Where are lymph nodes found?
The short answer is: just about everywhere. The longer answer is that they tend to lie in clusters within the body, and there are 7 major regions containing these clusters. The seven regions are: cervical, axillary, inguinal, pelvic, abdominal, thoracic, and supratrochlear. You can read up on these areas in your book for a little bit of clarification as to exactly where they are. The main reasons for knowing about these areas is that when lymph nodes need to be removed, you know where to look. And also if a swelling is seen in the body, you would know if that swelling were likely to be due to a swollen lymph node. Because lymph nodes filter lymph, cancer cells can get stuck in the nodes for a while, divide while there, and continue (eventually) on their way around the body. And during infections, the excess of foreign material in our bodies can clog up the lymph nodes a bit so that they swell under the pressure of returning the lymph to the blood.
