We are combing our son or our daughter, or doing some massage or caresses on the head, and suddenly we realize that behind, above the neck and behind the ears, It has some lumps. It can be one on each side or it can be only on one side, but doubts appear, we don't know if I had them before and we don't know if something happens because I have them.
Well, if it is not that it is a bone protrusion, which could also be (a projection in the bone), most likely they are lymph nodes, some structures that we have in our body whose mission is to act as a defense against possible infections.
What are ganglia?
The nodes are all over the body. We have about 500 and are located in strategic places to act as a defensive zone. There are in the armpits, in the neck, in the head, in the English, ... and depending on where they are they are responsible for defending the surrounding area.
I have focused on those of the head because, although it is usually more common for those of the neck to swell (those that are palpated below the sides of the jaw), the ones we most notice parents, usually by chance, are those of the head, behind, and we usually ask for them.
In Babies and more Mononucleosis in childhood or "kissing disease": symptoms and treatment The nodes are small, round in shape and not noticeable unless they are fighting an infection. Now you will think that "I noticed my child and had no illness", to which I reply that it is completely normal for two reasons: not all infections become openly manifested (sometimes they are fighting viruses and we don't realize) and children when they don't have one thing, they have another. That is, in children it is common to notice the nodes a little inflamed often, because they are almost always fighting against something.
Can they cause a problem?
Normally not, but it can happen that a virus or germ is stronger than the defenses and that, not being able to overcome it, the ganglion infection. This causes the ganglion to increase in size, it hurts to feel it and that the child may even have a fever (which can also be caused by the same surrounding infection that the ganglion tries to fight against).
If this is the case, it is better for the pediatrician to assess it, it is advisable to go in case some of the following happens: that it hurts to touch it, that it measures more than one centimeter, that it is hard and does not move or that is flushed, because the child could be having an adenitis (inflammation of a lymph node).
In Babies and more Scarlet fever in children: all about contagion, its symptoms and treatments
