Parents have recently been asking me some swell questions about their children having swollen glands.

Let me stick my neck out on this one and tell you that swollen glands are simply another term for lymph nodes.

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What are lymph nodes?

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Lymph nodes are like “storage bins” that are placed throughout your body and store white blood cells for protection.

When an infection occurs, such as a sore throat or ear infection, the lymph nodes in the area of infection swell up. This is because more white cells are being produced and stored in those nodes.

As a result, lumps can be felt where these nodes are located.

These areas include the groin, the armpit, the neck, and behind the back of the head and ears.

Most swollen lymph nodes in children are due to bacterial and viral diseases. Rarely will they swell up due to other conditions such as cancer, which can be a more common cause of swollen glands in adults.

Treatment is directed at the specific infection. If it’s a virus, that just needs tincture of time. The lymph nodes or swollen glands will usually decrease in size and disappear over a few days or weeks as the infection clears.

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When to contact a health care professional

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You may want to consult with your child’s healthcare professional, if:

The glands do not go down over a period of a month or two but stay the same or increase in size,

The glands become red and tender and are associated with a fever,

If they can be felt in many parts of the body and not just the area of the infection,

If the glands seem hard and non-movable under the skin,

If they are associated with weight loss over a period of weeks or if they get larger than the size of dime.

Your child’s healthcare professional will want to examine those glands, possibly perform some additional tests, and/or start an antibiotic to treat a suspected bacterial infection of the lymph node.

Hopefully tips like these will put you in the know or should I say, “nodes,” when it comes to knowing a bit more about lymph nodes or swollen glands.

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Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at the Golisano Children’s Hospital at UVM Health and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and MyNBC 5.