What Causes Swollen Lymph Nodes Behind The Ears?

Posted on Fri, 7 Oct 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 7 Oct 2016 Answered on

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : swollen lymph nodes behind both ears
very tender, slightly swollen, painful spot on back of neck/base of head just inside my hairline. Started 2 days ago after digging up part of my yard to create a garden bed. Could I have pulled a muscle (that's how the pain feels, burning, bruised feeling that hurts with movement...but no redness at the sight? Can a pulled muscle cause swollen lymph nodes? I'm not experiencing any ear, nose, or throat problems...so no infections that I can tell.

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Muscle issue seems to be the case.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

Such symptoms can be caused by staying in the cold environment (which can directly impact the neck muscle) or by keeping the head in a uncomfortable position for a long time (even sleeping in the bad position can give such symptoms).
In both cases the lymph nodes can be slightly swollen (as a response to the muscles inflammation).

I suggest you to take some anti-inflammatory drug (like ibuprophen) and have some physical therapy done (massage, heating pad etc). This should help in few days.
If no improvement after that time, an ultrasound of this area should be done.

Hope this helps.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar