Swollen Lymph Node On Neck?

drewsmom

I've been reading the posts on this bulletin board for a while now and am at this time seeking your advice on my situation. If this seems long, I'm very sorry. I would appreciate any input you might have.

In September, my little boy wanted to go outside to play, and even though I had a terrible headache, I decided to go with him. I sat in a lawn chair with my head resting **** eyed on the hood of my jacket and watched him. I know this is a bad way to rest your head, but my head was pounding and it was the only way I could find any relief. I fell asleep in this position, and when I awoke, my neck was very stiff. Well, the stiffness in my neck and the headache lasted for four weeks. Around week three, I went to a doctor who told me that I had pulled a muscle in my neck and it would take a while for it to heal and then the headache should go away. A week later, the headache was gone but my neck still bothered me (and still does frequently). Then, on Thanksgiving, I noticed a small bump on the back of my neck. I pointed this out to my doctor who told me that she thought it was a lymph node. However, she didn't seem very sure. She told me it was probably my body fighting off some type of infection and to let her know if it didn't go away. It didn't.

The bump is strange. To me, it doesn't feel like a lymph node. I have swollen lymph nodes right now due to a cold and they feel nothing alike. It is located just below the hair line on the back right of my neck, about an inch away from the spine. In the beginning, it was a bump about 1/2 inch long and really thin in width...never hard. Now, sometimes it's there, and at other times, you can barely feel it. When I first awaken in the morning, it is puffy and sore. Then it seems to drain or something and after a few hours, you can hardly notice it. It never gets very big, but is generally sore to the touch. Touching it never seems to change its size. Sometimes just touching the skin around it is very sore. I'm not sure if the bump has anything to do with the headaches either (which happen for about a week every month now during my menstrual cycle), but thought I should let you know. Does this sound like a lymph node?

Just last week I went back to the doctors and they decided to do a CAT scan on my neck. It determined that my neck was normal...no masses found or any problems with the lymphatic system. They ruled out cancer because at that time I didn't have any other swollen lymph nodes. (By the way, the bump hasn't changed in size with the cold that I have now) My doctor told me that at this point they couldn't do anything else, and to let her know if it got any bigger. The girl that did my CAT scan said it actually felt like a tendon.

Should I be concerned about this? No one seems to really know what the bump on my neck is. If this is a lymph node, should I be worried. I would really appreciate your advice. Thank you so much in advance.