I am not a doctor, but questions about swollen lymph occur regularly on this site.

Not every swollen lymph shrinks back down again.  Occasionally, a node swells in response to an infection, but doesn't go back to its normal size.   

You've had this node for years and said that you don't have any of the classic lymphoma symptoms, such as night sweats, itching, breathlessness, etc. It seems to me that you have no reason to think that lymphoma is a likely diagnosis, other than the fact you've Googled it.  I think we all agree on this site that Dr Google is quack who should have been struck off years ago.  Take everything you read on Google with a pinch of salt. 

Try not to worry about the ultrasound.  Please let us know how you get on.  Your feedback helps us improve our answers for other people. 

Hi Telemando,

Thanks so much for your kind reply. I hope you're right, and what you say makes sense; there's no real reason to think it's anything bad, except for the fact my doctor thought it worth a referral.

I'm trying to get on with stuff and not think about it too much; I will try to update once I've had an appointment. At least then if someone else googles the same question, it might reassure them - unless it is something nasty in which case I'll stick around anyway I suppose : )

Thanks again.

AK

Hi my 4 year old son has swollen one lymph node on the right side of his neck for 3 weeks . He had 4 types of antibiotics and it did shrink little bit , but its still quite visible when he put his head up . He had an ultrasound and they said to us its nothing to worry about its a reactive node and his blood test showed higher marks for infection.  So they said he has lymphadenitis infection . He had temperature couple of times as well and now we are on another antibiotics but it doesnt seem to get any better . Only he feels good now but the lymph node its still there. I am worried like crazy but let's hope the doctor knows what they doing

Hi, sorry to hear about what you are going through. It sounds really stressful and I get why you are concerned, but if the ultrasound shows a reactive node, then that is usually very accurate - there are things that you can see if you know what to look for, and lymphoma nodes look different to reactive nodes. It's possible to have swollen nodes for a while, even if the infection has gone. I would try not to be too worried. I'm sure your doctor knows what they are doing.

My own son has had nodes in his neck that came and went, and we still don't know if he had glandular fever or something else, but it took a long time to go away completely. 

Best wishes 

AK

Omg thank you . Its so nice to hear something positive . Is just it was going down and than after we finished antibiotics he got temperature again in 3 days and we rushed to hospital because I got worried so much . And than they done the ultrasound and blood test . Hopefully he will get better now and that lymph node will slowly dissappear.  Is just hard for me right now as I am pregnant with my second baby and its so stresfull to see my son like this.

I hope you are keeping well too 

Thank you 

Best wishes 

Just reading through your thread as I've had swollen lymph nodes in my face for 7 months now & despite several different courses of antibiotics & steroids (prescribed by doctors whilst in Spain for the winter) the lumps are still there, and probably spreading to more places. I had a biopsy also whilst in Spain & was told it wasn't a cancer - to my enormous relief!

But now I'm back home in uk and still have the lumps (some lumps visible if you look closely) I'm sort of thinking I should stop ignoring this because of the Covid crisis & not wanting to bother the over-stretched nhs resources...

Be very grateful for your advice, & hope your situation is ok now!

Thanks - FairyNuff

Hiya. Sorry to hear you are concerned about this, and I understand your dilemma over whether to bother your GP with it at the moment.

I think first of all it is a very good thing if you have had a biopsy already and nothing was found to indicate cancer. But that doesn't mean the lumps are welcome, and especially if you think there are more of them, I would think it worth going along just to say, look, what do you think is causing this.

It's very unlikely to be anything terrible if no one has suggested a serious diagnosis so far, but it might be treatable. 

So in short I'd probably always recommend trying to get a diagnosis if you are able to, but I shouldn't worry too much about what it might be.

I hope that helps a little bit. All the best and let us know how you get on.

AK

Thank you so much for your response!  I guess it's just worrying me that after treatments with anti-bs & steroids they ENT & Dermatology in Spain couldn't really say what's going on. I will prob have to start all over again here, but as the lumps are becoming more visible & tender I will try to see my GP...

thanks again!

FairyNuff

Yes I know it's really hard when no one knows what's going on. But sometimes that's a good thing, because they are used to looking for red flag symptoms for things that are serious, and obviously you don't seem to be causing alarm : )

Also if they are tender, that is another thing that often suggests a benign or infective cause. 

Good luck, whatever it turns out to be. 

AK

Thanks ️

Thanks ️