The lymphnode in the front of the left ear has been hurting a lot. It has been hard to chew lately. Now the lymphnodes on the back between my neck and head are swollen and very tender. I have had this happen before, usually it is my eyes swollen and one of my nodes swollen in my neck. I just saw my rheumy and I was in a good place then. I really don't know what to do, just wait it out? It hurts and now I am nauseated. OWWWW
It sounds like those on the side of your neck may not be flowing properly. (lymphatic massage) Have you seen your Dr about the possibility of an infection?
dainbramage, Get you some Vicks Vaporub and give it a good massage...in front of ear and behind ear on knot of head.
Not in medical field, though being 68, have found myself with a book of experience to my credit. In front of ear is Sjogren's involvement of parotid gland and runs along jawline. Massage in the crease behind you ear with Vicks also.
If your knot, can be two- one of each side, is just at the top of spine where head connects, I have always considered this Fibro.
Crazy sounding but breaks/dissipates the pain .... I take a tennis ball and put in sock and lie down with the tennis ball on knot... when you can relax from buildup tension/stress, the knot will break up and the pain will be relieved or spread over a larger area! If two knots, tie two tennis balls in sock and place on knots... and lie down in a quiet environment.
Never know if it helps unless you give it a try... I became a believer after one of Fibro group members that is in therapy field came up with the tennis ball idea. Give me a shout if you decide to try and let us know how if you get relief... remember it does take some practice. Joy
I am going to do that now. I am at work, but I need relief now. I just saw my rheumy, so I will have to call the office on Monday...Thank You
hmm between the two of us Dainbramage we are balanced. My right side is very very swollen right up behind my ear and now it is moving downward to ward my collar bone. I went to the dr and antibiotics were prescribed. I feel tired very very tired. They think it is strep throat. I call deformed throat :-\ I do hope is itsn't my paroid gland swelling up or blocked
DryEyes, The parotid gland opening is near back molar on outer side of teeth. Feel where your joint that does chewing is...Now slide finger down....Bingo, parotid gland is there and when 'flaring' with inflammation, it can even swell and run along the bottom jaw line.
Again, say, I'm not in medical field. Though, feel knots at top of spine and just at bottom of skull are from Fibro.
Be vigilant as it's your bod...you know it best. You will learn with time... :P :P :P Yes, it does get old fooling with it daily!!!
Joy
Yes, I feel my left jaw is in pain, not my teeth. The back of my head these knots have come out and my coworker felt them. I have had these before, but they hurt more now. I will call my doctor on Monday.
I just read up on occipital lymph nodes and one of the reasons of the inflammation is infection of scalp. Now my right side of jaw is aching and my tongue is sore(I have burning tongue anyway). I can't tell what is going on. I don't know if I am losing it or my right side of my throat is sore. And I'm ITCHY
Finally spoke with my rheumy, not the RN. She gave me antibiotics, steroids and pain meds. I have read a lot of people's comments on how these drugs helped. So now I hope the pain goes away. Does anybody know why the rheumy does not want to take care of these problems? Why she wants me to see an ENT?
IMO most docs like to refer out to other specialists so they don't miss something since it isn't their specialty. I would gather that he just wants to make sure you are getting the best treatment...too bad that way costs a lot more money with all the ist's we go to, or are referred to ;)
Hope ya feel better!
Sha
You may want to try clicking on the numbers in sequence at: http://www.chakraforce.com/LEDlist.html#Lymph
As I suggested before, lymphatic massage. Tooth, Abscess tonations may also help.
You may not believe in it but it will not hurt you to try it. The tones from the website are 30 seconds in duration so you will have to play them multiple times to reach the 3 to 5 mins that are recommended. PM me for more info.
I just had that happen last month. Had a little tenderness at the angle of the jaw for a few days and then woke up with a baseball on the side of my face! Thought my eardrum was going to be squished. I used ice until the rheumy called back and she said to use lemon drops or a tart candy to stimulate flow. She calls them medicinal candy. LOL I like ice but rheumy recommended heat. She did say if I had a fever to go to the ER but it wasn't hot like an infection and no fever so I waited it out.
Dainbramage,
This is similar to your other thread about the lymph nodes. I commented in that one (it was more recent). But I also had the exactly same thing with the knots (nodes) swollen on the back of the head (one side) and jaw pain with more swollen nodes on the neck and around the ear (same side of the jaw). It was first thought to be an infection on the scalp (like your research said), but there was NO signs of infection and the knots were all lymph nodes...not infectious assesses, etc
The antibiotics did the trick. My rheumy gave them to me. My GP (who should be handling such a thing) started with a shot of rocephin (antibiotic) but it wasn't enough and got worse, so he sent me to ER and then surgeon. It was these guys that both thought it was related to the Sjogren's or some sort of odd autoimmune response, so then put me in touch with my Rheumy at Hopkins. The antibiotics he gave me cleared it up.
I actually made a thread about it, but no one replied with something similar that had actually occurred to them. Most here on your thread offered suggestions and only 2 mentioned they had experienced something similar. Therefore, I think it's rare. My docs all think it was the parotid gland infection. My jaw was the first to hurt and even after the nodes started to reduce, the jaw still bothered me some. For nodes to swell, the infection must be close by...and the parotid is close enough to affect the occipital nodes on the back of the head, I think.
Hope you are finally feeling better.
Anita,
Thank you, I am feeling better. Which antibiotics did they give you? I am on amox.
Z-pack (zithromycin)
Once again my lymphnode on the back of my neck is swollen, so is the one behind my left ear. This is crazy especially when I have not made an appointment with my ENT. It is the pain that gets me because I cannot bend my head back without pain. This is too frequent.
Hi :)
How quickly can you get an appointment with your ENT? Sounds like the way to go.
Take care - Scottie :)
Just called all my doctors today and got appointments. ENT was first on list. Cardiac and neuro for TEE and lumbar. March is going to be a fun month.
People with Sjogrens all need to have an ENT on their list of must see docs. I would bet that the swelling in front of your ear was the parotid gland. It sort of meanders around and down below the ear. When you massage these areas you will feel pain and tenderness.
When a person gets infection in one of their large salivary glands it usually means that the gland is plugged by either thick mucus or a stone or gravel. This in turn causes a build up of pressure because what little mucus their is being secreted can't get through the duct and will back up into the gland. This will cause infection and actually if left can travel any which direction.
When you first feel some discomfort you should take a rice bag (homemade from old sock with rice poured into it and sewn shut tightly so it doesn't leak). Heat the bag to warm, not hot, and place the bag on the swollen, painful area. Also drink plenty of fluids these days. After having the warm pack on the area massage the area gently. This helps to gently break up the thick mucus and often will combat furthur trouble.
We have to keep track of our glands and do heat/massage any time we have some pain. This will save us a lot of grief. I often sit and watch TV with my rice bag across my throat and up onto the parotid glands on both side. I put a small blanket around me and the bag tucked in tight so I don't have to hold the bag, plus it holds the heat in longer.
What we don't do for our salivary glands when we have Sjogrens. Irish ;D