Have you had a lymph node that never got smaller/disappeared after an infection?

[GingerFish]

2 months ago I had an ear infection and then a grape sized lump appeared behind my jaw and it was absolute agony for days. I couldn't touch it, lie on that side or move my head or neck. Anyhoo, I got amoxicillin for the infection and the lump went from oblong grape to more like a perfectly round Malteaser shaped one.

I went to the doc after the infection cleared and she said there was only slight swelling but to me it feels massive and she told me it would go down a lot or disappear again within 6 weeks. Well 6 weeks on its still roughly the same size. The smallest it has been is just slightly bigger than a pea. I do play with it a lot because I am paranoid that its cancerous or something and when I do that, it goes back up to its Malteaser size again.Its hard and firm but movable a bit but when I stick my neck right out, its not.

About a fortnight ago I was ill with flu like symptoms and my neck was killing me and I recognised it was the same pain I got behind my jaw when that node came up except this time it was the bottom of my neck and after feeling about I found a small movable pea sized lump which was painful to touch and so was the area around it. The lump was and still is pea and totally movable.

Does playing with your lymph nodes even just once in a while stop them from going down? I admit I played with the jaw one about 100+ times a day when I first got it and now maybe about 10 times a day.

I'm going to the doctor's next week to get them checked but thought I would ask on here if anyone else has had lymph nodes that stayed big or never went back to their undetectable size rather than ask Google because that's a bad idea!

[cut_out_stars]

I think even touching it 10 ish times a day would be enough to make it swell a little, yep. Imagine if you had a spot on your face (obv not the same thing but still..) and squeezed that 10 times in one day! It's be huge compared it if you left it well alone.

I've got two lymph nodes that have never gone down get much bigger when I'm ill. One in my cheek / jaw and one in front of my ear (that ones smaller than a pea) the one in my cheek is bigger and takes to take longer to go down (sometimes that's been Malteser size for a while)

My doctor told me once that they would 'worry' (if thats the right word) about nodes that were visibly HUGE and everyone's got a couple they can feel (but most people without HA) dont feel or indeed even notice them!

Xx

[GingerFish]

Thanks for replying. How did you know I suffer from HA? Is it that obvious? :roflmao:

Ever since this new lump has appeared all I can this I have lymphoma or that my original lump (the one behind my jaw/ear) must be a symptom of mouth cancer. Urgh I've had enough of stressing. I'm going to the docs on Monday to get checked over.

[GingerFish]

Urge to Google rising! Must restrain myself!

[cut_out_stars]

Don't google! Honestly it's so hard though isn't it?! It NEVER tells us anything good yet we still do it. In the eyes of google any lump is something terrible! Grr. I've discovered a limp in the bottom of my mouth and keep having mini freak outs about it but there's a part of my brain that thinks it could have always been there so I'm trying not to panic :) humans are such lumpy creatures :D it's hard not to panic I know!! I'm so sure you'll be fine but the best person to reassure you is the dr :) let us know how you get on!

[Darren1]

I'm going to the doctor's next week to get them checked but thought I would ask on here if anyone else has had lymph nodes that stayed big or never went back to their undetectable size rather than ask Google because that's a bad idea!

Yes, about 6-8 nodes got swollen in my neck last May AFTER i'd had flu (strange!) My main symptom at this point was neck pain.

Doctors sent me for blood tests (all fine) and i eventually had CT scan and MRI - All normal

Nodes are still enlarged and i still have neck pain but this is being blamed on posture now.

[GingerFish]

Yes, about 6-8 nodes got swollen in my neck last May AFTER i'd had flu (strange!) My main symptom at this point was neck pain.

Doctors sent me for blood tests (all fine) and i eventually had CT scan and MRI - All normal

Nodes are still enlarged and i still have neck pain but this is being blamed on posture now.

Funny you should say you got your swollen nodes after you had the flu, the one at the side of my neck came up the day before my flu or whatever it was disappeared. How big are your nodes? And did you play with yours a lot? I'm bad for that and I think that's maybe why mine wont go down.

[SarahH]

Yep ...I have one in my neck that has been there for 10years... it was looked at then by a specialist and he said it was nothing to worry about.. If I get run down it gets bigger then goes down again.

I am still here 10years later so I am guessing the specialist was right:)

[Dying_Swan]

I've had a couple of enlarged lymph nodes for a few years now. First one frightened the life out of me - I ended up having it scanned and biopsied and it was normal. It's still there, but yes it got a lot smaller once I stopped fiddling with it. And then I had one shoot up out of nowhere last week (v painful!) and it's gone again. You should get enlarged lymph nodes checked by a GP just to be on the safe side, but sometimes they do just hang around for a bit. What did the doc say?

[robin321]

I had a few big ones in my neck...
I made therm bigger by playing with them at least 100x a day. I would push and move it, measure it, etc...

When I stopped, it shrank. It is still there though

I did have 2 ultrasounds, and saw a specialist. His words "if it shrinks, even a bit, it isn't cancer. cancer gets bigger not smaller".

[GingerFish]

I was meant to go to the docs last week to get them checked but my stepdad took a mini stroke and I was obviously preoccupied with that so I've made an appointment for later this week.

The first time I ever saw a doc for the jaw lymph node, at first she wasn't sure if it was a swollen node but then she saw I had an ear infection on the same side and said well it must be that and ordered me to have a follow up in a week after I had finished the antibiotics and would get blood work done if it hadn't shrunk.

A week later I went for a follow up but it was with another doc (the original doc made the appointment with this doc since she was off that week) and she wasn't worried in the slightest. She had a feel and said there was only slight swelling and it could take 6 weeks to go down and playing with it will keep it up and the fact I had been playing with it a lot of already could stop it from going down ever. It was the size of a malteser then and she said it was only slight swelling. To me that seems massive!

I haven't saw a doc yet about the soft pea sized one on my lower neck since that came up a few weeks after the last doc visit when I had the flu or something like that but will mention it when I go this week.

[jab1982]

I am obsessed with lymphnodes! But everyone here is giving you great advice. I had a gnarly sinus infection about a month ago. Like anyone else with HA I poked and prodded UNTIL I FOUND SOMETHING. I have a hard, pea sized node behind my ear and one right in front. I freaked out. So, I decided it was time for my annual physical. Had bloodwork done and told the doctor I was concerned about these two lumps. I actually asked him twice, "should I be concerned about these two bumps?". His answer....NO! The medical professional told me not to worry. My bloodwork came out sparkling. My HA wants me to continue to be concerned because it's been 4 weeks and they are both still there. But guess what.....lymphnodes are a part of your body. They have a function. Everyone's bodies function so differently. So, stop poking and prodding, it really does keep them swollen longer.

Breathe easy, friend. Don't ruin today because of what you fear for tomorrow!

[paul83]

Last May I had swollen glands in my neck for about four weeks, didn't think anything of it until I googled it and of course up came lymphoma! A quick trip to the docs came back with Epstein Barr virus. Admittedly I've struggled to get back to my usual self since then (EBV can take months to get over apparently) but one lymph node in particular under my jaw refuses to go back to normal, and when I'm very run down they all swell up again - sometimes just for a matter of hours before they disappear again! Seems to be par for the course for some people!

[GingerFish]

Sorry to hear all of you have went through the same thing of worrying over lymph nodes. I have lost many nights of sleep thanks to worrying!

I've had millions of ear, nose, throat infections in my life so no doubt I have had many swollen nodes here and there, its only recently when I had that ear infection that I actually found one myself rather than a doc found it.

I've not been touching it the last few days. I gave it a little touch earlier and it does feel a bit smaller than a Malteaser so I'll give it another few days or a week and see how it goes.

[GingerFish]

Was meant to go to the docs this week to get them checked out but well seeing I got bed ridden with some cold/flu virus and even more have popped up. I'm not too worried about the new nodes that came up because I have been really ill the last few days and they are painful and smaller than a pea. Its still that jaw one that worries me most.

[Masqued]

Everyone has a lymph node somewhere that has never gone down.
I have one in my chest and neck.

[GingerFish]

I'm starting to think that lump I have behind my jaw isn't a swollen lymph node after all because I have noticed each time I eat or drink something sour, my jaw bone is extremely agony and its sore to touch or move and I'm thinking maybe its a blocked salivary gland or something?
Because the lump does seem to feel a bit smaller sometimes after eating/drinking sour things. I noticed it today after having a sip of sour cider that make my cheeks to that thing you do when you have something sour. The lump itself never hurt and hasn't since I first got it.

[GingerFish]

Well 4 months on and the jaw lump/node is still here. Its still roughly inbetween pea/malteaser size though recently it was tiny, to the point of a small pea. I've noticed it feels bigger at different times of the day. Its still hard but can be clicked from side to side. It was originally painful and oblong grape sized to start with.

The lower neck one I have (posterior cervical one) os smaller than a pea, always has been and is freely 'wiggable' under the skin and feels firm. That one hurt like hell when it came up 3 months ago when I was covered in mouth ulcers and had conjuntivitis and an ear infection again all on the same side and the same side as my jaw lump.

Surely after these months they would be bigger if it were serious? I have no other lumps that I can tell snd no other symptoms. I'm still playing with them daily. I just can't stop myself.

Has anyone else had a node swell up behind their jaw? I've only read about nodes swelling underneath your jaw but mine is behind the top of my jaw/below ear.

[GingerFish]

Turns out what docs thought was an englared lymph node behind my jaw/below ear might actually turn out to be a parotid gland tumour instead! I was back at the docs the other day there because I am worried to death over the lump. I still have no other symptoms and feel fine but the fear was getting to me. She said most lumps there are benign and it hasn't grown, its got smaller actually since it first came up so that is all good but should get it checked by ENT just to put my mind at rest. Part of me wishes I went months ago to get seen instead of living in worry but now more worry has come up since I hate hospitals.