What are the symptoms of swollen lymph nodes?
Symptoms of swollen lymph nodes vary widely. A person could be completely free of symptoms (asymptomatic) and only found when they are noted by a doctor during a general physical examination. Sometimes, swollen lymph nodes can be extremely tender, painful, and disfiguring. More importantly, other symptoms related to an underlying disease that accompany the lymph node swelling may be more significant and clinically relevant than the lymph node swelling alone. For instance, symptoms such as fever, night sweats, weight loss, or evidence of local infections (toothache, sore throat) may provide valuable clues in determining the cause of lymph node swelling. How are swollen lymph nodes diagnosed? Swollen lymph nodes closer to the surface of the body are generally diagnosed by a doctor’s examination and feeling for areas known to have coalescence of lymph nodes, for example, swollen lymph nodes under the arms (axillary lymph nodes), swollen lymph nodes in the sides of the neck (cervical lymph
