Introduction
Lymph nodes, also known as lymph glands, are part of the immune system and are distributed throughout the body as small nodes. Each person has about 600 of these nodes. Most of them are only 5-10 millimeters in size and are not palpable. An exception are the inguinal and some cervical lymph nodes, which are up to 20mm in size and therefore easy to palpate even in healthy people. Almost everyone can palpate these nodules on their own, with a flat hand and closed fingers, under slight pressure from the fingertips.
General information
They grope their neck and groin as approximately hazelnut-sized, firm nodules, which are easy to move and do not hurt. This is the normal condition and has no disease value. If, on the other hand, a lymph node is very sensitive to touch, an inflammation is usually the cause.
This painful swelling is usually a temporary phenomenon and disappears again when the causative cold subsides. A visit to the doctor is recommended if a lymph node suddenly and significantly increases in size, if the swelling persists or if lymph nodes in untypical body regions are enlarged. Other accompanying symptoms such as night sweats, fever and weight loss are also alarm signals. Then malignant causes must also be considered.
General causes of lymph node swelling
If a lymph node swells, there are two groups of causes. Lymph nodes often swell in the course of an inflammation and much less frequently in the course of tumor diseases. Thus, lymph node swelling is almost always harmless and solely due to the function of the lymph nodes.
The swelling develops as follows: Pathogens such as viruses, bacteria or fungi enter the body via body orifices, such as the respiratory tract, or via injuries in the skin. The pathogens reach the nearest lymph nodes via the lymph fluid and lymph channels. Each lymph node receives and filters the lymph fluid from a specific area of the body.
The lymph nodes filter the lymph, just as the spleen filters the blood. The lymph nodes contain the immune cells, the so-called white blood cells (B or T lymphocytes), which monitor the lymph fluid for pathogens. If the immune cells come into contact with bacteria or viruses, they become active and the immune cells grow and multiply, causing the lymph node to swell.
From the position of the swollen lymph node, it is thus already possible to determine in which region of the body the inflammation is located. In this way, lymph nodes become palpable that we would otherwise not notice. When they are activated, e.g. in the context of an acute cold, they often also become sensitive to pain.
This is because the swelling node causes tension on surrounding nerve fibers, which send a pain signal to the brain when stretched. The swelling is no cause for concern. On the contrary, it shows us that our immune system works well to fend off the pathogens.
The cervical and inguinal lymph nodes are so prominent and permanently palpable because they ward off a variety of inflammations over the course of a lifetime and thus their connective tissue increases over time. The fact that they can also be palpated at rest therefore has no disease value. The cause of a lymph node swelling is therefore often a banal or even more severe inflammation in the area of its inflow area.
The second possible and unfortunately malignant cause are tumor diseases. Starting from a tumor, the so-called primary tumor, e.g. breast cancer, tumor cells can migrate via the lymphatic system to the nearest lymph node and form a daughter ulcer, also called metastasis. The lymph node becomes larger, hardens and is no longer easily displaced.
This occurs much less frequently than inflammatory lymph node swelling. Feeling a swelling causes anxiety in many people. Even if the swelling of the lymph nodes is almost always harmless, one should not be afraid to ask a doctor for advice. He can safely decide between benign and malignant causes.
