HealthDiseases and Conditions

Lymphadenitis: What is it? Symptoms of the disease, prevention and treatment

Often, patients of medical therapists hear a threatening diagnosis of "lymphadenitis" in response to their complaints. What it is? Despite the extremely unpleasant manifestations of this infectious disease, it is quite amenable to conservative treatment and rarely causes complications. Lymphadenitis is an inflammation of the lymph nodes due to their infection with a virus or bacteria. In rare cases, the inflammatory process is the result of the growth of cancer cells.

Lymphonoduses are the most important element of the body's immune system, designed to fight any pathogens of infections. Most often they swell on the neck, under the chin, in the armpits, in the groin.

Sometimes for the treatment of inflammation it is enough to just wait and from time to time apply warm compresses to the sore spot. However, only a qualified doctor can determine the exact method of therapy, since the effectiveness of treatment depends entirely on the cause of swelling of the lymph nodes.

Symptoms

Lymphadenitis - what is it, an independent disease or a sign of a heavier condition? Sometimes inflammation of the lymph nodes occurs in itself, but in some cases it is a manifestation of another ailment. At the very beginning of the inflammatory process, the patient often notices that the lymph nodes have become more sensitive, and the touch to them is painful. In addition, they can significantly increase and find the size of a pea or beans. In advanced cases, the lymph nodes become even larger.

Depending on the cause of inflammation, the following symptoms are distinguished:

  • Runny nose, sore throat, fever and other signs of upper respiratory tract infection;
  • General swelling of the lymph nodes throughout the body, which may indicate an infection (HIV or mononucleosis) or damage to the immune system (eg, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis);
  • Swelling of the limb, caused by the clogging of the lymphatic system due to inflammation in the lymph node, located deep under the skin;
  • Hardened fixed fast-growing nodules, serving as a sign of tumor development;
  • fever;
  • Increased sweating at night.

When to see a doctor

If you have found yourself with lymphadenitis, it is better to treat folk remedies for later - it's better to immediately register for a medical consultation with a therapist who can put an accurate diagnosis and prescribe a really effective therapy.

Do not delay the visit to the clinic if:

  • Inflammation causes you anxiety;
  • It began without obvious reasons;
  • The inflammatory process continues to increase or does not last for 2-4 weeks;
  • Lymph nodes feel like hard or rubber-like, or if they do not move when pressed;
  • Swelling of the lymph nodes is accompanied by constantly high body temperature, profuse sweating at night or unexplained weight loss;
  • Lymphadenitis is complicated by sore throat or difficulty in swallowing or breathing.

Causes

The lymph node is a small, round or bean-shaped cluster of cells covered with a sheath of connective tissue. Cells are a group of lymphocytes (producing protein particles that serve to capture parasites - for example, viruses) and macrophages that destroy captured biological material. Lymphocytes and macrophages filter the lymph flowing through the entire body, and thereby protect the body from pathogens.

Lymphonoduses are collected in small groups, each of which is responsible for a certain part of the body. Most often, lymphadenitis in adults is located on the neck, under the chin, in the armpits or in the groin. The swollen area indirectly indicates the root cause of inflammation.

Most often such unpleasant symptoms are accompanied by various infectious diseases - for example, such a common defeat as a common cold. However, there are other types of infections, as well as other diseases that cause inflammation of the lymph nodes, including:

  • acute pharyngitis;
  • measles;
  • Ear infections;
  • Infection (abscess) of the tooth ;
  • mononucleosis;
  • Skin infections or open wounds (eg, cellulite or erysipelas) ;
  • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), causing AIDS;
  • tuberculosis;
  • Some sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis;
  • Toxoplasmosis - a parasitic infection due to contact with feces of an infected cat or eating badly-roasted meat;
  • Benign viral lymphadenitis (what is it, if you do not know, then perhaps you will find the name "cat-scratch disease" more familiar);
  • Ordinary lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects ligaments, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs;
  • Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the joint membrane (synovial membrane);
  • Lymphoma is a cancer that develops in the lymphatic system;
  • Leukemia is a cancer of the blood-forming tissue that also affects the bone marrow and lymphatic system;
  • Other types of cancer, spreading in the form of metastases to the lymph nodes.

In rare cases, serous lymphadenitis can be caused by the use of certain medications, such as an anticonvulsant drug phenytoin ("Diphenin", "Dilantin") and preparations for the prevention of malaria.

Complications

If the cause of swollen lymph nodes was an infection, in the absence of adequate treatment, the following complications may develop:

  • Formation of an abscess. Abscess is a localized accumulation of pus, the result of infection of the body with a virus or bacteria. Pus contains liquid, white blood cells, dead tissue and bacteria. Perhaps to remove the abscess will have to put the drainage and start taking antibiotics. It is especially dangerous if it touches a vital organ in any way.
  • Infection of blood flow (bacteremia). Bacterial infection in any part of the body can lead to sepsis caused by infection of the bloodstream. Sepsis can cause dysfunction of vital organs and death. Treatment involves hospitalization and intravenous administration of antibiotics.

Before a visit to a doctor

When there is any potentially dangerous symptom, people have many questions. Why did lymph nodes become inflamed? Is it lymphadenitis? What is it - an infection or a sign of a more serious disease requiring early treatment? Exact answers to these and other questions can be obtained only from a qualified doctor. If you are concerned only with swelling in one part of the body, it is worth waiting for an appointment in the clinic. If the manifestations of the inflammatory process become so intense that it is difficult for you to breathe or swallow, immediately call for an ambulance.

As medical consultations are essentially limited in duration and at the same time imply that the doctor will give you a lot of new and very important information, prepare to visit the specialist in advance.

  • When writing to the appointment, ask if you need to do anything before going to the doctor.
  • Make a list of all the symptoms you are experiencing and indicate how long they last. The doctor will probably want to know if you have had such manifestations of influenza as elevated body temperature or sore throat. In addition, the specialist will be interested in changes in body weight, which often accompany lymphadenitis. Feedback about your state of health over the last few days is mandatory - write down any signs of ailments that you began to notice from when lymph nodes first began to swell.
  • Make a list of all the events during which you were in contact with potential sources of viruses and bacteria. This can be traveling abroad, hiking in places that are tinged with mites, eating poorly-roasted meat, playing with a domestic cat, ending in scratching, or having sexual intercourse with unfamiliar partners without adequate protection against infections.
  • Write down all the important information regarding your health condition, as this will help your doctor diagnose lymphadenitis. Treatment with folk remedies and traditional medications, surgical operations, regular intake of biologically active additives, even regular vitamins - all this should be indicated.
  • Beforehand, think over the questions that need to be asked the doctor. Just in case, it's worth to rank them, starting with the most important ones.

Questions to a specialist

If you are progressively progressing with serous lymphadenitis, think about asking the therapist the following questions:

  • What was the cause of these symptoms?
  • Could they be signs of another disease?
  • What kind of research should I go through?
  • What kind of treatment do you recommend?
  • Will my condition soon improve?
  • Is my disease contagious? How to reduce the risk of spreading the infection to other people?
  • What preventive measures to take in the future to prevent a relapse of the disease?
  • I suffer from chronic diseases. Is there any way to change the therapy that I am currently following?
  • You prescribed me medicines. Are there alternative drugs?
  • Can you recommend additional sources of information about this disease and its treatment?
  • What to expect from a doctor
  • Whether it is parotid inflammation or axillary lymphadenitis, treatment in any case will depend primarily on the underlying cause of the pathology. To determine this root cause, the doctor will first ask you a series of questions on which it is desirable to prepare answers in advance. These questions can be formulated as follows:
  • What symptoms did you notice in yourself?
  • When did the first signs of pathology appear?
  • Do lymph nodes increase over time?
  • What are the sensation of inflamed lymph nodes?
  • Do you suffer from heat (fever) or from profuse night sweats?
  • Do you follow your weight? Do you lose weight without trying to lose weight?
  • Does your throat hurt? Is it difficult to swallow?
  • Do you have any difficulty breathing?
  • Has the work of your intestines and bladder changed?
  • What medicines do you currently take? Are you trying to treat yourself with lymphadenitis? Compresses help or do not produce any effect?
  • Have you traveled recently to foreign countries or to regions where ticks are found? Did your fellow travelers get sick?
  • Have you recently contacted unfamiliar or unfamiliar animals? Did they suffer from their bites or scratches?
  • Have you recently had contact with a new sexual partner?
  • Do you practice safe sex?
  • Do you smoke? If yes, for how many years?

Before the diagnosis

While you are waiting for an appointment, underarm or parotid lymphadenitis can be treated with warm compresses. If necessary, take painkillers - such as ibuprofen or paracetamol (Tylenol, etc.). Similar drugs are released for children, and their purchase does not require a prescription from a doctor. Specialists, however, do not recommend giving aspirin to children without special instructions from a pediatrician, since the association of aspirin with the development of a dangerous Reye syndrome has been scientifically proven.

Diagnostics

Only a doctor will be able to accurately determine what causes inflammation in the groin or lymphadenitis of the armpit. Treatment, respectively, will depend on the underlying cause of the pathology. For effective diagnosis, you may need:

  • Study of the history of diseases. In addition, the doctor will ask you when and under what circumstances you have swollen lymph nodes and see if you have other symptoms of malaise.
  • Primary medical examination. The specialist will certainly feel the lymph nodes under the skin to assess their size, softness, warmth and texture. The site where the pathology is located will also give a clue as to the causes of the disease (for example, inguinal lymphadenitis in women often occurs against the background of vaginitis or ovarian inflammation).
  • Blood tests. Assuming one or another cause of inflammation, the doctor will offer you to give specific blood tests to confirm the primary diagnosis. Often, an ordinary general analysis is given, which allows you to fairly objectively assess the patient's health and identify some pathologies (eg, infectious diseases or leukemia).
  • Visualization studies. Often, a radiograph or computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest is used to detect potential sources of infection or tumors. So, for example, tuberculosis lymphadenitis is detected.
  • Biopsy. If the doctor for some reason can not make an accurate diagnosis, he will prescribe a biopsy - a procedure in which the entire lymph node (or part of it) is removed for laboratory examination under a microscope. Diagnosis with the help of this method can be a fine needle aspiration biopsy (it is also an aspiration diagnostic puncture). In this case, the doctor will perform the procedure on his own during routine medical consultation. Sometimes, however, therapists refer patients to surgeons or radiotherapy specialists to collect the biological material needed to confirm the diagnosis of lymphadenitis.

Traditional treatment

Unfortunately, no traditional medicine can relieve you of such problems as swelling and inflammation of the lymph nodes. In thematic prints and on the Internet, you can find many recipes for infusions, decoctions and elixirs, which are proposed for use in compresses. However, experts do not recommend exposing their health to extra risk by brewing medicinal herbs of dubious origin and by covering swollen lymph nodes with homemade ointments. The simplest and safest remedy for inflammation is compresses made of ordinary tissue moistened in warm water and squeezed out well, although it will not relieve you of trouble, but it will really help relieve the pain and reduce the sensitivity of swollen lymph nodes without any risks.

Traditional medicine

Tuberculous lymphadenitis, like some other varieties of the pathology analyzed, goes along with the accompanying infectious disease. If the swelling is caused by a viral infection, it is useless to take antibiotics; In other cases, it is necessary to focus on the root cause of the inflammatory process.

  • Infection. If infection with microbes (bacteria) caused lymphadenitis, what antibiotics should be drunk to make the condition of the lymph nodes normal? Be sure to ask this question to the doctor, as only the treating therapist can prescribe specific drugs. If the inflammation is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), first of all doctors will treat the infection.
  • Breakdown of the immune system. In cases where the swelling of the lymph nodes is a consequence of the disease of ordinary lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, the therapy is aimed at treating the root cause of the pathology.
  • Oncological diseases. Lymphadenitis in the groin, on the neck or in the armpits can be caused by the growth and spread of cancer cells. Depending on the type and stage of cancer, treatment will include radiation therapy, chemotherapy or surgery.

Similar articles

 

 

 

 

Trending Now

 

 

 

 

Newest

Copyright © 2018 en.birmiss.com. Theme powered by WordPress.