Swollen lymph node in neck DS 8

[BeMintViper]

My DS has a swollen lymph node just on the one side, the size of a large pea or small grape. He has a sore throat and is congested. The lump is only on one side which is worrying me...
I'm so, so worried after Google and feel sick with anxiety.

Has anybody ever had a child with this symptom and it just be due to a cold or tonsilitis rather than something sinister?

He seems otherwise well in himself but I'm so prone to anxiety and catastrophic thinking. DH thinks I'm being ridiculous and that DS just has tonsilitis and that's why he has the presumably swollen node. I do hope he is right.

Are swollen nodes really that common that I dont need to be worrying to this degree?

Yes, they are really that common that you don’t need to be worrying at all. Respiratory infections are frequently one-sided initially and sometimes the glands only ever swell up on one side, presumably bevause they have done their job of seeing off the invaders without invoking the other side’s defences.

There is really effective help available for heath and generalised anxiety -can’t recommend it highly enough. CBT if you’re looking for a counsellor, or there is a fantastic, now very old but still relevant book called “Feel the fear and do it anyway” : basically exposure and response prevention (ERP) techniques. So useful.

Thanks for your helpful reply, I'm glad to hear from someone other than DH that they are common enough for me not to worry so much.

Yes I do probably need to access help for my irrational fears. I will look in to the book you recommended. Thank you again, I will try to go to sleep.

I’ve had a pea sized lump on my neck since I was about 10 years old, nothing to worry about as I’m now 36. It’s never went away

Thank you that is reassuring to my panicked mind.

Yes, 6 yo DS woke up with a lump like an apple. Really worrying. 111 sent us to hospital. Turned out to be scarlet fever and eventually disappeared after about 3 weeks…

Meant to add, barely any symptoms of scarlet fever but the swab came back positive. The lumps can also be a normal response to infections or viruses.

I also have a grape sized lymph node in my neck which has been there since I was a baby. I’m now 40. I used to stress over these in my own children but I’ve stopped looking for them now.

My little girl had the same recently, it was enlarged for months and didn't go down, it caused us an incredible amount of stress, we had an ultrasound on it, and it was absolutely fine!

Lymph nodes do swell so I woulsnt worry, if you're still worried in a couple of weeks you could always get it checked out

Thank you all for your replies its honestly been so reassuring to me.
We took DS to the GP who diagnosed bacterial tonsilitis and gave him a course of PenicillinV. Hes almost at the end of the course and thankfully the lump has all but disappeared, such a relief.
The GP was very thorough and said that in the case of the lymph node being caused by anything nasty it would be accompanied by other more worrying symptoms. So I guess that these things are really quite common, even though they look rather terrifying at first glance.

Hi I’m hoping someone can help,
back in August my dd suffered a nasty virus which landed her in Hospital for a few days because of an ongoing temp. Bloods were done over 2 weeks 3 times and all normalised and sent home with reassurance this was long self limiting virus.
since then I’ve had a lot of healthy anxiety about her, something I have always suffered with but seems to exaggerated things much more.
I have been on high alert since watching her every move, every symptom and using dr google.
she returned to school at the beginning on September and has had a few colds, currently in the middle of one now, a lymph node has come up in her neck in the last few days I would say it’s around the size of a penny, it’s longer than it is wide, it moves easily and almost can’t feel it when lying down but noticeable when she turns her head.
Gp has not seen it but a telephone call was very reassuring she reconfirmed her bloods from 10 weeks ago and advised nothing suggested any follow up was needed and the node aslong no bigger than 2cm is related to this cold she has at the moment.
its worth noting that since being 2 she has had two appointments with consultants regarding other palpable nodes which were confirmed as being benign due to their size and mobility, all those nodes as still palpable but have never changed in 4 years.
I’m looking for some reassurance from other parents who’s children have had larger than normal nodes and have returned to normal.
In recent months since her long virus my mind instantly runs to cancer with any symptom she has, it’s worth noting that her energy is great, appetite is great and aside from these common colds since going back to school seems very well on her self

im just looking for some reassurance or similar stories where it turned out to be fine

@ALOLDL my son also has large, palpable lymph nodes. Is your Dd quite slim? I was told that was one of the reasons why my son’s were so visible - as a small child, be didnt have a lot of fat to cover them. They’re definitely less noticeable than they were when he was small, but I know another mum who had 4 children and 1 child was the same, very obvious lymph nodes and nothing concerning to cause it. I’d say it was good that shes been checked with bloods, and, as you say, her poor immune system has taken a battering! I remember once, my son scraped his knee and ended up with an egg sized lymph node in his groin - that caused me to panic! How is your DD in herself now?

She’s very slim and always has been, the other ones which has which have been checked in the last few years are still there but a lot smaller than they were couple in her neck at the back and couple in her groin as I say those have always been there from a very young age. This new one has been there for around a week, it’s kidney bean size and shape, she has got a very bad cough which the rational side of me says that’s it’s just from this nasty cold she has had but then the worried side of me says that it’s something more concerning. We’ve got an appointment booked to see the GP today so hopefully that will help shed some more light on on things. How long did it take for the egg size gland to go down?

I am a parent of a child whose lymph nodes were cancer. The enlarged lymph was in the collarbone (supraclavicular) and it was hard and not moveable, unsuspicious lymphs are generally more soft and moveable. There were enlarged lymphs in the neck but we couldn’t really see these. There was no virus or illness at all to explain enlarged lymphs, had there been some type of virus I don’t think anyone would have been overly concerned.
Bloods aren’t really diagnostic in itself but her bloods came back as raised white blood cells and esr. If there was an illness or virus these bloods would have been explained by that.
So the fact that there is an ongoing or recent illness as well as the lymph being moveable and quite soft are all good signs that it’s nothing to worry about.
There are usually other signs that would accompany lymphoma, what they call B symptoms, so if any of these are present then get it double checked however we didn’t have any of these, the lymphoma is then classed as A rather than B

Thank you for taking the time to reply, l’m so sorry that was something that you all went through. I have checked around collarbone during the week and could not feel any in that area. This swollen node is just below ear and jaw bone. It is very movable and soft but is on the larger side. Her bloods over the 2 weeks when poorly showed slightly raised inflammatory markers with low wbc initially and by the end of the 2 weeks they had normalised with slightly elevated platelets (apparently common after fighting a virus). She does not seem to be presenting with any b symptoms although my overactive mind has read into a few things, over all in her self seems very well with lots of energy and a good appetite but has been hit with a few colds since returning to school.

Mine had one of these that came up when he had a particularly vile cold at about the same age. It didn't completely disappear for years and always came up to warn us when he was about to get the lurgy. Sometimes a particular gland, usually one of the ones local to the infection, is just more sensitive. They're doing their jobs though - it shows that his immune system is working hard to fight off the infection.

The gp went well, were not concerned by the shape, size and its mobility, although bigger than the ones she has had for number of years the size of this new one is not remotely concerning and said that it is far smaller than 2cm and expects it will take months to go away completely and has come as part of cold

Yes my DD has a grape sized lump under her chin after cold like symptoms. I was worried sick but she was scanned quickly and it was just a raised gland from the virus nothing sinister. Doctor said the scan showed other larger glands but it was just this one visible.

Obviously no one can be absolutely sure but if she has a cold or illness (or a recent one) with a soft moveable raised lymph node then it’s more than likely it’s nothing to worry about. If it doesn’t go down then get it checked further.
Other symptoms should be looked out for, it can happen that no B symptoms are present as this happened to us, but generally they are present.
It is very usual to be concerned about any raised lymph nodes but the vast majority are fine so try not to worry too much. Other areas to check for raised lymphs are the armpit, abdomen and groin areas.

Also a parent of a child whose enlarged lymph nodes were actually cancer. Obviously we are always on high alert since his treatment (nearly 5 years ago) and have had several raised nodes checked out - every single time it has been simply a raised node due to his immune system working properly and fighting off infection. He is also very very slim so the nodes are far more obvious. When it was actually something sinister, it was very obvious- the node was visible from across the room and felt like a boiled egg under the skin (firm, rubbery). It measured 4.5cm across when it was scanned. He also had absolutely no signs of any illness or infection. Obviously always get things checked out if you are worried, but usually a raised lymph node is just that - a good sign that the immune system is working well. We were told that anything under 2cm is very normal. Hopefully that will help with the anxiety- I know it’s not easy!

Hi I haven't read all the replies so apologies if I am just repeating...
my daughter had this back in 2021, it was just under her ear and it would swell up very noticeably and was painful. The first time it happened we took her to out of hours as it was evening time as we had phoned 111 after she had complained of pain then we noticed it swelling up.
Doctor said it was just an immune reaction, if it didn't go down after 3 weeks then to come back. It did go down after a few days but we noticed that when she was coming down with something or was poorly it would swell right up again. It didn't seem to relate to how poorly she was either, some times she could be poorly in bed with a temp and nothing then other times a mild cold. It was strange but now she's 11 it doesn't seem to happen anymore. She did suffer with tonsillitis a lot when younger and seemed to pick up every illness going, we did have to go for a blood test at one point due to picking up everything and the swollen lymph node together, all came back clear just slightly low on iron.

just wanted to reassure that although it seems scary, it can be nothing too. In fact I had a swollen node on my neck as a teenager, it was there for months and months, I did get it checked and nothing sinister. It just eventually went down.

I think it's definitely worth getting checked for peace of mind as mostly they are nothing but sometimes serious that you don't want to miss.