Lateral cervical nodes

Looks like

Chains of lymph nodes along the side of the neck, around the jugular vein and under the sternocleidomastoid muscle.

What it does

Filter lymph from most of the head and neck before it returns to the veins.

Keeping it well

They swell with throat and dental infections. A hard, painless neck lump that lasts over three weeks needs checking for cancer.

Its parts

• Inferior deep lateral cervical nodes
• Superior deep lateral nodes
• Superficial lateral cervical nodes

Related conditions

• African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
• Cat-scratch disease
• Head and neck cancer
• Mpox (monkeypox)
• Rubella (German measles)
• Thyroid cancer
• Tonsillitis & quinsy