Inflammation of the submandibular lymph nodes: causes, symptoms, treatment methods

Anything can lead to such inflammation: serious pathologies or banal overwork. But most often, enlarged lymph nodes under the jaw signal problems with teeth or ENT organs. To improve the condition of the patient, you should first eliminate these problems - and the lymph nodes themselves will eventually return to normal.

If, after recovery, the submandibular lymph nodes are still enlarged, then the cause is associated with more serious diseases. In this case, a complete diagnosis and competently selected comprehensive treatment will be required.

Lymph nodes: what role do the body play?

The submandibular lymph nodes are responsible for the safety of the nose, throat, ears, teeth. They serve as a kind of filter in the body. Exactly Lymphatic fluid, the basis of the immune system, flows through them. With an increase in the activity of harmful bacteria, filters instantly react: they release lymphocytes in order to exterminate the pathogenic flora.

Experts have found that in the body of an adult there are about two liters of lymph and more than four hundred nodes. Most of them are located under the arms, on the neck, head and groin. Each is responsible for a nearby organ or tissue cells that are located nearby.

How to identify inflammation of the maxillary lymph node

With inflammation of the submandibular lymph nodes, treatment should be not only symptomatic, but also aimed at eliminating the conditions that led to the development of the disease. To determine them, a thorough diagnosis is carried out, with which you can either identify or exclude serious infectious diseases.

Inflammation of the lymph nodes is called lymphadenitis. The disease occurs spontaneously, has three stages of development. Signs of the disease appear in the following order:

• The first stage is characterized by an increase in nodes and pain on palpation. Inflammation of the lymph node under the jaw is accompanied by insomnia, headache, chronic fatigue, and fever.
• The second stage (see photo) is acute, pronounced externally: the tumor is visible even without palpation. The movement of the jaw is limited, severe pain appears, the temperature rises, suppuration forms.
• Third stage. The pain extends to other areas: neck, collarbone, axillary hollows. Inflammation of the nerves of the teeth and throat are observed.

When an increase in the submandibular lymph nodes occurs, the first thing to do is to visit a doctor. Do not self-medicate. But you can offer the cause of the disease. For instance, a rounded shape of the seal indicates the presence of diseases of the ENT organs. The lymph node with such ailments remains mobile.

If the lymph node in the neck on the left under the jaw hurts, then the source of inflammation is nearby. Lymphadenitis, which can develop due to mechanical damage to the tissues of the node itself, is not ruled out.

To eliminate inflammation, the patient will need to consult an otolaryngologist. He will offer the patient to undergo a number of tests:

• ultrasound diagnostics;
• blood tests;
• laboratory tests for bacterial genomes;
• fluorographic diagnostics;
• Samples for reactive protein and others.

An ENT doctor can refer the patient to other specialists to detect other diseases: to a pulmonologist, hematologist, infectious disease specialist, oncologist, dentist, immunologist.

Why do the lymph nodes under the jaw hurt?

The patient himself can, with a simple palpation, determine if the lymph node under the jaw has enlarged or not. After all, inflammation does not always occur with pronounced symptoms. Much depends on the type and severity of the infection in the body.

After finding a compacted, enlarged site, you need to visit a doctor. Before going to the clinic, you need to prepare answers to the questions that the specialist will ask in order to conduct a competent diagnosis:

• Remember, in the near future there were injuries in the area where the neck was swollen, if you had been hit in this place. If this is a bruise, then soon the injury will resolve.
• Remember what dosage forms you have been treated. Some drugs provoke inflammation of this kind. Such pills include drugs that are prescribed to patients with epilepsy, typhoid vaccines, and some others.

When the lymph nodes under the jaw hurt when pressed, the causes of the phenomenon may lie in the fact that the patient is sick with a serious pathology. If the node has increased in diameter by one and a half times, then the immune system itself is not able to cope with the inflammatory process in the body - need outside help.

If a node is found, which after a while becomes soft to the touch, the patient needs treatment with antibacterial drugs. This may indicate that the lymph node could not resist the inflammatory process and allowed the infection to spread further through the body.

Inflammation of the lymph nodes under the jaw: causes

Inflammation of the lymph nodes is called lymphadenitis. As mentioned earlier, this condition is an immune response to damage to the body by microbes, viruses.

With untimely treatment, phlegmon develops, a severe form of which ends with sepsis. Therefore, self-medication is not recommended.

Most often, the root cause of lymphadenitis is infection. In childhood, the inflammatory process is much more complicated: with high body temperature and pain. Adults tolerate the disease easier. Swollen lymph nodes are always accompanied by a range of diseases., These include: tonsillitis, pharyngitis, otitis media, pulpitis, laryngitis, caries, frontal sinusitis, sinusitis.

Another cause of inflammation of the submandibular lymph nodes is acute respiratory infections, flu. The process indicates excellent immunity. With such ailments, symptoms are indicative of the fact that lymphocytes are actively fighting viruses and infections.

• weakness, fever;
• migraine;
• irritation of the nasal mucosa, throat;
• body aches.

Enlarged lymph nodes occur in AIDS, genitourinary infections, syphilis. Only with such pathologies not only submandibular nodules increase.

Systemic disorders of the immune system also provoke a disease of the lymphatic system. This is when there are sluggish inflammatory processes in the body:

• rheumatism;
• serum pathology;
• lupus erythematosus;
• Infectious mononucleosis.

With mumps (see photo), an infection in the oral cavity, swelling of the nodes on the left or right under the jaw is observed. Depending on which side of the jaw glands is inflamed. If the right (left) swelling is a sign of infection of the right (left) salivary gland. This condition is accompanied by an inflammatory process, swelling in the cervical zone. Submandibular lymph nodes under pressure have a solid base.

Violation of the lymphoid system occurs with dental ailments:

• Caries leads to manifestations of purulent abscesses that develop near the root of the tooth, this condition causes swelling of the gums. As a result, the nodes become inflamed.If the infection is in the mouth on the right, then in this part they increase. And tooth extraction will solve the problem.
• If wisdom teeth grow in an adult, then the lymphoid system instantly responds to the process.
• After tooth extraction with complications, this system also perceives the process as a threat to the immune system. After the gums have healed, everything will return to normal.
• Periodontal disease, stomatitis, cysts, tartar, which contributes to the development of periodontitis, adversely affect lymph exchange.

Tumors of various etiologies also contribute to the development of lymphadenitis. If you suspect a malignant neoplasm, in no case do not self-medicate at home, you can not warm them, massage them. We urgently need to contact specialists.

What to do if the lymph node under the jaw is inflamed

First, determine what is the source of the pathology. Please note that at home, treatment may be ineffective. And some alternative methods of treatment are sometimes dangerous. Do not warm the lymph nodes when they are inflamed, use infusions from plants with an unknown form of etiology.

Doctors do not recommend treating inflammation of the lymph nodes under the jaw at home, because it is difficult to cure the pathology if you do not know the exact diagnosis. And the usual massage of the lower submandibular point threatens to aggravate the patient's condition. Even blood poisoning may occur due to the further spread of the infection.

If the lymph node under the jaw hurts when pressed, you only need to do one thing - go to the dentist. Especially when the gums become inflamed in the mouth, such symptoms indicate tooth decay or complications that may occur after a person has a tooth removed. As a result of dental treatment, all the symptoms of the disease will disappear. The same thing will happen when all inflammations of ENT organs are eliminated, the wisdom tooth grows, or the flu, SARS passes.

If the lymph nodes under the jaw become inflamed due to the defeat by bacteria, the treatment of the disease must be carried out comprehensively. After contacting a specialist doctor, the patient will receive recommendations. Only before, the doctor will establish the nature of the disease, having received the results of examination of adjacent tissues and organs. You will need to drink antibiotics at home. What type of drugs to use, it will become clear after analysis for bacterial inoculation. Most often, doctors prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics.

If the lymph node under the jaw becomes inflamed due to an allergic reaction, it will have to be treated with antihistamines. Also, it does not hurt to consult an allergist. He will be able to determine what or who is the irritant, and physiotherapeutic procedures will also be prescribed for a speedy recovery.

What to do so that the lymph node under the jaw never gets sick

Each patient himself is able to prevent inflammation of the lymph nodes of the lower jaw. For this, preventive measures must be applied. Their main task is to take care of your health.

• When cold outside, wear clothing that matches the weather. Otherwise, you will face hypothermia, which will subsequently provoke a catarrhal disease. Which will lead to unpleasant consequences.
• Strengthen your immune system. Carry out gradual tempering, use natural vitamin forms (fruits, vegetables), add aloe, honey, echinacea to your diet. Be sure to play sports.
• Do not go in cold weather without scarves, hats. An ordinary cold wind can become a source of inflammation of the lymphoid system.
• Treat caries in time, do not ignore the disease. If you still have a tooth removed, then follow all the recommendations of the dentist for healing the gums so that an abscess does not develop.
• Do not run ENT infections, they also provoke inflammation of the nodes.

Do not ignore the body's signals that infectious diseases are attacking it. After all, this is how you start the ailment and weaken the immune system.Therefore, even at the first signs of the disease, consult a doctor.