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Painless swelling - symptoms, causes and treatment
Painless swelling and its causes
Swelling without pain can have many different causes. Many of them are not dangerous. But sometimes painless does not mean harmless. Thus, swelling without pain is also an early symptom of malignant tumors.
contents
- Painless swelling and its causes
- The most important facts - an overview
- lymphedema
- Swelling at the bottom of the chin
- Swelling on the front neck, which moves
- Painless growing lump on the front neck
- Swelling on the front neck, which fills with air
- Nodules on the lateral neck
- Single node above the collarbone
- Chronic swelling on the side of the neck
- Painless leg swelling
- Soft Tissue
- What are soft tissue tumors?
- Swelling of the salivary gland
- Swollen scrotum
- Swollen gums
- diagnoses
- treatment
- swell
The most important facts - an overview
- Painless swelling is a symptom, not a disease.
- The symptom of painless thickening is nonspecific, it only becomes specific due to the location and type of thickening (neck or chin, hard or soft, knobs or nodules, etc.).
- There are many causes of such swelling. They range from accidents, hematomas and congenital malformations to benign and malignant tumors.
- http://www.bayerischerinternistenkongress.de/bik2015/abstracts-2009/Tepohl.pdf
- https://hno.uk-koeln.de/erkrankungen-therapien/speicheldruesen/speicheldruesenschwellungen/
- https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/fileadmin/medizinische_klinik/Abteilung_5/docs/patinfo/PatinfoWeichteilsarkom.pdf
- https://www.minimed.at/medizinische-themen/krebs/ohrspeicheldruesenkrebs/
Swelling without pain can be caused by many different causes, many of which are not dangerous but not all. (Image: amazing studio / fotolia.com) lymphedema
Lymphedema, water retention in the lymphatic vessels, is the most common cause of swelling without pain. To the painless swelling comes here a strong tension in the affected body parts. In addition, the connective tissue in the affected areas of the body increases and hardens, this is called fibrosis.
Swelling at the bottom of the chin
Does such a swelling look elastic and look like dough? Then the cause is often a blood spurt as a result of an injury or the taking of anticoagulants. Very rarely, the trigger lies in an oral floor cyst - a congenital malformation. This is harmless. Or - less harmless - the salivary gland in the lower jaw has become inflamed.
Here you should wait and see if the swelling disappears by itself and, if not, consult a doctor in the following weeks.
Does the swelling show up as a hard knot? Then a cause may be a salivary stone in the salivary glands of the lower jaw. Very rarely it is a tumor in the submandibular gland or in the jawbone. This can be good or bad. Be sure to go to the ENT specialist.
Swelling on the front neck, which moves
Such swelling is often accompanied by nervousness, weight loss or increase and freezing. Possible causes include a goiter, a chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland, a cyst in the middle of the neck, or even a split tissue of the thyroid gland. If the swelling does not diminish or recur in a few days, you should definitely seek medical advice.
Growing lumps on the front neck can be harmless, but should be clarified by a doctor. (Image: sebra / fotolia.com) Painless growing lump on the front neck
Such nodules are sometimes associated with hoarseness and noises when inhaled. Also, problems with swallowing can occur. Attention: Although these nodes may be harmless, they should be clarified by a doctor. These may be tumors, more specifically thyroid carcinomas or throat cancer.
Swelling on the front neck, which fills with air
This is a so-called airbag. The larynx is sacked. You should have this checked by a specialist.
Nodules on the lateral neck
These nodules can also be located above the clavicles. Concomitants are sometimes fever, night sweats and fatigue. This is often a chronic inflammation of the lymph nodes, caused by previous infections. Also possible are toxoplasmosis, HIV or tuberculosis. Also metastases of malignant tumors can be a trigger. Therefore, if you feel such painless nodules, be sure to contact your ENT specialist. Patients should seek medical help immediately if the nodules proliferate and / or increase, you have a fever, or sweat at night.
Single node above the collarbone
Such smooth, painless nodules are usually due to benign tumors in the skin or tissue. Typical are lipomas, ie adipose tissue tumors or fibroids. These are benign growths in the connective tissue.
Chronic swelling on the side of the neck
If these do not cause any pain, but are associated with the involuntary thawing of undigested food, there is probably a bulging of the esophageal wall. Patients should have this checked immediately by a specialist.
If such painless leg swelling unilaterally, is often the acute cause of thrombosis in the leg veins. (Image: luaeva / fotolia.com) Painless leg swelling
Such thickening can occur on the entire leg, from the foot and ankle to the groin. If these occur unilaterally, the most common acute cause is thrombosis in the leg veins.
In chronic leg swelling, however, there is often a post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). This is the result of an acutely unrecognized thrombosis in the veins of the pelvis or thigh. If you suffer from it, doctors have to reopen the veins. Affected need a compression stocking on the lower leg.
Also a lymphedema on the leg, so a water accumulation, can cause a painless swelling. Such lymphedema may be acquired as a result of injury, surgery or a tumor. It is sometimes innate. This can sometimes be difficult for the treating physicians to recognize, as a lymphedema tardum often comes only between the 30th and 40th year of life, especially in women. Even bruising can sometimes lead to unilateral leg swelling, which causes no pain.
Soft Tissue
The first symptom of so-called soft tissue sarcomas are painless swellings. Nearly half of these tumors are located in the lower limbs, other places are body trunk, abdominal, upper limbs and neck / head. Sometimes the painless swelling of the tumor is accompanied by nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, diminished performance, or mysterious weight loss.
Soft-tissue tumors challenge physicians to recognize them at all. Therefore, the suspicion is already in demand a team of experts. (Image: Gorodenkoff / fotolia.com) What are soft tissue tumors?
Malignant soft tissue tumors comprise approximately 100 different types of tumors in the soft and supporting tissues of the body. These include tumors that hardly form metastases, as well as others that spread widely. The collective term comes about because this type of cancer is so rare that the various cancers are considered a group - for diagnosis and treatment. Their rarity and the initially unspecific symptoms such as swelling without pain make it difficult for physicians to recognize these cell proliferations. Already in the suspicion of such a carcinoma, a team of experts is in demand.
Where do these tumors form??
Soft tissue includes about 50 percent of our body: muscle, connective tissue, blood vessels, and nerves. These tumors are considered malignant because they form metastases that spread in other organs.
How common are soft tissue carcinomas?
These sarcomas are very rare. Only one adult of 50,000 develops such growth. That's one percent of all malignant tumors. Children and adolescents are more likely to suffer from this than young adults and the elderly. Between the 45th to 55th year of life, however, this cancer is less common.
causes
The causes of soft tissue cancer is largely unclear. Only a few of the tumors suggest genetic predisposition, such as those at the nerve sheath tissue.
Swelling of the salivary gland can also be triggered by alcoholism. (Image: Rainer Fuhrmann / fotolia.com) Swelling of the salivary gland
Sialosis is the technical term for a usually painless swelling of the salivary gland, which does not become inflamed. Causes are usually disorders that affect the metabolism - such as an overactive thyroid or diabetes mellitus. But alcoholism, malnutrition and beta-blockers can trigger this swelling.
When to the doctor?
If you are not impaired in their functions, you will not be in treatment. However, many sufferers find a swollen salivary gland ugly and undergo treatment for cosmetic reasons.
Swollen scrotum
A swelling without pain on the scrotum can have many triggers - some unproblematic, some life-threatening, including benign and malignant tumors. With a swollen scrotum you should in any case go to the urologist, alone, to exclude or remove a malignant tumor, as far as it is present.
Cause varicocele
This is a bad drainage of the veins. The swelling is on the left side. It can also be secondary to pressure or thrombosis in other parts of the abdomen. In the first degree, it is only recognizable by imaging techniques, in the second degree it can be palpated, in the third degree it is visible.
Although this varicocele causes no pain, but: The temperature of the testicles increases as warmer blood flows out of the body, but the drain is disturbed. The testes receive too little oxygen. This can lead to a malfunction of the core epithelium. Therefore, you should have a varicocele treated promptly if you want to father children. A varicocele in children is treated surgically. The veins are reopened and reloaded if necessary.
Cause Hyrdocele funiculi spermatici
Here, fluid collects in the environment of the spermatic cord. Cause are infections, damages after injuries and operations as well as tumors. Typical of the swelling is that it swells up and down during the day. An ultrasound examination shows exactly the accumulation of fluid, but also whether testicles or epididymis are damaged.
A lack of, but also an exaggerated care of the oral cavity, can be a trigger for painless swelling of the gums. (Image: Stefano Garau / fotolia.com) Swollen gums
Painless gums swell for various reasons. Inadequate care of the oral cavity can just as much trigger as an exaggerated hygiene. The latter leads to an over-stimulus, to which the gums react. There may also be periodontitis. Fistulas, hematomas, heavy blood flow during pregnancy and consequences of injury are also possible. In addition, the early stage of infection of the gums is usually painless. We call them gingivitis. If it extends to the jawbone, it is called periodontitis, which causes pain.
diagnoses
Painless swelling includes a variety of body regions and appearances. Otolaryngologists are asked for swelling in the neck area, dentists for gums and urologists for swollen scrotum.
First of all, the respective physicians inform themselves whether and which cosymptoms exist, which disease history the victims have (accidents, injuries, surgeries) and then decide on further examinations. If there is suspicion of a malignant tumor, remove tissue samples and send them to the laboratory. If there is a suspicion of infections with viruses and bacteria, they also take samples and have them examined for pathogens.
treatment
For the variety of possible causes there is not the "one" treatment. Doctors address the cause, for example, diabetes mellitus or overactive thyroid. For cancers, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are usually necessary. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)