Swollen lymph node above the collarbone

To whom it may concern,

Without a clinical examination and a full review of the data, any assessment is purely speculative.

Generally speaking, lymph nodes in the neck aren't considered enlarged unless they exceed 1 cm.

You mentioned feeling a mass in the left supraclavicular area measuring about 5-8 mm, but a professional physical exam is required to confirm if that measurement is accurate or if the mass is larger.

Furthermore, an expert needs to determine if you are actually palpating a lymph node or something else entirely.

If this is indeed a lymph node and it is under 1 cm, it is typically viewed as a normal finding. In fact, nodes up to 1 cm in the neck area are generally considered unremarkable.

However, if there were a truly enlarged node—anything over 1 cm—located in that specific left supraclavicular fossa, one would have to consider the possibility of malignancy.

Based on your description, there shouldn't be immediate cause for alarm. You hit the nail on the head when you noted, "I think it only hurts because I kept poking at it," but you should certainly schedule an appointment with your primary care physician. They will gather the necessary information through a proper exam to identify the nature of the mass, its exact size, and its characteristics before deciding on a course of action.

Best regards. 🙂

Thanks so much for getting back to me... Honestly, I’ve been a total wreck all day, just spiraling because I feel like I'm going to drive myself crazy from the sheer stress of this whole thing...
So, I actually went to see two different on-call doctors today just to get a second opinion, and the folks at the ER basically told me it was nothing—like, they said they could feel it, sure, but it’s tiny, so there's really no reason to panic. They suggested I should probably check my iron levels instead, since I've always struggled with low iron; my primary doctor usually just prescribes some supplements, I take them, everything seems fine, and then a few months later it crashes again, though I think I'm okay for now, mostly because I'm hitting the gym two or three times a day and that absolutely drains me. The other doctor told me it’s just a little gland and could be caused by a thousand different things, saying there's a 90% chance it's nothing at all, but she recommended I get a CT scan just to be safe. I can actually feel the lump when I palpate it, and honestly, I think it's even smaller than they say, maybe around 5mm, and there's another even tinier one right next to it... man, I really hope it isn't anything serious, but you can't help the fear, can you?🙂