Swollen glands ....?

When my daughter eats, a gland swells up. It seems like it could be something to do with her tonsils. Only one gland swells, just under her jaw bone into the soft bit of her neck. It swells more with some foods than others but I can't work out the common factor. Any ideas / experiences? We saw a nurse who said try and keep a record of food eaten and come back in a month.

The nurse did talk about a possible problem with a saliva gland but she thought the swelling was too low down and pointed more towards the tonsils being the culprit. however, as it happens with eating the salivery gland makes sense.
Could it be something as common as salt? That's the only connection I've managed to make so far as it was swollen after crisps and chinese chow mein !

Sounds like a blocked salivary duct.

There are several ducts in each salivary gland - each one is affected more by different types of food - so acid, salt, sweet etc. The reason to try to establish which foods cause the swelling is to give some guidance to which gland may be blocked.

Way back when I had this (many years ago so hopefully medicine has moved on!) I had to have one of the ducts removed. It hasn't caused any problems since - but they were unable to treat it in situ as they needed to explore to find out which duct was the problem!

Mine was especially kicked off by acid foods (and this (strangely) included cheese!)

sounds like the sublingual gland is swelling. it really sounds like an allergic reaction to me. so keeping track of any food and beverages consumed is a good idea though it does take some time to narrow down what's causing it. i would start by cutting out any extraneous snacks or beverages like candy, soda, etc...and then go from there by subtracting something from the diet until it goes away then deduce from there.

she could also have some kind of obstruction or area around the gland that gets blocked when she eats. the actually physical chewing of food may aggravate the gland and keep it from draining properly.

If it's the submandibular gland: Obstruction to the flow of saliva most commonly occurs in the parotid and submandibular glands, usually due to stone formation. Symptoms typically occur when eating. Saliva production is initiated, but cannot exit the ductal system, leading to swelling of the involved gland and significant pain, sometimes with an infection.
If stones are not totally obstructive, the major glands will swell during eating and then gradually subside after eating, only to enlarge again at the next meal. Infection often develops in the abnormally pooled saliva, leading to more severe pain and swelling in the glands. If untreated long enough, the glands may become abscessed.

In some individuals the duct system of the major salivary glands may be abnormal. These ducts can develop small constrictions which decrease salivary flow, leading to infection and obstructive symptoms.

The worst possible scenario is that it's a tumor, but i doubt it. I've had my sublingual gland swell up before. She could try "milking" the gland by rubbing the gland with the fingertips in one direction (down) to try to push out some of the blockage. Hope this helps!

my sister has had a similar problem. However, It began on one side of the face, had a gap week then same problem persisted to the other side of the face.The swelling continued to behind the ear aswell.

After numerous doctors visits, they could not pin point the problem and it went away on its own,eventually lasting about 4-7 days.

Taking ibruprofren help the pain around the jaw and stopped the swelling.

My sister suggests soft food, and ibruprofren and the swelling will go away on its own.
Doctors advise that after a week of severe swelling to return and they can do certain scans accross the faced.