“ I noticed a swollen gland near my collar bone. Make sure you visit your GP if your lymph nodes don’t seem to be improving within this time or aren’t getting better with antibiotics. They last for longer than two weeks – Swollen glands caused by an infection will normally go down within two or three weeks (i.e until the infection has been naturally dealt with).Spotting the difference between harmless and harmful lymph nodes may be crucial in diagnosing leukaemia early.Īlthough swollen lymph nodes are nearly always caused by infection or reaction to an allergy, there are a few things you can look out for to help spot the difference between leukaemia and infection: ”Ĭertain characteristics such as the size of the lymph nodes, the way they feel or how long they last can help to differentiate swelling caused by infection from that caused by leukaemia or another type of blood cancer. I went back and was signed off again with a different antibiotic. However, at the end of the week, I was no better. He thought it was tonsillitis, so gave me antibiotics. “ I made an appointment to go see my GP after work. However, because of this, swollen lymph nodes can easily be mistaken as harmless when in fact they could be a warning sign of something more serious, such as blood cancer. When enlarged they can be felt or seen as raised lumps underneath the skin, most commonly in the neck, the armpits, or in the groin area.įor the vast majority of cases, swollen lymph nodes indicate nothing more than the fact that your body is fighting off an infection such as tonsillitis or even a common cold. Also referred to as “swollen glands”, lymph nodes are pea-sized lumps of tissue that contain white blood cells.

Swollen lymph nodes occur as a symptom of leukaemia in approximately 20% of patients prior to their diagnosis.

Painful lymph nodes