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Forum Name: Endocrinology Topics

Question: Swollen Lymph Nodes. Please Help.

donjuan1800 - Tue May 08, 2007 4:22 am

Hello. I am a 28 year old male. I currently have been having a strange problem. I took a flight about 3 months ago to see my girlfriend. The flight takes 21 hours total. When I arrived I noticed my Lymph nodes at my groing were quite swollen, but did not hurt. They began to get better after a couple days. When I arrived back home they were swollen again so I went to my doctor. He took blood, but found nothing unusual. I just recently flew again to see her about a week ago. Again when I arrived my Lymph nodes were swollen at my groin. Again after a couple days they got better, and were swollen again when I got home. It has been a few days and are better now. Why is this happening? Can flying in a plane affect the Lymph nodes somehow? I am really concerned that I have an underlying condition. Any ideas? Thank you very much.

Dr. Chan Lowe - Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:43 pm

Interesting. Fairly clearly your symptoms revolve around the plane flights. I've not heard of this before; however, it may be that the long plane flight is causing some congestion of your blood vessels that may be leading to the swollen Lymph nodes. When veins become backed up (congested) some fluid leaks out of them and is picked up by the lymphatic vessels that flow through the Lymph nodes. Perhaps the plane seats are causing some increased congestion. You may want to try getting up and walking around frequently during your flights to see if this will help. I don't think this is anything serious but I'm betting it's fairly annoying. Sorry I can't come up with much of a better explanation. Best wishes.

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