What could be causing extreme lymph node pain in the neck?

Question

Hi doctor,

What could be causing the extreme pains in my lymph nodes under my neck and tingling the in head? Should I see a doctor in person? I had a sinus infection a month ago when the neck pains suddenly appeared. I was given antibiotics. It got rid of my other sinus symptoms, but not the lymph node pain. Recently, I was found to have an abscessed wisdom tooth and an abscessed crowned tooth. I had both pulled and was given Clindamycin for 10 days. Still, I have neck pains.I have been on a ton of antibiotics so not sure if bacteria are even responsive anymore. Should I be concerned about meningitis or that the infection has spread to lymph nodes? It has been about a month or two that neck pain has continued. Would blood work or an ultrasound be a better way to see what is going on? Is there anything I can do to treat this at home?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

The first possibility of meningitis is unlikely. It would cause fever, severe headache and patient will be very sick.

I do not think this to be a lymph node pain because lymph nodes will hurt only when they enlarge in a short duration of maximum one or two weeks and will not persist this long. There should have been neck swelling along with this.

Now, the possibilities are, since you are having associated tingling in the head, this is a pain due to nerve irritation or compression between the spine.

The possibility is of cervical spondylosis, or this pain may be due to dental issues. A deep seated abscess is also a possible cause. This abscess can cause spasm of neck muscles, irritation of nerves, etc. We need to run some investigations for this. It is better to see the doctor in person for examination and interactive questions.

Is there any history of similar problems in the past, neck trauma, tingling or numbness in the shoulder, arm or hands and increase in pain with neck movements?

You should get an x-ray of the jaw, neck anteroposterior and lateral view and ultrasound of the neck. It will direct us to the likely cause. You may need CECT neck later if these are not adequately informative. You can get these investigations done and upload the reports or show it to the local doctor.

At this moment, I suggest you tablet Neurobion forte once a day, which is a nerve vitamin. Also, you can get prescribed from local doctor tablet Pregabalin 75 mg at bedtime to see the response. It is a nerve stabilizer.

For further information consult an internal medicine physician online.