Hey can someone please help me?? This all started on March 12th when I noticed my neck felt funny.. so I rubbed the back of my head right over top of the neck where it meats the head .. I notice I had a knot there. So I really paid it no mind until a few days later it didn't go away.. so I started to get a lil worried and started checking my neck and head for knots about a 3-4 days later I notice a knot in my neck so I mad a doctor's appointment. The doctor told me she thinks it's a knotted muscle and just give if a few weeks, she went on to ask questions if I been bitten or pulled a muscle I told her I don't think so.. so I let a week go by and the knot stil didn't go away .. so I started to research on the internet to see what it might be everything kept coming up as cancer.. so I went back and told her I'm scared it's cancer!! She still didn't seem to concerned , she asked me did I stress a lot and ever had anxiety I told her yes but I don't believe this is all caused by anxiety.. so she ordered a ultra sound for me.. before my ultrasound appointment my face started to go numb on left side my ears started to feel plugged and like they need to pop.. so I got the ultrasound and they said they saw to little lymph nodes on each sides and thats it's normal.. my glandes on each side was different I think one side was like 2cm and other was 4cm but they said your body is different on each side. so after all this she said not to worry she doesn't believe it's cancer.. what do you mean you don't believe I need to know it's not!!! So I switched doctors and made an appointment last week he looked over my face and felt it and under my arms and shoulders and said he checked ultrasound and really don't see anything alarming.. but since the middle of APRIL my ears have been plugged needing to pop I can't really hear at some times..headaches on each side of head right by my eyes for the past 2 weeks and the knot on my neck is still there even though it's tiny.. underneath of jaw bone I have swelling and sometimes it get worse it seem like when I stress it flares up.. the doctors won't take me seriously and I don't know what to do.. it clearly a knot in my neck and swelling on both sides of jaw area
Can someone please help me?
Your lymph nodes are reacting to something and it all sounds very regular. Your ears are popping and muted because your lymph nodes are swelling. Reason: You likely have a mild viral infection going on, sinus infection that needs handling or seasonal allergies. You could also check your oral health in case there is any gum inflammation there. Once immunity is down either due to viral infection or allergy, we are sensitised to any other little thing that happens in the body.
The knot at the back of your neck is unlikely to be cancer. The only way a doctor can confirm it is absolutely definitely not cancer is by biopsy and biopsies are reserved for troublesome growth that your lump does not appear to be as confirmed by ultrasound which obviously showed no abnormal mass. Also the sum total of your symptoms do not point to cancer per se.
On account of everything you shared, if I were you, I would look for ways to clear out my sinuses, (e.g. salt water sprays, rinses and salted water steam to start with), check my diet for adding things that boost immunity and reducing sugar and processed foods that aggravate tissue and add to inflammation. Hot showers/baths and moderate exercise will help keep blood circulating and clearing out any pathogens. Manage any seasonal allergies (consult your doctor), make sure i am hydrated and most importantly manage stress which makes it so much more difficult to fight infection. In that sense it is likely anxiety causing this in part and/or (definitely) prolonging recovery.
Hope you feel better soon.
John, I am a former nurse and I can tell you that for sure we all have lymph nodes in the neck and many things can make them enlarge at times including a viral infection. When I get a cold the nodes in my neck get a little enlarged. That is perfectly normal. I also get knots at the base of my neck all the time due to poor posture in sitting at the computer for too long and Anxiety . These knots are so common in many people! I get a regular massage to get rid of them and do exercises for the neck to loosen the muscles.
Also when we are Anxious this causes tightening of the muscles around the neck and shoulders and this definitely cause the knots!!
A good thing for you to do would be to start working on the anxiety because that definitely contributes to the symptoms you're feeling.
anxiety also causes headaches.
your ears becoming plugged could be due to allergies not cancer. That's not a typical symptom of that. If you had cancer you would be feeling a lot worse than you do.Talk to your doctor about allergy relief or over the counter medication for that. Also, anxiety can have hundreds of symptoms including the plugged ear feeling.
when I learn how to tone down my Anxiety, my symptoms greatly reduced and sometimes went away all together and I felt 100% better.
trust your doctors. From what you have written here, anxiety is most likely the cause of all your symptoms. I had all of those symptoms plus many more. Not a thing wrong with me except a little anxiety.
Try listening to some great audio meditations on YouTube. They have ones that deal with eliminating negative thinking, anxiety, depression etc.
they really call me down. You need a different perspective on your thinking and these help. A great book related to this is called mindfulness meditation. Remember one thing…FEAR stands for false evidence appearing real. You are getting the symptoms but believing they are related to something serious. When there is a 99.9% chance it is not. Fear is based on non-reality. Your thoughts are leaning toward negative but that is all they are is a thought. They are not based on any real evidence . You can learn how to let go of negative thoughts with the resources I gave you. Don't do what I did and waste years and years of your life with fear and worry. I could have been enjoying all those years. I regret doing that and so will you!
Fear does not have to run your life.
if you're having a lot of trouble with this it would be beneficial to speak with a counselor who can really help you. It helped me a lot.
enjoy your life! Eat healthy, socialize, get regular exercise, do meditation because that actually has been shown to promote healing mentally and physically!
Thank you so much you don't understand how much better that made me feel!!! I really do appreciate the time you took to help me ..
Thank you thank you so much!! I greatly appreciate the time you took to write that and to help me out! I been going through it these last few months.. you made me feel a lot better about life and myself!
I'm so glad John! Life is a gift and I have learned to appreciate every single day because once today is gone we can't get it back. I appreciate the little things every day.
I have also learned to laugh more and not take everything so serious.
I wanted to mention that whenever you are caught up with negative thoughts in your head, bring yourself back to the present moment by slowly deep breathing and concentrate on what that breath feels like when you slowly inhale through your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth as though you're blowing out a candle. Do that several times. It not only increases oxygen in your body but it brings you back to the present moment when your mind is going to the negative.
One trick I use if I do get a negative thought is
1. I acknowledge it ( don't try to fight it off it will get worse). After I acknowledge that it's there.........
2. I picture it drifting off on a dark cloud. Because remember our negative thoughts are not a part of us they are just thoughts!
Try not to get frustrated if one day you feel better than another day. That is normal . eventually you will feel a whole lot better!
be relentless and be a fighter for yourself! You deserve peace of mind.
😀👍