Lump on neck

[ptrie]

hi
I noticed i had a small lump on the right side of my neck, kind of where the should meets the neck about 3 inches below my right ear, I noticed this about a year ago. The lump was painless and never grew so I never worried about it. This morning I noticed that the lump had become larger and was painful. I am not sure if this is normal or what this is.

Thank You

[Mochadelicious]

Do you feel under the weather at all?  Do you have a cold or flu?  9 times out of 10 swollen lymph nodes are a result from infection, so most likely it's nothing to be concerned about.  Normal lymph node size is about 1 cm (pea sized), so perhaps your node wasn't really enlarged previously?  

Keep an eye on it and if it doesn't go away after a few weeks or if it gets bigger, you should probably have it looked at by your doctor.

[ptrie]

I forgot to add that I am a 19 year old female, in otherwise healthy condition