The appearance of a lump of peanuts in the area around the neck or elsewhere around the body, can be a sign that your body has an infection or exposed to other diseases. This condition is called swollen lymph nodes, also known as adenopathy.
Adenopathy that appears to be a sign there is something wrong with your body, or maybe just a mild infection. However, it can also be a symptom of some underlying disease. To be sure, your doctor will check the adenopathy that appears on your body and other natural symptoms. Then, you may need to do some tests like:
- Blood test. This is done to ensure the doctor's allegation of the underlying disease.
- Scan / scanning. This is done to find the source of the infection or look for a possible tumor.
- Biopsy. This is done if the doctor suspects the swelling is a tumor or cancer.
Causes of Swollen Lymph Nodes in Armpit
1. Virus or bacterial infection
Most cases of adenopathy are caused by viral infections or bacterial infections. Often, swelling occurs near the infected part of the body. For example, swelling that occurs around the neck is usually caused by a throat infection.
Other diseases due to viral, bacterial, and fungal infections that can cause adenopathy are as follows:
Chicken pox
Measles
HIV
Herpes
Flu
Adenovirus
Sore throat
Tonsillitis
Ear infections
Lyme disease
TB disease
Chlamydia
Syphilis
2. Autoimmune disease
Swollen lymph nodes can also occur due to autoimmune diseases due to the immune system instead of mistakenly attacking healthy tissue, such as:
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lupus
Sarcodiosis
3. Cancer
Sometimes cancer can also be the cause of swollen lymph nodes. For example, lymphoma and some types of leukemia. When cancer metastasize alias spread, sometimes there is also swelling of the gland.
For example, when breast cancer spreads to lymph nodes, adenopathy appears in the armpit (axilla), or when lung cancer spreads to the lymph nodes, there will be adenopathy around the collarbone.
4. Other causes
Other things that can also cause swollen lymph nodes are injuries, or the use of certain drugs such as dilantin (malaria prevention drugs).