One swollen lymph node under jaw

Question

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a swollen lymph node under my right jaw bone curve. It was painful to the touch, including painful sensation/sore throat when swallowing, in the general area. I didn't experience any type of severe symptoms, such as night sweats or fever. A friend who is an oral surgeon put me on amoxicillin and the pain subsided. He also inspected my throat and said my tonsils were a bit swollen as well. 

 The swollen node is still stiff to the touch, two weeks in, and have yet to experience any other discomfort anywhere. The gland is about 2.5 CM in size, and the swelling does seems to shrink when I take ibuprofen or aspirin. I did previously have unprotected oral sex and sexual intercourse a few days prior. 

It's also imperative to note that I do have a sinus/bacterial/viral infection a month previous as a co-worker and I had the same symptoms during the same time frame. I did not take any medication for this, aside vitamins and  garlic supplements. 

Any ideas?

mkh9 · Answer

A related discussion, swollen lymph node under jaw update was started.

mkh9 · Answer

see if you can open this website. It talks about swollen lymph nodes and size. They say no more than 2 cm for under the neck and should go away in about 2-3 weeks. Mine has been a month too but it is about 1 cm. Since yours was brought probably by a virus it probably is ok. It hasn't grown or gotten bigger has it? They get less painful as they are going to go down. You might want to get it checked anyway if you can. Better to be safe. But I think you are probably ok. See site below.

http://66.230.220.12/cond/C110125.html
mkh9

electricmage · Answer

And they aren't painful anymore. They were intially but after the antibiotics, the pain went away.

electricmage · Answer

I'm an adult male, so def no earrings. I've noticed that Ibuprofen (800)mg hasn't done much to shrink the size of the of the node. Are there any doctors here who can comment? My friend the oral surgeon told me not to be too concerned at this point, but going on two weeks of a swollen node and now. How big are cancer infected nodes typically? And I'm also concerned about the possibility of HIV infection, the longer it stays swollen.

bcilliers · Answer

Are you wearing 'cheap' earrings.  When I was in high school both sides of my neck swelled up like oranges.  I was put on atiobotics and had several test ran.   It came down to having an allergy from my multiply earrings.  I took them out for a couple of weeks and now only wear stainless steel or gold.  Just an idea.

mkh9 · Answer

hi electricmage,
I just went through the same thing. Lymph nodes respond to infections, that is their job. I don't know if you needed the antibiotic, unless there was a fever or pus in the throat. Doctors prescribing too many antibiotics has made all these bacteria become multidrug resistant. In any case I think it is probably from the infection you had a month ago. You probably still are fighting that infection internally and the lymph node is still enlarged. It should go down in a couple of weeks. If not I would go to a family practice doc and have them take a look at your ears, nose and throat again and feel the lymph node. I had pain in my ear for a day and a half and then a week later noticed the swollen lymph node. I had no sore throat or anything. It has been almost a month. I did have soreness where the lymph node is and so I checked my throat and the tonsils were swollen and red. I was getting worried too but I did read that can take a while for the lymph nodes to go down. Mine was under the neck on my right side. My neighbor who is a nurse practitioner said it was normal. If it gets a lot bigger or doesn't go away get it checked.The big sign for a tumor is they have no pain. So, it is good that it is tender.
mkh9