View Full Version : Swollen lymph node *under* collar bone
Hey everyone,
I noticed that the bone under my collarbone (I think the rib) was bigger on my left than my right. However, whenever I felt it, it never felt different. But, I think the constant poking and prodding found an actual swollen lymph node on that area. It is directly below my collar bone near the middle. From my research these are called infraclavicular lymph nodes and every single search result has said that these are bad news and almost always malignant. I am literally sitting here trying to calm my heartbeat down. I feel cold and can’t keep myself from crying. Has anyone ever had a lymph node *below* their collarbone swell up? I am so afraid. It is quite small and movable. I would say below 1cm. I haven’t felt around anywhere else because I’m afraid of finding something. I did get a skin rash on my neck from the warm turtlenecks I’ve been wearing. But honestly I don’t even know if this lymph node drains the neck area. Most research says it drains the breast. So either it’s lymphoma or breast cancer. Gosh, I am so scared. Please please respond if you have any kind of experience with this.
Respectfully Katniss, you've self-examined, poked and prodded and Dr. Googled yourself into a panic over something that's not an issue IMO. Just based on your post history and the 2+ years you've been on the forum, nothing you've feared has become a reality :shrug:
Worry if you must. See a doctor if you really feel the need but the "Told Ya So Gang" will be on standby :winks:
Positive thoughts
From my research these are called infraclavicular lymph node
Every single search result has said that these are bad news and almost always malignant.
Most research says it drains the breast.
So either it’s lymphoma or breast cancer.
Well, you've googled yourself into this mess. :doh:
Go get it properly checked out so you can hopefully get past this.
Getting it checked out would lead to even more anxiety. First booking an appointment then waiting for it, just thinking about it makes me jittery. I wish I could be stronger. I keep telling myself that I need to stop the googling and stop worrying about every single symptom. But I can’t :(
As far as I know from my own lymph nodes de dramas., lymph nodes that are mobile and less than 1cm are completely normal! I’ve had two checked out that fit this description and been told that I am just feeling normal, healthy lymph nodes!
As far as I know from my own lymph nodes de dramas., lymph nodes that are mobile and less than 1cm are completely normal! I’ve had two checked out that fit this description and been told that I am just feeling normal, healthy lymph nodes!
That's exactly what I was saying by this being not an issue. I've typed this out countless times. We have 500-700 nodes in our bodies. Poke and prod enough and you're bound to find a few. Poke and prod enough and you can make them shotty (permanently enlarged, not "swollen').
Add to that it's small and movable which is normal and there's no reason to remotely be concerned.
Positive thoughts
Thank you for the responses. I have had my fair share of lymph node scares as well. And I know they can swell for many benign reasons and stay permanently enlarged as shotty lymph nodes. And, this does feel like that. I just wish I had never googled because the location is incredibly unusual and there is barely nothing on google about it except that it’s bad news. It doesn’t even say that it could be an infection or anything. This is why I’m so scared.
I have been there over lymph nodes as well. I have a lot of them and nothing ever comes of it. It started 9 years ago. I noticed a posterior cervical node on left side just under a centimeter in size. Freaked me out. Saw a dr who said it was nothing. Saw an ent who could tell I was concerned and order a ct scan. Scan came back saying I have several shorty nodes under 1 cm all along that chain of nodes. And a jugular lymph node that was a decent size but not too big.
Fast forward 8 years and I got some kind bite on my upper arm. Lymph node above elbow swelled up to the size of a grape or bigger. Again scared the hell out of me. That is when I noticed I had one on the other arm above the elbow about the size of a pea. Went to the drs office. He gave me antibiotics because my arm was getting red from the bite. Lymph node was painless which scared me because I have read they get tender when fighting infection. Antiobiotics took care what the dr diagnosed as cellulitis. About a week after I stopped using Antibiotics the lymphnode shrank to the same pea size as the other node above the other elbow. I googled these nodes and of course saw that these nodes are never normally palpable. Back to the dr I go to express my concern. He feels all around and finds 3 more lymph nodes in my armpit on both sides. So that is 8 palpable nodes found within a year. Telling that I was anxious he sends me for a chest and abdomen ct scan. Scan results say nothing about any enlarged nodes. It literally say no adenopathy or no significant adenopathy in any region that has lymphnodes.
I ask the dr how big they are. The armpit ones range from 1.5 centimeters to 8mm. The elbow ones are 6mm to 7mm. The dr says he is not concerned. Radiologist who probably sees cancer on scans pretty often didn’t make any notes on anything. At that point I put it out of my head. I check them about every 2 weeks to see if they change which they haven’t.
The point in this long winded post is that sometimes they are just there. I have no idea how long mine were palpable in my armpits and above elbows. Could have been theee for years for all I know. Mine one day decided to enlarge ever so slightly to the point where you can feel them and they have just stayed that way. Maybe because of some past systemic infection or maybe just because. Who knows. My dr said the chances of these being lymphoma are so slim that he doesn’t feel necessary to biopsy them because of the complications that can arise from removing lymphnodes, which is remote. So to put that in perspective, my dr feels that the tiny, small chance of having complications from a lymph node biopsy are greater than any chance that my lymph nodes are from cancer. I hope that helps. Have a great new year.
I have been there over lymph nodes as well. I have a lot of them and nothing ever comes of it. It started 9 years ago. I noticed a posterior cervical node on left side just under a centimeter in size. Freaked me out. Saw a dr who said it was nothing. Saw an ent who could tell I was concerned and order a ct scan. Scan came back saying I have several shorty nodes under 1 cm all along that chain of nodes. And a jugular lymph node that was a decent size but not too big.
Fast forward 8 years and I got some kind bite on my upper arm. Lymph node above elbow swelled up to the size of a grape or bigger. Again scared the hell out of me. That is when I noticed I had one on the other arm above the elbow about the size of a pea. Went to the drs office. He gave me antibiotics because my arm was getting red from the bite. Lymph node was painless which scared me because I have read they get tender when fighting infection. Antiobiotics took care what the dr diagnosed as cellulitis. About a week after I stopped using Antibiotics the lymphnode shrank to the same pea size as the other node above the other elbow. I googled these nodes and of course saw that these nodes are never normally palpable. Back to the dr I go to express my concern. He feels all around and finds 3 more lymph nodes in my armpit on both sides. So that is 8 palpable nodes found within a year. Telling that I was anxious he sends me for a chest and abdomen ct scan. Scan results say nothing about any enlarged nodes. It literally say no adenopathy or no significant adenopathy in any region that has lymphnodes.
I ask the dr how big they are. The armpit ones range from 1.5 centimeters to 8mm. The elbow ones are 6mm to 7mm. The dr says he is not concerned. Radiologist who probably sees cancer on scans pretty often didn’t make any notes on anything. At that point I put it out of my head. I check them about every 2 weeks to see if they change which they haven’t.
The point in this long winded post is that sometimes they are just there. I have no idea how long mine were palpable in my armpits and above elbows. Could have been theee for years for all I know. Mine one day decided to enlarge ever so slightly to the point where you can feel them and they have just stayed that way. Maybe because of some past systemic infection or maybe just because. Who knows. My dr said the chances of these being lymphoma are so slim that he doesn’t feel necessary to biopsy them because of the complications that can arise from removing lymphnodes, which is remote. So to put that in perspective, my dr feels that the tiny, small chance of having complications from a lymph node biopsy are greater than any chance that my lymph nodes are from cancer. I hope that helps. Have a great new year.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed reply. I feel the same way. I’ve had soooo many instances of enlarged lymph nodes that I don’t even bother anymore - except for this one that is below my collar bone. It’s the location that scares me. Even though it’s quite small and very movable. But according to google any collar bone lymph node regardless of size HAS to be tested. This is freaking me out so much. And I am so afraid. I have two young children and a wonderful husband and I just keep thinking about them. I’m starting to panic again, there you go. Lol. Any similar experiences of below collar bone? I can’t find much on google besides from breast cancer patients :( I scoured no more panic and I only found a few posts about it but most were just feeling their bone, not their actual node. This is an actual lymph node.
I have leaukemia and i have over 40 swolen nodes.. Varying in size and postion.. Many of them i can move around but i found i had the disease through a routine blood test for gout! I have horrendous health anxiety (mainly heart and brain issues) so i understand your problem but what i do not understand is your unwillingness to get it looked at? If something like this worries you, it is so easy to get it diagnoaed properly through blood and if needed a scan.. Your blood can be done in seconds and a result within hours if anything serious.. I have 6 kids by the way (5 of which are under 12) and none of them lnpw about my cancer until they need to.. You owe it to your children to get diagnosed and if the worst came.out of it, there are lots of treatments now for lymphomas and blood cancers. I love the way i give this advice yet don't heed it myself lol.. But there again ive got the shitty disease aint i :( Hope you get sorted and offload your mind on this.. Im quite sure itll be benign. I forgot to add.. The many swolen nodes i have.. I do not have the.one your describing and my riba are riddled with them :(
Trust me I get it. I have a wife and 2 small children and have my own health concerns from time to time. When I first learned of the lymph nodes by my elbow (epitrochlear) I was worried to no end. My dr felt they were small and insignificant even after I told him that every medical journal on the web and lymphoma info website says these are horrible to have and indicate disease. I had blood work done and ct scans and all looked good. At this point I have to accept that these are likely nothing to worry about since I am still around to worry about them. Lol. For me the only option to know 10” percent is to have one biopsies but, like I said before, my dr feels that may have more complications than the chances of me having cancer. If hey change or get ridiculously sick I can revisit them with dr. After countless hours reading things online too you come to find out there are a lot of people who have unexplained lymhedopathy. Some resolve some stay there.
Mine feel firm and moveable to me, which if you google, firm and moveable can be bad. My dr says they feel ok to him and scans say they are fine as well. I am going to trust my dr over my dr google skills. Please do get it looked at by the dr but don’t let it consume you. You have a family to look after and build memories with. That is hard to do when you are constantly lost in thought about a disease that you are statistically very unlikely to have.
Please let us know how you get on with a dr appointment.
ETA: when I had my ct scan for all this I was so anxious about what it would show but it was thing for me to do because it showed absolutely nothing. If I had anything sinister going on I would likely have enlarged nodes in my stomach and/or chest that were abnormally large.
Trust me I get it. I have a wife and 2 small children and have my own health concerns from time to time. When I first learned of the lymph nodes by my elbow (epitrochlear) I was worried to no end. My dr felt they were small and insignificant even after I told him that every medical journal on the web and lymphoma info website says these are horrible to have and indicate disease. I had blood work done and ct scans and all looked good. At this point I have to accept that these are likely nothing to worry about since I am still around to worry about them. Lol. For me the only option to know 10” percent is to have one biopsies but, like I said before, my dr feels that may have more complications than the chances of me having cancer. If hey change or get ridiculously sick I can revisit them with dr. After countless hours reading things online too you come to find out there are a lot of people who have unexplained lymhedopathy. Some resolve some stay there.
Mine feel firm and moveable to me, which if you google, firm and moveable can be bad. My dr says they feel ok to him and scans say they are fine as well. I am going to trust my dr over my dr google skills. Please do get it looked at by the dr but don’t let it consume you. You have a family to look after and build memories with. That is hard to do when you are constantly lost in thought about a disease that you are statistically very unlikely to have.
Please let us know how you get on with a dr appointment.
ETA: when I had my ct scan for all this I was so anxious about what it would show but it was thing for me to do because it showed absolutely nothing. If I had anything sinister going on I would likely have enlarged nodes in my stomach and/or chest that were abnormally large.
Can’t thank you enough for your reassuring responses. I just had my husband try and feel them. I absolutely hate including him in any of these dumb obsessions I get about my body, but I ended up asking him. He couldn’t feel anything. It really is quite small and movable and feels exactly like my other shotty lymph nodes. I guess the location just had me concerned. Also, I have been going to the doctors a lot. It’s embarassing to admit that I just got over a brain tumour fear before finding this node. Once I found the node I forgot about my random headaches (which suddenly disappeared) and now I’m obsessing over this.
Can’t thank you enough for your reassuring responses. I just had my husband try and feel them. I absolutely hate including him in any of these dumb obsessions I get about my body, but I ended up asking him. He couldn’t feel anything. It really is quite small and movable and feels exactly like my other shotty lymph nodes. I guess the location just had me concerned. Also, I have been going to the doctors a lot. It’s embarassing to admit that I just got over a brain tumour fear before finding this node. Once I found the node I forgot about my random headaches (which suddenly disappeared) and now I’m obsessing over this.
I totally understand you. I just posted about my own lymph node fear having just been obsessing over a colon cancer fear last week. Am I spiraling and symptom hopping? Totally. I’m embarrassed too. I am not the type to go to a doc unless I really think it’s warranted. That’s why I have come on here to ask for advice and see if people knock some sense into me most of the time.
Hello everyone,
I wanted to make a quick update - the lymph node did get smaller. So I’m guessing it was a shotty lymph node that became a bit bigger because of me touching that area constantly. Just updating because I haven’t found a lot of posts about lymph nodes under collar bones. So in the case anyone is ever in the same situation. Hopefully this can be reassurance for them. Now hopefully it doesn’t become bigger again :(
Guys! Does anyone know if there are lymph nodes on the first rib? That is where this bump is. It is movable and still quite small but the whooole time I thought it was below the clavicle so it was automatically “infraclavicular”. But it’s actually on the first rib. Right in the middle of the chest, it’s just a little to the left. Are there lymph nodes there? I can’t find anything online.. or this a whole class of different lymph nodes? Which freaks me out even more because I can’t find anything online about it
I’m not a doctor so I can’t give assurance that it is not a lymph node but if it lower than right under the clavicle and closer to the rib near your sternum, I would think it is more likely to be lipoma or some other fatty tissue. This can pop up anywhere. I have lipomas in my forearms and quite a few spotted around my rib cage. They are not big and could easily be mistaken for a lymph node by someone worried about lymph nodes. I have had them for over 10 years for some of them.
Again, I am not a dr so I can’t be certain that it is not a lymph node. If you are concerned have a dr look at it to give you peace of mind. Even if it is a lymph node you are still gonna be just fine IMO.
It’s super close to clavicle. But space under clavicle is clear, nothing there. The 1st rib is right below the clavicle. A few inches below I guess. This bump is on the first rib. Not the clavicle and not the space directly below the clavicle.
Can lipomas feel like lymph nodes? This is a little firm because of me pressing on it constantly. But it is still mobile, thankfully. It is about 1cm I would guess.
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