Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffYour lymphatic system comprises a network of organs, vessels, and lymph nodes situated throughout your body. Of some 600 lymph nodes, the majority are located in your head and neck region. The lymph nodes that most frequently swell are in this area, as well as in your armpits and groin area.
You may have the following signs and symptoms, depending on the cause of your swollen lymph nodes:
- Enlargement of the affected lymph nodes to 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) or more
- Tender and painful lymph nodes
- Runny nose, sore throat, fever and other indications of an upper respiratory infection
- General swelling of lymph nodes throughout your body — which may indicate an infection, such as HIV or mononucleosis, or immune disorders, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis
- Red, inflamed skin over the swollen lymph node
- Swollen limb, possibly indicating lymph system blockage caused by swelling in a lymph node too far under your skin to feel
- Hardened, fixed, rapidly growing nodes, possibly indicating a tumor (rare)
When to see a doctor
Some swollen lymph nodes return to normal when the underlying condition, such as a cold, resolves. However, see your doctor if you're concerned or if your swollen lymph nodes:
- Have appeared for no apparent reason
- Continue to enlarge, or have been present for more than two weeks
- Feel hard or fixed
- Are accompanied by fever, night sweats, or unexplained weight loss
- Are accompanied by a sore throat or by difficulty swallowing or breathing
- Are red, warm and tender
- Fletcher RH. Evaluation of peripheral lymphadenopathy in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
- Schmitt, DB. Swollen lymph nodes brief version. In: Burley J, et al., eds. Pediatric Advisor. Broomfield, Co.: Clinical Reference Systems; 2008.
- Rubinovitch B, et al. Generalized and regional lymphadenopathy. In: Cohen J, et al. Cohen & Powderly: Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2004:197.
- Neck swelling. American Academy of Family Physicians. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/514.html#4. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
- Lowry PA. Hematologic malignancies. In: Noble J, et al. Noble: Textbook of Primary Care Medicine. 3rd ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2001:1074.
