One of the most common panicked questions that I get from parents is about a bump that they found somewhere in their child's body that they're concerned might be cancer. Often they are lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are scattered throughout the body as little filters to help destroy bacteria, viruses, foreign invaders, and cancer cells that might be there in the body. They're good things. And when they are working hard, they do swell in size. So lymph nodes and can be a sign the body's working great, or they can be the sign of a problem. So how do you tell? There's a few things to pay attention to. One is their location. If you find lymph nodes in sort of the common spots, like high in the neck. Common, not a problem. if it's right above the collar bone, where you tend not to have swollen lymph nodes, that's more likely to be a problem. Another way you can tell is by their texture. If it's firm and rubbery and mobile, it might be active fighting off an infection. But it's a good active. If it's hard like a rock and irregular and fixed in place, that's not a good sign. Another way you can tell is if there's an associated symptom. If you find a swollen node in someone who's otherwise acting healthy, It's generally a good thing. It's helping keep them healthy. But if they're having fevers or night sweats or weight loss, it's a reason to pay more attention. And lastly size does matter. Anyone that's over a cm in diameter, a little less than half an inch, that's truly enlarged, and should be checked and followed by a physician. But if it's big, but under .4" or under 1 cm, it's actually technically not enlarged. It may be something you've never felt before. It may be bigger than it was before. But that's fine. That's a good thing. So a pea-sized lymph node is something you can relax about unless it rapidly grows beyond that.