Painful lymph nodes are generally a sign that your body is fighting an infection. Slow, painless swelling may be due to cancer or a tumor. Swollen lymph nodes that appear suddenly and are painful are usually due to injury or infection. Which lymph nodes are swollen depends on the cause and the body parts involved. Many other cancers may also cause this problem.Ĭertain medicines can cause swollen lymph nodes, including:

Immune or autoimmune disorders that can cause swollen lymph nodes are:Ĭancers that can cause swollen lymph nodes include: Infections are the most common cause of swollen lymph nodes.

Neck (there is a chain of lymph nodes on either side of the front of the neck, both sides of the neck, and down each side of the back of the neck).

Swelling of lymph nodes generally results from localized or systemic infection, abscess formation, or malignancy.Ĭommon areas where the lymph nodes can be felt (with the fingers) include: Swelling might occur even if the infection is trivial or not apparent. Lymph nodes play an important part in the body's defense against infection. Eventually, these organisms are destroyed and eliminated by cells that line the node walls. When the body is invaded by foreign organisms, the swelling sometimes felt in the neck, armpits, groin, or tonsils comes from the microorganisms trapped inside the lymph nodes. Efferent vessels, meaning away from, carry the clean fluid away and back to the bloodstream where it helps form plasma.

Afferent lymph vessels bring unfiltered fluids from the body into the lymph node where they are filtered. Let's look at a cut section of a lymph node to see what happens. Infection, even a trivial infection is, the most common cause of swollen lymph nodes. The lymphatic system also plays an important role in the body's immune system. Some types of blood cells are also made in the lymph nodes. Its network of vessels, valves, ducts, nodes, and organs helps balance the body's fluid by draining excess fluid, known as lymph, from the body's tissue and returning it to the blood after filtering it. The lymphatic system has two main functions.

Swollen lymph nodes in neck one side