Call 999! Our lymph glands are the fire fighters for our immune system

EVER thought about the way our emergency services are organised?

Stations are located around the country so fire fighters can reach even the most remote rural areas within minutes.

The way our body tackles infections isn’t too dissimilar as our system has its own little team of “fire fighters” spread around key areas.

While there are organs that deal with infection, like the spleen, we have lymph glands spread throughout our bodies like wee fire stations, ready to extinguish bacteria or viruses and joined together by a network of lymph channels.

Our pea-sized lymph glands are located particularly in our neck, under the collar bones, armpits and groin.

They contain white blood cells and antibodies, both of which attack those nasties entering the body.

So if you’re struck by something – let’s say it’s bacterial tonsillitis – the wee nodes in the area go to work.

This process causes the lymph glands to swell up, which means that our body is fighting infection.

It means swollen nodes, contrary to popular belief, are often a good sign, as they’re only doing their job.

People do come to the surgery worried a large and painful lymph gland is a sign of something else, like lymphoma.

Generally, soreness of a swollen lymph gland is a reassuring sign, particularly if you have an infection to explain it.

If it’s swollen and painless then that should be checked out.

Similarly, if a lymph gland swells up while you’re fighting off an infection, and doesn’t go down after a couple of weeks, then your doctor should take a look.