A swollen lymph node can be a bit like your body’s version of a red flag: When one of these bean-shaped clusters of immune cells in your neck, armpit, or groin puffs up, it’s typically an indication that something out of the ordinary is floating around in your system. And it can be pretty tough to un-feel it once you’ve detected its presence. But as with any early warning sign, it’s not always clear just how concerned you should be about a larger-than-normal lymph node. Is it something that’ll resolve itself if you let it lie—or should you address this potential omen straightaway?
It’s a tricky question to answer for a symptom that’s so common and can be related to everything from a minor infection to cancer—quite the range in severity. In general, a lymph node is a checkpoint along the route of your lymphatic system, a part of your immune system that’s responsible for catching and filtering out foreign substances that could cause harm. When it detects a rush of those invaders, it pumps out a bunch of white blood cells to squash the influx, Kisha Davis, MD, MPH, FAAFP, a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians, tells SELF. The surge in activity can make it grow larger, temporarily. So, often when a lymph node swells, “it means it’s doing what it’s supposed to do,” she says.
In plenty of cases, your lymph nodes are well-equipped to fight what ails you (for instance, a minor viral or bacterial illness) and will shrink back down once they do. But in other situations, the suspicious agent causing them to swell is a more serious infection, autoimmune condition, or even cancerous cells in your blood or a nearby organ. It’s the reason why “there tends to be a lot of over- and under-reaction to lymph nodes,” Dr. Davis says. For some people, it’s easy to jump to the worst possible conclusion, even if it’s rare; while for others, it’s far more tempting to brush it off—and neither approach is ideal.
To be sure, it’s never a bad idea to see a doctor for a lymph node that’s bigger than your norm. But learning more about the different reasons why these organs can balloon (and what factors point to a more dangerous cause) can help you avoid either doom-Googling into oblivion or missing the kind of red flag that’s worth acting on ASAP.
Swollen lymph nodes can crop up when your body is fighting many different kinds of infection or illness.
First, a little anatomy lesson to clarify why lymph nodes are so prone to bulging. The lymphatic system is a complex network of organs, vessels, tissues, and fluid. Your lymph nodes exist in specific spots along lymphatic vessels, which basically run parallel to your blood vessels. And the two sets of tubes work in tandem: Your heart pumps blood into your arteries, and it travels all the way to your tiniest capillaries, where plasma (a.k.a. the liquid part) seeps through capillary walls to deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells. At a certain point, that accumulating fluid has to get back into your circulatory system, Larry Norton, MD, a board-certified medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, in New York, tells SELF. A big portion of it returns via your veins, while the rest gets picked up by your lymphatic vessels, he explains. This liquid, now called lymph, flows through your nodes, which, again, act as filters, trapping suspicious components and deploying an army of white blood cells against them.
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