Why Does My Child Have a Lump in Their Neck? A Parent’s Guide to Swollen Glands Discovering a lump in your child’s neck can be unsettling. You may notice it while washing their hair, fastening a school shirt or cuddling them at bedtime. Sometimes your child finds it first and says there is a small “ball” under the skin. One of the first questions parents understandably ask is: “Should I be worried?” Fortunately, the majority of neck lumps in children have a benign explanation , and swollen lymph nodes associated with infections are particularly common. NICE states that reactive cervical lymphadenopathy is the most likely cause of a neck lump in children. However, not every neck lump is simply a swollen gland. Its position, size, duration, whether it is painful and whether your child has other symptoms all matter. This guide explains common causes, what parents can monitor and when medical or paediatric ENT assessment is appropriate. What are the little glands in my child...
Something Stuck Up My Child’s Nose? A Parent’s Guide to Nasal Foreign Bodies Young children explore the world with extraordinary curiosity. Unfortunately, that curiosity sometimes involves putting things in places they do not belong. Beads, peas, bits of toys, paper, foam, seeds and small pieces of food can all end up inside a child’s nose. Sometimes a parent actually sees it happen. At other times nobody notices, and the first clue appears days later when the child develops a blocked nostril, an unpleasant smell or discharge from only one side of the nose. A nasal foreign body is the medical term for an object that has become lodged inside the nose. Most can be removed safely, but how parents respond matters . Repeated attempts with tweezers, fingers or other instruments can push an object deeper or injure the nasal lining. There is also one particularly important exception that every parent should know about: a button battery in the nose requires urgent hospital assessme...