My lymph nodes feel swollen. When should I worry?
Lymph nodes are immune stations, and they swell with infections. Tender, mobile, pea-to-grape lumps in the neck during a sore throat are the system working. They settle over two to three weeks.
The features that change the calculus: nodes that keep growing beyond three or four weeks, feel hard or fixed, exceed a couple of centimeters, or arrive with night sweats, fevers, weight loss or no infection story. Nodes above the collarbone always deserve review.
Do not massage or squeeze-test them hourly; measure roughly, note the date, and let a doctor examine anything persistent.
Source: NHS, swollen glands
See a doctor promptly if
- Any swollen node above the collarbone, at any age, which should always be examined
- A hard, painless node that is fixed in place or steadily growing, or nodes swollen in several separate regions at once
- Swollen nodes with drenching night sweats, unexplained fevers, unintentional weight loss, or easy bruising
Where to feel, and what each area drains
| Result | In short | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Under the jaw and in the neck | Mouth, throat, teeth, scalp | The commonest place to find one, and almost always a recent sore throat, cold or dental problem. Small, tender and mobile is the reassuring pattern. |
| Behind the ears and at the back of the skull | Scalp and outer ear | Often scalp conditions or an ear infection. In children, very common and usually nothing. |
| Above the collarbone | Chest and abdomen | The one exception to reassurance. A node here, particularly on the left, is the one that most deserves a prompt appointment whatever its size. |
| Armpit | Arm, chest wall, breast | Worth checking both sides. A new one-sided armpit node with a breast change earns a same-week appointment. A recent vaccination in that arm is a common and harmless cause. |
| Groin | Legs, feet, genitals | Small firm nodes here are extremely common in healthy adults, often from old cuts or athlete's foot, and usually need nothing. |
| What a worrying node feels like | Hard, fixed, painless | Larger than about 2 cm, rock hard, not moving under the skin, painless, growing over weeks, or with night sweats, fever or weight loss. Tender and mobile after an infection is the ordinary kind. |
Use the pads of the fingers in small circles, gently, both sides for comparison. Nodes that come up with an infection can take weeks to settle after it clears. Check it against the guidelines.
Try the symptom diary10 seconds a day, free, nothing to installTime of day, what came before it and how long it lasted are the three things you will be asked and the three nobody remembers.
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a thermometer
A basic digital stick thermometer is accurate and costs a few dollars. Forehead scanners are fine for quick checks on children; ear thermometers need good technique to read true.
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