My six year old son has a marble size swollen gland on his left side of his neck, kinda towards the back. He has had this off and on for several months and everytime I ask the dr about it he says he is fighting a viral infection and he does not need antibiotics. He has respitory distress when he was a baby and the dr says his body will just take longer to outgrow this, because his imuine system is weak. We are at the dr's office about once a month for ear infections and or chest colds. I am really starting to get concerned. We were at the dr earlier this week for fever and sore throat with blister down his throat again told it was a viral infection and just watch it nothing to be down. I really like this dr normally if he has any questions he will refer you to a specialist. I am going back up there today, my son is feeling better but I wont blood work done to rule anything crazy out and mostly put my mind at ease. Any suggestions or thoughts as to what this could be..

My four year old recently went through a similar experience. It went on for months that for every week he was well, he was sick for 3. We finally changed care providers and within 2 visits found out that he has enlarged adenoids, obstructing his airway, and we have been refrerred to an ENT. So I would certainly say, get a second opinion. It was very hard for me to change as well, because I liked the first care provider, she is a nice lady. But it came to a point that I had to make a change... Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the response. We got blood work done and it only showed a viral infection which was great that nothing crazy was going on. He also said he would like to have an ENT look at it since it has been going since March. We will see the same ENT that we saw for ear infections. He actually has made notes in his records as to the size of it and it has gotten a little larger size. What can you tell me about adnoids?

Thanks for the response. We got blood work done and it only showed a viral infection which was great that nothing crazy was going on. He also said he would like to have an ENT look at it since it has been going since March. We will see the same ENT that we saw for ear infections. He actually has made notes in his records as to the size of it and it has gotten a little larger size. What can you tell me about adnoids?

Hi There Croppingmom,

I would have to agree that it is a great idea to have your child evaluated by the ENT, we can never be to thorough when it comes to our children. However, it isnt uncommon for the glands to take what seems like forever to go back down to size once they are swollen.

As far as the Adenoids, they are located in the nasopharynx passage and are not visible by simply looking into the mouth (like tonsils are) or the nose. If the ENT chooses to visualize them he will need to go in through the nasal passageway. It is a bit uncomfortable but the procedure is actually pretty quick. Often times when the ENT makes the decision to remove the tonsils he will also remove the adenoids at the same time.

Keep us all posted and let us know what the ENT finds,
GloryGurl

I have a question. My son has had a swollen gland too, in the same area. Its about the size of a gumball. It's been like that for about 2 mos now. I recently took him to the ENT b/c he is a mouth breahter and has a severe speech problem (he is 2 1/2). My question is this. The doc felt his neck (didn't mention the gland - nor did I) and looked up his nose- by simply speading his norstils and peaking, plus compressed his tongue and looked at his tonsils and thats it. I was concerned about adenoids b/c of mouth breathing/speech, etc. He hasn't had recurrent ear infections or things like that.
Is it normal for the doc to just do that kind of exam??

My sons swollen gland went down about week week and half ago. I kept his ENT appointment for yesterday even though it was not swollen. The dr says "I would have like to have seen it swollen" Since we had seen him a couple months ago for my sons ears that was the first thing he checked. He said his ears look "a whole lot better than last time I say him." So that was good. Now onto his not so swollen gland. He felt around his neck and said he could still feel the one that had been swollen but it was normal size now. Then he looked up his nose and down his throat. The dr spent more time looking in his mouth than anything. Sent us down the hall for an x ray of his sinuses. After looking over the x ray he says he has Sinusitus brought on by his allergies causing post nasal drippidge that inflames the adenoids causing the gland to swell. Chronic Maxillary Sinusitus. I asked if he needed to be on any allergy meds and he said no. I told him we were allergy tested a couple years ago and he was only slightly allergic to egg whites and a little more to mold like a 2. I asked what I could do to help him and he said keep him away from sick kids. My thought was well that is a no brainer I try to stay away from sick people myself. I later spoke with a visiting nurse that works with my sister and was talking to her about him and she said that her son did the same thing for about 4 years starting around the same age. Now I feel silly for stressing over it, however I will do the same thing next time something like this comes up better to be safe than sorry. Hope everyone has a goodday and thank you for all the answers and suggestions.

Hello all:
I am writing because my son of 3 years of age. Has had a swollen lymph node forvere now. It statred out as a tiny lil ball on his nect and 2 years later it is the size of a gumball. It doesnt hurt him, and it moves easily. He too was breathing through his moutha nd snoring very loudly and stopped breathing for a few seconds in between, His pcp referred himt o a ENT specialist who figured out he needs to have his adenoids and tonsils removed. They were covering about 60 % of his passageway. I also had the ENT specialist check the node and they said it was just a swollen lymph node..(at that point it wasnt as big as a gumball but maybe a dime) they said after the surgery it will go donw. This was in February of 2006. It is now Sept. 2006 and it is the size of a gumball. I even switched his pcp which was hard to do because his former pcp was a very good doctor. She was my pediatrician growing up...but I had to for a second opinion. This new doc. says the same thing. He took all kinds of blood tests including: Lyme disease, catscratch, cancer...allll came out negative thak God!!! - I am still worried...So I asked to get it evalutated again by a specialist. So in 2 weeks he will see an ENT again. This kills my sleep. Its hard to sit their not knowing for sure why this lump is growing.......I will keep you all posted as to what was said by the ENT - but if any of you have any suggestions or advice PLEASSSEEE let me know..as I am a very nervouse wreck and need guide and help...

Thank you for you time..sorry it was sooo long