they are hard like bone, does anyone else have anything like this?

[Ronno]

Youngheart.
Prodding and feeling your neck will only cause more anxiety , as I've said on previous threads , these lumps and bumps in your neck are probably just conective tissue . If they are lymph nodes , and swollen , you'd notice them when you'd look in the mirror. And you'd have symptoms , such as a sore throat. Not allways recommended , but as a reference , google hodgkins lymphoma or enlarged lymph nodes , and click on images , that what enlaged lymph nodes look like . But for compleat peace of mind have it checked by your doctor , and perhaps tell him what's worrying you.
Take care.