I am a 20 year old female who use to be very athletic. I started getting sharp pains and what seemed like a fluid build up around the knee area so I had to cut way back on the sports. It s almost been a year now that I have noticed the lymph nodes on my upper & lower back, neck, armpit and calf area are swollen and sometimes very painful. (The worst being the ones under my shoulder blades.) What could be causing this? My cousin had lymphoma cancer and my mom has had breast cancer twice. Are these things I should be worrying about?
Hi, Thanks for writing in. It is possible that you developed bursitis around the knee. There are small fluid filled sac like spaces called bursae around the knee joint. When fluid gets collected in them due to inflammation, it is called bursitis which is usually a painful condition. Appearance of lymph nodes might be due to a different reason. It is important for you to get the lymph node enlargement areas scanned by ultrasound and then get a biopsy done form one of them to look for any signs of disease. In most probability these will be infective lymph nodes. However, since your cousin had a lymphoma, it is best to get checked in detail. Lymphoma is a rare possibility though. Please do not worry.