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What Causes Swollen Glands And Tightness In Neck?
Question: My son,21 is complaining of tightness in his neck and swollen glands in his neck. Also thought he was going to faint on one occasion he is very worried about this and has an appointment with a doctor next week. he went to urgent care and was told that if might be THRUSH . He donated a kidney to his brother a year ago and is anxious and concerned about cancer. d
Brief Answer:
Needs detailed oral and neck examination and some blood workup
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Welcome to health care magic! Thanks for sharing your concerns with us. We will try to help you in best way possible.
First of all, it is sad to know what he had gone through. It is however commendable to know about the donation of his kidney. Normally it doesn't cause the symptoms which you have mentioned and a person can spend a normal life with a single kidney. The swollen glands in the neck however can be a separate entity and needs a detailed evaulation. To start with a detailed oral examination to look for any infective cause including throat from inside is mandatory. If the thrush is presumed, is there any evidence or lesion inside mouth to support that? Also look for the pattern of fever and any other associated complaints. Laboratory work up is almost always inevitable in such cases. To start with, some basic tests including complete blood picture and ESR may be needed. Then specific tests for other causes of cervical lymph nodes are done. The most important and gold standard would be to do a small operation to take out one of such glands and send it for biopsy. That will reveal the exact cause in most of the cases. The pressure symptoms also need to evaluated with thyroid function tests and detailed neck examination by an ENT specialist and if needed, bronchoscopy and if swallowing difficulty is present then endoscopy or oesophagoduodenoscopy may be needed. Moreover rest assured as most of these cases are treatable and have good prognosis. Hope this has answered your query, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Regards.
Needs detailed oral and neck examination and some blood workup
Detailed Answer:
Hi! Welcome to health care magic! Thanks for sharing your concerns with us. We will try to help you in best way possible.
First of all, it is sad to know what he had gone through. It is however commendable to know about the donation of his kidney. Normally it doesn't cause the symptoms which you have mentioned and a person can spend a normal life with a single kidney. The swollen glands in the neck however can be a separate entity and needs a detailed evaulation. To start with a detailed oral examination to look for any infective cause including throat from inside is mandatory. If the thrush is presumed, is there any evidence or lesion inside mouth to support that? Also look for the pattern of fever and any other associated complaints. Laboratory work up is almost always inevitable in such cases. To start with, some basic tests including complete blood picture and ESR may be needed. Then specific tests for other causes of cervical lymph nodes are done. The most important and gold standard would be to do a small operation to take out one of such glands and send it for biopsy. That will reveal the exact cause in most of the cases. The pressure symptoms also need to evaluated with thyroid function tests and detailed neck examination by an ENT specialist and if needed, bronchoscopy and if swallowing difficulty is present then endoscopy or oesophagoduodenoscopy may be needed. Moreover rest assured as most of these cases are treatable and have good prognosis. Hope this has answered your query, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Regards.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Sonia Raina
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