Swollen lymph nodes around the jaw may be a sign of an infection in the teeth or mouth. For example, a baby with a scalp infection may have enlarged lymph nodes at the back of the neck. Enlarged lymph nodes are often near the source of infection, so their location can help find out the cause. Lymph nodes can also become enlarged if cancer cells lodge in them. This causes the lymph nodes to get bigger. Most of the time, they return to normal size when their job is done. Another time when they can be felt is when you have an infection, (for example, a sore throat or an ear infection which can make the neck lymph nodes enlarged, painful and tender as these are the nearest lymph nodes to the site of infection). Swollen lymph nodes are a sign that your body is fighting off an infection or an illness. However, sometimes they can be felt in slim people as smooth pea-sized lumps, usually in the groin. Lymph nodes are usually too small to feel. Lymph nodes can only be felt in certain areas of the body (see Figure 1): The lymph nodes filter out harmful organisms and abnormal cells before the lymph reaches the blood stream. They are found at intervals along the lymphatic vessels like ‘beads on a string’. Lymph nodes (‘glands’) are small ‘bean-shaped’ nodules that contain millions of infection fighting lymphocyte cells. It drains into lymphatic vessels then larger lymphatic vessels called ducts in the neck before joining the blood stream near the heart (see Figure 1). Lymph fluid bathes the cells of the skin and internal organs.
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