+1-617-394-8820 contact@baybiosciences.com

Reactive Lymph Nodes

by | Dec 22, 2022 | Info | 0 comments

Reactive Lymph Nodes

When the body fights an infection, cold or injury, glands or lymph nodes sometimes swell. This condition is known as reactive lymph node. Reactive lymph nodes are not dangerous. Doctors also called this condition as reactive lymphadenopathy.

We have groups of small, bean-shaped lymph nodes all throughout our body. They’re located in the neck, underarms, chest, abdomen, and groin. They are part of the lymphatic system, which is also part of our immune system. The lymphatic system helps fight off infections and keep them from spreading.

Your doctor may use the term “reactive lymph nodes” when examining you for a swelling or mass. If you have a biopsy of a mass, you might also see a reference to reactive lymph nodes when you review your lab results. This means your lymph nodes are reacting to something going on in your body.

However, it’s usually not a reaction to anything serious. In fact, most of the time, reactive lymph nodes are harmless. Reactive lymph nodes aren’t caused by an infection or cancer within the lymph node itself.

Lymph nodes house B and T lymphocytes, which are essential types of white blood cells. These cells help the body fight off infections from bacteria and viruses. Lymph nodes also carry lymphatic fluid and connect via lymphatic vessels. Together, the lymph nodes and lymphatic vessels make up the lymphatic system, which is an essential part of the immune system.

When something goes wrong in the body, the lymphatic system produces cells to fight bacteria, viruses, and other causes of illness. Lymph nodes swell in this process. Lymph nodes may also swell in response to an injury as they work to prevent or stop an infection. Sometimes, lymph nodes can swell because of cancer.

Lymph nodes usually swell near the site of the injury. For example, lymph nodes behind or under the ears may swell when a person has an ear infection, while lymph nodes in the neck might swell in response to strep throat.

Signs and Symptoms of Reactive Lymph Nodes

Usually, you can’t feel your own lymph nodes. When they are swollen or reactive, however, you’ll likely be able to feel them when your press your hands against your skin. They might feel as small as a pea or as large as a golf ball. You could even be able to see the swelling in your neck, armpits, or groin.

It is possible to have reactive lymph nodes in multiple areas of the body.

In addition to swelling, it’s possible to feel the following when you touch your lymph nodes:

  • Pain
  • Tenderness
  • Warmth

Depending on the underlying cause, you might also have a range of other symptoms. If your lymph nodes are responding to an upper reparatory infection, for example, you could have a runny nose, sore throat, or fever.

Swollen lymph nodes can occur in just one area of the body or in multiple locations.

The main symptom of a reactive lymph node is swelling. Sometimes, the area around the lymph node also swells. The body contains hundreds of lymph nodes, and they swell most often in the neck and around the face, along the groin, and under the arms.

When lymph nodes swell because of an infection or injury, the swollen lymph node is usually:

  • Soft
  • Smaller than 1.5 centimeters (cm) in diameter
  • Movable

The swelling is usually only in a specific lymph node or group of lymph nodes. A patient who has many swollen lymph nodes throughout the body may have a severe systemic infection or possibly certain types of cancer.

Reactive lymph nodes often accompany an infection or injury. A person might notice other symptoms of the infection, such as the following:

  • Fever
  • Overall feeling of being sick
  • Pain and tenderness near an injury
  • Signs of infection near an injury, such as redness or swelling 
  • Symptoms of illness

A swollen lymph node does not necessarily mean the infection is severe. Some people’s lymph nodes swell very easily, even though a person has no other symptoms.


Causes of Reactive Lymph Nodes

Reactive lymph nodes are a sign that your lymphatic system is working hard to protect you. Lymph fluid builds up in lymph nodes in an effort to trap bacteria, viruses, or other harmful pathogens. This helps to keep the infection from spreading to other parts of the body.

They also sometimes occur as a result of an autoimmune disease, such as lupus. These are conditions that involve the immune system mistakenly attacking the body’s tissues.

In addition, children often experience reactive lymph nodes as they first come into contact with new germs throughout childhood, even if they don’t have an infection.

Following some of the most common reasons lymph nodes swell:

  • Dental health issues, such as a cavity or tooth infection
  • Exposure to allergens
  • Infections, such as skin infections, ear infection, or sinus infections
  • Exposure to bacteria or viruses
  • Injury or irritation to the skin, such as from recent orthodontic work
  • Mononucleosis, a highly contagious virus that can cause many lymph nodes to swell
  • Skin irritation, such as from acne or a rash

Sometimes, a patient may have an immune disorder that causes lymph nodes to swell. Less common causes of swollen lymph nodes include:

  • Metastatic cancer, which is cancer that has spread from its original location to the lymph nodes
  • Lymphoma which is cancer of the lymph nodes
  • Sepsis, which is a type of systemic infection that can become life-threatening

When a person has cancer or a severe infection, they may have many swollen lymph nodes. Swelling in a single lymph node is less likely to be a sign of a serious issue.


Diagnosis of Reactive Lymph Nodes

Reactive lymph nodes are usually a symptom of an underlying infection, so your doctor will start by asking about your other symptoms and taking your vital signs. They may also feel your lymph nodes and ask if you experience any pain or tenderness while they do it.

Depending on your symptoms and what they find during a physical examination, they may also order a blood test or imaging test, such as an MRI scan. They may also decide to biopsy a lymph node. This involves using a needle to take a small tissue sample and analyzing it for signs of cancer. If you have cancer, this can also help your doctor determine whether it’s spread.


Treatment of Reactive Lymph Nodes

The right treatment for swollen lymph nodes depends on the cause. When a patient has no symptoms of infection, the swelling often goes away on its own.

When infections cause a reactive lymph node, the patient may require antibiotics. More severe infections may require the patient to stay in the hospital or receive antibiotics through an intravenous needle. Individuals with weak immune system may also need to stay in the hospital, even for relatively minor infections.

Treatments are available for many forms of cancer, particularly if a doctor diagnoses them early. Depending on the type of cancer a person has, a doctor may recommend removing the lymph nodes, chemotherapy, or radiation.

Swollen lymph nodes can be alarming, especially if the cause of the swelling is unclear. In most cases, however, swollen lymph nodes are a sign that the body’s immune system is working well.

Patient who have HIV or AIDS, who take immune system-suppressing drugs, or whose doctors have told them they have a weak immune system, should call the doctor if their lymph nodes swell.

For most people, it is safe to wait for 1–2 weeks to see if symptoms go away. Consult with a doctor within few days if any of the following occur:

  • A fever develops alongside swollen lymph nodes
  • Newborn or infant has swollen lymph nodes
  • Swollen lymph nodes appear after an injury to the skin

If a person has no signs of an infection, a swollen lymph node might be a sign that the body has successfully fought off an infection. It is safe to wait for about 2 weeks to see if the swelling decreases.

If the swelling does not go away, or if the lymph node is hard or larger than 1.5 cm in diameter, see a doctor.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Samples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.

Our biobank procures and stores fully consented, deidentified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.

All our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

This critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

Including fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

We can also procure most human bio-specimens, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human samples from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, contact us Now.

日本のお客様は、ベイバイオサイエンスジャパンBay Biosciences Japanまたはhttp://baybiosciences-jp.com/contact/までご連絡ください。