Q: I am 31 years old male. I have a lymph node inflammation on the right side of the neck since the last 5 days. I went to an ENT who confirmed that it’s a lymph node inflammation and is treating it as lymphadenitis - non-specific cause. He has put me on Allegra 120 mg tablets and paracetamol tablets for 3days. ENT examination was normal. There is no pain when I turn my neck to the left side but very slight pain when I turn to the right and try to touch my shoulder blade with my chin. I want to know how long will it take to subside?

A:The commonest reason for lymph nodes to appear is as a reaction to a local infection, thus called reactive lymphadenitis. In most cases this will subside over a few days to weeks, although one may be still left with a small soft enlarged node. In such a case, no further treatment is required. If it does not settle, gets bigger, painful or if new nodes appear, further investigations may be advised. We advise you wait for a little while and have it re-examined. If at that stage there is any doubt, the easiest thing to do first is an ultrasound and guided FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology), which will give you more information.