When I woke up yesterday I my neck felt sore. A I tried to massage it, I felt that it was somewhat swollen at the base, where the neck meets the skull. I instantly thought of lymph nodes, and when I googled to check if I remembered my anatomy correctly, I found out that indeed, there are the occipital lymph nodes.
Along with the charts of the lymph system, Google provided me with articles about a slightly alarming topic; Hodgkin's lymphoma. I read through some and came to the conclusion that even if I did have this type of cancer, it was the one with the best chance of recovery and survival. But the symptoms didn't quite match, so I searched on. Suddenly it hit me, for about two weeks my scalp had been itching a lot more than usual, so I added it to the list and googled once again.
This time I came across something that scared me more than the prospect of having cancer. Many an article stated that an itchy scalp in combination with swollen lymph nodes might be lice, dust mites, ringworm and other nasty things that have no business in my hair. Of course, just thinking about these parasites made my head prickle all the worse and I had to run to the nearest mirror to check if I could see something crawling around in my hair, or if I could find bites of any kind. I did not, but I called my public health nurse asap nevertheless.
She checked my scalp thoroughly and found nothing. My scalp was really dry though, and that's when it hit me. I had been to the hairdresser a couple a weeks ago, when the itching began, so most likely I just had a bad reaction to the the color or something. She told me to give my skin lots of moisture and try a hydrocortisone lotion and come back if it didn't help.
I feel sort of silly now afterwards, though. The possibility of having cancer didn't scare my half as much as the thought of having a parasite of some kind (oh how I hate those suckers!). It's odd how irrational you become when you get frightened. But after this, I think I need to sort out my priorities..
Has anyone else been in a similar situation?
Along with the charts of the lymph system, Google provided me with articles about a slightly alarming topic; Hodgkin's lymphoma. I read through some and came to the conclusion that even if I did have this type of cancer, it was the one with the best chance of recovery and survival. But the symptoms didn't quite match, so I searched on. Suddenly it hit me, for about two weeks my scalp had been itching a lot more than usual, so I added it to the list and googled once again.
This time I came across something that scared me more than the prospect of having cancer. Many an article stated that an itchy scalp in combination with swollen lymph nodes might be lice, dust mites, ringworm and other nasty things that have no business in my hair. Of course, just thinking about these parasites made my head prickle all the worse and I had to run to the nearest mirror to check if I could see something crawling around in my hair, or if I could find bites of any kind. I did not, but I called my public health nurse asap nevertheless.
She checked my scalp thoroughly and found nothing. My scalp was really dry though, and that's when it hit me. I had been to the hairdresser a couple a weeks ago, when the itching began, so most likely I just had a bad reaction to the the color or something. She told me to give my skin lots of moisture and try a hydrocortisone lotion and come back if it didn't help.
I feel sort of silly now afterwards, though. The possibility of having cancer didn't scare my half as much as the thought of having a parasite of some kind (oh how I hate those suckers!). It's odd how irrational you become when you get frightened. But after this, I think I need to sort out my priorities..
Has anyone else been in a similar situation?
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
