How Should Swollen Lymph Nodes At The Back Of The Neck, Behind The Right Ear And Under The Chin Be Managed?

Posted on Mon, 18 Jul 2022

Question: Dear Sir/Mam,

I have 3 swollen lymph nodes at following places :
1) In neck just under right ear (persists from past 2-3 years)
2) in the back of the neck (persist from past 2 year)
3) under the chin (persist from past 1 year)

I feel mild pain in ears and mild headache often. Also sometimes i feel mild pain in the back of head.

I do not smoke and do not have any previous medical history.

I visited earlier to 2-3 times to doctors, After physical examination, they told that this is because of infection and nothing to worry about and prescribed the antibiotics.

But since these swollen lymph nodes are lasting for a long time and often i feel mild pain in ears and headache, so i am worried about it.

Please suggest how should i proceed further in this situation.

Thanks

Answered by Dr. Riddhi Shah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Please see the answer

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

There are many lymph nodes in the neck. They get enlarged in size and become palpable when there is any inflammation in the head, face or neck due to infection/allergy, etc. And it happens sometimes that lymph node once enlarged due to inflammation, does not completely regress to its original size, even though the inflammation has gone.

It might be the case for you. Sometimes in the past, you might have suffered from inflammation in the head, face or neck. It might have caused enlargement in the size of lymph nodes .But even when the inflammation has gone, still the lymph nodes may not have regressed to original size, remaining palpable.

At present, you might be feeling mild pain in ear and headache due to mild inflammation due to cold. You may find relief by taking Analgesic with Anti-inflammatory like Ibuprofen, along with Antacid like Rantac.

If you suffer long lasting pain in the lymph nodes, or if the size of lymph nodes become more than 1 cm, or if the lymph nodes feel hard to touch or become immobile, then it would be advisable to have USG(ultra-sonographic examination of neck),and FNAC(fine needle aspiration cytology) of lymph node swelling (it is microscopic examination of the material aspirated from the swollen lymph node for diagnosis).

Hope this answers your question. Take care.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng

Follow up: Dr. Riddhi Shah (16 hours later)

Dear Mam,

thank you for the answer.
I got Neck ultrasound done 2 years back. I am attaching the same(Neck Ultrasound.jpg).

Kindly examine and suggest further.

Thank you

Answered by Dr. Riddhi Shah (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Please see the answer

Detailed Answer:

Hi,

The ultrasound report of your neck, which was done 2 years before shows:
1. No abnormality in your lymph nodes.
2. Coarse echotexture of thyroid might be caused when there is any inflammation in thyroid.

It would be advisable to have a fresh Ultrasonogram of neck for evaluation of lymph node status.
Also if still the thyroid gland shows coarse echotexture, then it would be advisable to have blood test of thyroid function test (T3,T4,TSH).

Hope this answers your question. Take care.
Regards

Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng