Q:

Hi, I actually have two questions:

For quite a while now (I'd estimate about 6 months) I've noticed that a lymph node under my jawbone on the right side of my neck is constantly swollen. When I feel both sides of my neck, there's a very obvious difference. This has never caused me any pain and I don't have any disturbing symptoms, but should I be worried or have it checked out?

Also, on the bottom of my left eye socket bone, I have a small, hard bump that doesn't move (it feels like part of the bone). I was hit by a softball on that side of my face in middle school and had a black eye from it, so I think this bump could just have resulted from that. But again, do you think this is something I should have checked out, just in case?

Thank you, and thanks for providing this service. It's really convenient and helpful!

 

A:

It sounds like both of these around awhile without necessarily getting bigger but for reassurance sake, have us take a look. Lymph nodes can persist sometimes but the feel of the node is more important than the size, so we'd have to actually touch it to have the best sense of whether it is worrisome or not.

The bone bump may be from trauma, but once again, anything asymmetric should be checked.

~The Doc