There is a hard thing growing on my lower jaw

Poor subcutaneous blood circulation often leads to lymphadenitis. For example, if a hard object grows on the jaw, this is often a symptom of swollen lymph nodes. When this happens, you must first clarify the specific situation. Generally, lymph node enlargement is divided into benign enlargement, malignant enlargement and enlargement between benign and malignant. Different situations have different solutions.

There are three common cases of swollen lymph nodes

① Benign swelling. Includes swelling caused by various infections, connective tissue diseases and allergic reactions. The clinical course is usually benign and can be fully recovered within a certain period of time as the cause is eliminated.

② Malignant swelling. It includes malignant tumors originating in the lymph nodes, such as lymphoma, lymphocytic leukemia and malignant histiocytosis, as well as lymph node metastasis of other malignant tumors, such as lung cancer, gastric cancer and breast cancer. The clinical course is malignant, with persistent and progressive enlargement of lymph nodes. If not treated actively, the disease will often progressively worsen and lead to death.

③Swelling between benign and malignant. Such as angioprimitive immunocytic lymphadenopathy and angiofollicular lymphadenopathy. It often starts out benign but can become malignant and fatal. Therefore, after confirming that the lymph nodes are swollen, the key is to determine their cause and nature. Local swelling accompanied by obvious pain often indicates infection, while progressive painless swelling often indicates malignant tumor disease. Bone marrow aspiration and especially lymph node biopsy can help

Helps confirm the diagnosis. The treatment of swollen lymph nodes depends on the cause. For example, streptomycin and remifentanil can be used for lymph node tuberculosis. If it is malignant lymphoma, combined chemotherapy should be the main treatment. If it is late-stage cancer metastasis, the prognosis is extremely poor.

Lymph node enlargement is very common and can occur in people of any age. It can be seen in a variety of diseases, both benign and malignant. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the cause of lymph node enlargement and seek medical treatment and diagnosis in time to avoid misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis. Let’s talk about the common causes of swollen lymph nodes.

Chronic lymphadenitis

Most of them have obvious infection foci, and often localized lymph node enlargement, pain and tenderness. The diameter usually does not exceed 2 to 3 cm, and will shrink after anti-inflammatory treatment. Inguinal lymphadenopathy, especially long-standing, unchanged, flat lymphadenopathy, is usually of no significance. However, unexplained enlargement of the cervical and supraclavicular lymph nodes indicates a systemic lymphoproliferative disease and should be taken seriously and further examined and confirmed.

1Tuberculous lymphadenitis

Symptoms include fever, sweating, fatigue, and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, which are more common in young and middle-aged people. It is often accompanied by pulmonary tuberculosis. The texture of the lymph nodes is uneven, with some parts being lighter (caseous change) and some being harder (fibrosis or calcification). They are adhered to each other and the skin, so they have poor mobility. These patients have positive tuberculin tests and blood tuberculosis antibodies.

2Malignant lymphoma

It can also be seen in any age group. The lymph node enlargement is often painless and progressive, ranging in size from soybean to jujube, and of medium hardness. Generally, there is no adhesion to the skin, and they do not fuse with each other in the early and middle stages, so they are movable. In the later stages, the lymph nodes may grow very large or fuse into large masses with a diameter of more than 20 cm, invading the skin and taking a long time to heal after rupturing. In addition, it can invade the mediastinum, liver, spleen and other organs, including the lungs, digestive tract, bones, skin, breast, nervous system, etc. Diagnosis requires biopsy. Clinically, malignant lymphoma is often misdiagnosed. Among patients with superficial lymphadenopathy as the first symptom, 70% to 80% are diagnosed as lymphadenitis or lymphadenopathy tuberculosis at the initial visit, resulting in delayed treatment.

3. Giant lymph node hyperplasia

It is a rare disease that is easily misdiagnosed. It often manifests as unexplained lymphadenopathy, which mainly invades the chest cavity, most commonly the mediastinum, but can also invade the hilum and lungs. Other sites of involvement include the neck, retroperitoneum, pelvis, axilla, and soft tissue. It is often misdiagnosed as thymoma, plasmacytoma, malignant lymphoma, etc. Understanding the pathology and clinical manifestations of this disease is extremely important for early diagnosis.

4 Pseudolymphoma

It often occurs in areas outside the lymph nodes, such as pseudolymphoma of the eye sockets and stomach and lymphatic polyps of the digestive tract, all of which can form lumps. It is generally considered to be a reactive hyperplasia caused by inflammation.

5. Lymph node metastasis

The lymph nodes are often hard and uneven in texture, and the primary lesion can be found. Rarely, there is generalized lymphadenopathy.

Acute leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia also often have swollen lymph nodes, especially acute lymphocytic leukemia, which is common in children. It is clinically acute and often accompanied by fever, bleeding, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, sternal tenderness, etc. Hematological and bone marrow puncture examinations can confirm the diagnosis and differentiation.

6 Sarcoidosis

It is less common in China and often invades both hilums of the lungs in a radiating pattern, accompanied by long-term low-grade fever. Lymph nodes throughout the body may swell, especially those in front and behind the ears, under the jaw, and beside the trachea. It is difficult to differentiate it from malignant lymphoma clinically.

7Mononucleosis

It is more common in young and middle-aged men and is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, but the patients are usually in good general condition, with fever and systemic lymphadenopathy, and may also have mild spleen enlargement. The presence of atypical lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and a positive heterophile agglutination test can confirm the diagnosis.

8 Serum sickness

It is a disease that occurs after patients use serum products (tetanus antitoxin, rabies vaccine, etc.). In a small number of patients, lymphadenopathy is the first clinical symptom. However, the injection site and supratrochlear lymph nodes are usually the first to swell. The diagnosis can be made based on injection history and fever, rash, eosinophilia, etc.