Your neck feels tender and swollen. The pain is intense, and touching it only makes it hurt worse.
“Oh no,” you think. “It feels like I have golf balls in my neck. What’s wrong with me?”
Chances are, you’ve got swollen lymph nodes -- and that’s anything but fun.
Lymph nodes are part of the body’s system for fighting infection. They’re like Venus fly traps, catching anything perceived as a threat. So when the body is fighting off foreign germs, they swell.
To understand this concept, it’s essential to know just what a lymph node is. Though lymph nodes may seem minor, they actually play a major role in protecting health. Lymph nodes are small, round clusters of cells that contain macrophages and lymphocytes, which capture invading germs and break them down.
Interestingly, lymph nodes are like organized little cities. They have specific jobs in the body’s health and are grouped together to drain specific areas of the body.
This is why lymph nodes in specific regions of the body swell. In fact, the location of swollen lymph nodes may indicate the cause. Though they're located throughout the body, swelling usually is most noticeable in areas like the neck, chin, armpits and groin.