Armpit lymph nodes: how to treat? Video

The content of the article:

• Reasons: why can the axillary lymph node become inflamed?

• How to determine inflammation of the axillary lymph node?

• How to treat

• Inflammation of the lymph node in the armpit during breastfeeding

• If a teenager has an armpit lymph node inflamed

• Inflammation of the lymph node in the armpit: what tests to take

• Swelling of the armpits with PMS

• Is it dangerous to enlarge the lymph nodes with mastopathy

There are many causes of inflammation of the lymph nodes under the armpits.

The list of the most common ones includes:

• ARVI (both active and transferred);

• intoxication of the body;

• inflammation of the mammary glands;

• excessive sweating, as a result of which harmful and pathogenic bacteria actively multiply;

• cancer (especially breast cancer).

How to determine inflammation of the axillary lymph node?

This is not so difficult to do.

1. For a start, you can notice redness of the skin above it. It is caused by the fact that due to the increase in the nodule itself, the skin stretches and turns red due to tension.

2. In addition, the inflamed lymph node can be easily palpated (felt). Doctors say that if there is no pain when pressing on the inflamed node, then the situation has not yet become out of the ordinary.

Purulent lymphadenitis belongs to the category of acute conditions and is treated only under the supervision of doctors. You cannot take any measures on your own, as this is fraught with serious complications, for example, sepsis.

If, according to the results of tests and studies, no inflammatory process such as acute respiratory viral infections and others is revealed, doctors can talk about an oncology beginning.

1. If the situation is too neglected and internal suppuration has already appeared, doctors may decide on surgical intervention… In this situation, the lymph node will be opened and cleared of pus. In addition, a course of antibiotics will be prescribed to avoid worsening the situation.

2. In most cases, the lymph nodes are not treated. Instead, doctors prescribe cure for the cause, which caused an increase in lymph nodes. As soon as the infection is defeated, the lymph nodes themselves will return to their normal state.

3. Alternatively, you can additionally use traditional medicine recipes to alleviate your condition. For example, echinacea is considered very useful. Take it 10 drops, diluted with water, 4 times a day. It perfectly reduces pain and improves the general condition of the patient.

4. It is also often recommended to take unrefined sunflower oilto cleanse the lymph and reduce pain. It is enough to use 1 tbsp. l. oils twice a day: in the morning on an empty stomach and before bedtime. Place the oil in your mouth and suck it like candy for 15 minutes. But never swallow. When you feel that the oil has become liquid, spit it out.

5. Often used to cleanse lymph tincture of calendula.

To prepare it, take 1 tbsp. l. dry flowers of calendula and 250 ml of boiling water. Pour boiling water over the herb and leave to infuse in a warm place. Take this infusion before meals (always on an empty stomach!) 50 ml. The number of appointments is 5 per day. The course is 12 days.

Alternatively, you can add to the calendula tansy… This will enhance the effect. Mix the herb in equal amounts and pour half a liter of cold but boiled water. Leave for 4 hours, then strain and you can take. Method of application: 25 minutes before meals three times a day for two weeks.

Be sure to check with your doctor before taking on alternative medicine. In addition, remember that you can not replace the official treatment with folk. You can use herbs only as a supplement.

6. It is also advisable to add more to your diet. vitamins… They will help the body to cope with the disease faster and restore immunity in a shorter time.

Expert Opinion

Therapist, gastroenterologist of the Semeynaya clinic

– The lymph nodes are organs of the immune system that protect against pathogens. They filter the focus of infection, destroy pathogenic viruses and bacteria and prevent them from entering the body. Cervical lymphadenitis is the most common, it occurs as a result of tonsillitis, tonsillitis, acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory infections, influenza, caries, gingivitis, periodontal disease.

Lymph node, which requires additional research:

• more than 2 cm, continuously increases for more than 2 weeks and does not tend to decrease within 4-6 weeks;

• especially should be alerted by an increase in supraclavicular lymph nodes;

• dense lymph node;

• lymph nodes are mobile, connected to each other or to surrounding tissues;

• no signs of acute inflammation;

• “Bad” lymph node, as a rule, does not hurt, the skin over it can become covered with ulcers.

Inflammation of the lymph node under the arm during breastfeeding

After childbirth, many women complain of health problems that “suddenly fell” on their heads: from hair loss, which is quite normal for an organism that has experienced physical stress (childbirth), to chest pains. If a woman feeds the child herself, and not with a mixture, then at least once, yes, she has encountered lactostasis.

After childbirth, the immune system weakens, and a young mother may find swelling not only in the chest area, but also in the armpit. This problem is not connected with stagnation of milk, of course. But this is the period when you need to especially carefully monitor the hygiene of your body. If you use a razor, change it regularly, do not use deodorant immediately after shaving, and if possible, avoid using solid antiperspirants. You may have safely broken all of these rules for many years, but that was before pregnancy. Now it is easier to “earn” infection and inflammation in the armpits from micro-cuts after shaving.

In fact, there are many causes of armpit swelling in breastfeeding women. One of the most common is swelling of the “milk lobule”, this is the problem of the same lactostasis. Enlargement of lymph nodes after childbirth is a frequent occurrence in nursing mothers who have a history of lactostasis in previous pregnancies and mastopathy.

If a teenager has an inflamed lymph node under the arm

Even in a child, a lymph node under the armpits can become inflamed. Most often this happens after he has caught an infection, virus, fungus, or after bacteria have entered the body. In this case, a “lump” or swelling in the armpit is a signal, because the lymph node works as a filter, preventing the enemy from spreading throughout the body. Therefore, inflammation of the lymph nodes in children is quite common, and not only for acute respiratory viral infections, but also for vaccines, for example.

But do not rush to stuff the child with pills on your own when you suspect that the child is sick. Medicines can also become enemies of the lymph nodes and provoke their inflammation. Antibiotics, heparin, allopurinol and other groups of drugs can also provoke pathology, it is possible that it will become chronic. So the first rule is not to self-medicate, the second rule is not to delay the visit to the doctor if the child has redness and swelling.

— Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics help to get rid of pain and inflammation, normalize body temperature. Shown are thermal procedures, compresses with Vishnevsky ointment, immunostimulants, vitamins. With a purulent form of lymphadenopathy of the axillary lymph nodes, the patient is hospitalized, an opening of the purulent focus is performed, followed by drainage and antiseptics. In the presence of indications and tumor forms, surgical removal of enlarged lymph nodes is indicated, – talk about the treatment of inflammation of the lymph nodes in the network of medical clinics “CMRT¹».

Inflammation of the lymph node under the arm: what tests to take

Viruses and bacteria hit the places where we have the greatest congestion of lymph nodes: the armpits, neck and groin area. But no matter what place they attacked, the doctor will not be able to tell simply by the appearance of the lump what caused the inflammation. First of all, you need to pass a general blood test (taken from the fingertip). This is the most informative type of research in identifying lymphadenitis, that is, inflammation of the lymph nodes of a different nature.

If the erythrocyte sedimentation rate is higher than 15 mm / h, then we can say that there is inflammation in the body. What, it will become clear if you carefully study the result of the analysis:

• neutrophils more than 72 percent – the causative agent is a bacterium;

• monocytes more than 9 percent 0 causative agent of a fungus or virus;

• lymphocytes more than 40 percent – the causative agent is a viral agent. 

Swelling of the armpits with PMS

Lymph nodes react to changes in hormonal levels, so if moderate pain in the armpits is your stable companion for many years and you meet every month, then there is no pathology. It’s just that your body reacts in this way – it is difficult for lymph to drain from the mammary glands due to fluid retention before menstruation, hence the feeling of swelling in the armpits.

Is it dangerous to enlarge the lymph nodes with mastopathy

Mastopathy is considered the most common pathology of the mammary glands. Many women have this disease, and most of them live in peace, learning how to relieve pain syndromes, and regularly checking with a doctor.

But mastopathy is such a disease that does not come alone. An increase in the axillary lymph nodes also becomes its companion. The good news: doctors do not consider a slight increase in lymph nodes in patients with mastopathy dangerous. Bad news: sudden redness and a lump under the armpit (this is already significant inflammation) can also indicate a dangerous breast disease. Swelling in the armpits sometimes occurs as a reaction to oncology – breast cancer, and due to the entry of cancer cells into the lymphatic system.

Therefore, it is important for patients with mastopathy to see a mammologist at least once a year, and to undergo an ultrasound scan twice a year.

^Sources:

^{1. The network of medical clinics “CMRT».}

^{2. University clinic in St. Petersburg.}