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Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped glands of the immune system. They are present throughout different areas of our body and are linked by lymphatic vessels which carry lymph fluid, nutrients, and waste material from the body tissues and to the blood stream. Lymph nodes are important for they act as filters which also trap and destroy bacteria, viruses, and other harmful foreign particles that may harbor inside our body. Owing to the fact that lymph nodes contain white blood cells, they play an integral role in the body’s defense system against disease.
In a normal state of condition, lymph nodes are not palpable but they may appear swollen and enlarged due to various conditions such as infection and cancer. Swollen lymph nodes confined on a single area are called localized lymphadenopathy. When the lymph nodes enlargement involves more areas it is called generalized lymphadenopathy which may suggest a more systemic involvement of a disease.
One common example of a localized lymphadenopathy can be found on the axillary or armpit area. These swollen armpits lymph nodes are usually hard and painful on palpation. Causes determined by swollen armpits lymph nodes include minor injuries, infections, and cancer. Disease conditions originating from the surrounding areas of the armpit may also cause lymph nodes in the armpit to become swollen.
Axillary lymph nodes are arranged in the following groups:
- Brachial lymph nodes (lateral)
- Pectoral axillary lymph nodes (anterior)
- Subscapular axillary lymph nodes (posterior)
- Central lymph nodes
- Apical lymph nodes (medial or subclavicular)
In most cases, swollen armpit lymph nodes are due to infection and are firm and painful upon clinical palpation. When cancer is suspected, the swollen lymph nodes of the armpit are usually non-moveable, fixed, non tender, and usually are stuck to each other. Neoplasms usually are observed to increase their size when observed in a given time frame.
In mild conditions, axillary or armpit lymph nodes may appear swollen with no apparent serious disease and their size are small enough not exceeding 1 cm, and are usually palpated as soft and painless. Swollen armpit lymph nodes maybe mistaken for cysts and skin abscesses in the armpit skin.
Various causes of swollen armpit lymph nodes are due to the following:
- Injury to the upper extremity which includes the armpit, arm and hand.
- Localized infection in the upper extremity or breast which drains into the axillary lymph nodes.
- Allergic reaction from perfumes, deodorants, hair removal treatments, sulfur drugs, penicillin, or iodine.
- Scratch or bite of an infected cat (Cat scratch disease)
- Lymphadenitis (bacterial infection of the lymph nodes)
- Ascending lymphangitis
- Tuberculosis
- HIV/AIDS disease
- Brucellosis
- Chickenpox (varicella)
- Herpes zoster (shingles)
- Mumps
- Measles and Rubella (German measles)
- Infectious mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr virus)
- Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
- Leukemia
- Melanoma
- Tumor
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Lymphoma of the breast
- Lung cancer
- Breast cancer
- Silicone breast implants
- Smallpox vaccination
- Sporotrichosis (fungal skin infection)
- Typhoid vaccine
- MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination
- Small pox vaccination
Mild cases of swollen armpit lymph nodes usually disappear in a couple of days without treatment and may return to its normal size weeks after the infection has been treated. A physician should be noted when the swollen armpit lymph nodes continue to grow larger in size, became red and tender, feel hard, irregular and fixed in place, when other systemic symptoms are noted such as fever, night sweats, or unexplained weight loss, and any node in a child with a size larger than 1 centimeter in diameter.
swollen armpits lymph nodes pictures:
REFERENCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymph_node
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/swollen-lymph-nodes-topic-overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axillary_lymph_nodes
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/axillary_lymphadenopathy/common.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003097.htm
