# swelling behind jaw in 3.y.o, is it mumps?



## ShareBear (Sep 14, 2007)

My 3 year old woke up this morning with a swelling behind his jaw on one side. It's just below his ear. On the normal side you can feel the corner of his little jaw bone, but on the swollen side it's obscured by the swelling. He says it hurts and doesn't like me to touch it. It's not a really distinct lump like I'm used to feeling with a swollen lymph node--and it's a little broader. If you look at his face straight on, the swelling on one side is pretty distinct.

He just got over a cold...the flu was going around but he had only a mild fever and runny nose for a couple of days, so I'm not sure that he had the flu, maybe just a mild cold. He didn't complain about his jaw or neck while he was sick. He's been better for a couple of days now.

Any ideas? I'm wondering about mumps? We used to do the regular vaccine schedule with him, so he's had one MMR shot but not the whole series.

He doesn't seem terribly out of sorts, running around and playing as usual, just complains about pain below his ear, especially when he eats

My initial reaction was to call the doctor and they said to bring him in this afternoon. But I would be more than happy to cancel that appointment if I felt like I had a pretty good idea what was wrong with him. I'm just nervous because I don't know what it is.

ETA oh yeah he also has a really rough and growly voice this morning and keeps clearing his throat. I'm pretty sure that he just has some mucus in his throat, but part of me worries that the swelling is obstructing his airway.


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## ShareBear (Sep 14, 2007)

Update: the side of his face is completely swollen, like a chipmunk. The other side looks normal. He doesn't feel that warm to the touch, but he says he's "very very cold", so I'm guessing he's running a mild fever (I can't find my thermometer). He's acting very sluggish and keeps complaining that it hurts under his ear. He fell asleep very early (6:15 p.m.)

His dad took him to the doctor, who said it's not mumps and it's not a swollen lymph node. He said that either of those would produce a firm mass--I guess with mumps that would be the saliva glands?--and there isn't a firm mass, just the general swelling.

So the doctor thinks it's some kind of subcutaneous skin infection??? This makes no sense to me. What kind of skin infection makes the side of one's face swell up like that? And how would he have gotten a skin infection? He has no abrasions, cuts, etc. where bacteria could have entered. The doc prescribed an antibiotic. I gave him one dose but now I'm second-guessing myself. I hate to give him antibiotics when I don't know for sure what's wrong with him.

Anyone here dealt with mumps before? Or strange skin infections that make one's face swell up?


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## amcal (Jan 13, 2003)

I'm not big on antibiotics but something like that and I would do it. It's close to the brain, eyes etc... I would do the antibiotics.

He doesn't have to have a cut or abrasion to get a bacterial infection.


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## Gitti (Dec 20, 2003)

I would never give abx unless I knew exactly what bacteria we are treating. This is most likely not a bacteria. *If it is mumps (which I think it is) abx could be damaging.* It is irresponsible of the doctor to prescribe abx when he has no clue what he is treating.

My three kids had mumps and one of the kids had it only on one side and it sounds exactly what you described. Swelling and not like a lump. Just swelling in front of the ear and down into the throat.

I will look for some pictures.

Here is a picture of a kid with mumps on both sides -
http://pediatrics.about.com/library/...s/bl_mumps.htm

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/photos/mumpiac001.jpg

And that is exactly how my son looked when he had it. He was skinny and the swelling was very noticeable. I really don't understand why the doctor told you it would be a firm mass?

We used a scarf to hold the swelling up a bit, he said that felt better. He did not eat for a few days but drank lots of juice with vita C. He did cry from time to time but it didn't last all that long.

My two girls had it a lot milder. Neither ever cried. They were playing and only when we touched the area did they say it hurt. Neither ate a lot but other wise were fine.

*Mumps and how to treat it -* by Dr. Mendelsohn


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## ShareBear (Sep 14, 2007)

Thanks for the responses. My son looks pretty much like the pictures you posted, Gitti, except it's just on one side. I have a question. When you say that the antibiotics could be damaging if it is mumps, do you mean just in the general sense that antibiotics are hard on the gut, or are the antibiotics specifically damaging for a kid with mumps? If the latter, I would like to learn more--if you have any links where I could read up on it, I would love to see them. The Dr. Mendelsohn's link was very helpful, by the way, though it didn't mention anything about antibiotics.

If it's mumps: is it highly contagious? (I can't think where he would have gotten it...) Can I pretty much count on my one-year-old getting it too? My older son had one MMR shot at age 2 (maybe that's why the doc assumed it couldn't be mumps?) but the younger one has not had any of the MMR series (probably won't).

Also, if it's mumps, I'm worried about the kids I provide childcare for. Their [very mainstream] parents would be so not thrilled if I gave their kids mumps. Actually their 3 year old is fully immunized, so I guess she wouldn't get it, but they also have a 6 month old who obviously wouldn't have been vaccinated for it yet. Should I be concerned? I read that kids under one don't usually get it, but we're all in fairly close quarters with one another during the day (and my son is so not good about catching his sneezes yet).

From what I can see, there are two things that would tell me for sure that it's mumps: one, if it spread to the other side within 10-12 days, and two, if my other son got it within 2-3 weeks.

Shoot, I'm supposed to travel in 2 weeks. Hmmm.


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## attachedmamaof3 (Dec 2, 2006)

Mumps is a virus.

Antibiotics treat bacteria.

I think what Gitti is referencing is aspirin and mumps.


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## Gitti (Dec 20, 2003)

Mumps is a virus and so abx serve no purpose and can only damage the gut. (Sorry if I sounded confusing.) It would be too bad if he got abx when it's only the mumps he is fighting off. A gut issue is not something he wants on top of getting rid of a mumps virus.

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If it's mumps: is it highly contagious? (I can't think where he would have gotten it...) Can I pretty much count on my one-year-old getting it too?
I do think there is something about mumps that kids generally get it after age two. Maybe from still having passive immunity and protection from mommy? Can't remember.

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My older son had one MMR shot at age 2 (maybe that's why the doc assumed it couldn't be mumps?)
That is what they go by unfortunately. Vaccines cause a huge amount of misdiagnosing. We know that for a fact with wc.

Quote:

Also, if it's mumps, I'm worried about the kids I provide childcare for. Their [very mainstream] parents would be so not thrilled if I gave their kids mumps. Actually their 3 year old is fully immunized, so I guess she wouldn't get it, but they also have a 6 month old who obviously wouldn't have been vaccinated for it yet. Should I be concerned?
I think you should let them know for sure. In my generation, my neighbors brought their kids over and it was not a concern. But things are different now...

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From what I can see, there are two things that would tell me for sure that it's mumps: one, if it spread to the other side within 10-12 days, and two, if my other son got it within 2-3 weeks.
Not necessarily. My oldest child only had it on one side and never got it on the other side, while my littlest one had wee bit of swelling on both sides (I wasn't even sure there was swelling at all but she complained of pain) and my middle child had huge swelling on both sides. And they definitely had the mumps. Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood had it back then.


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## ShareBear (Sep 14, 2007)

Oh, I didn't mean that those things would for sure happen if it is mumps, just that if those things did happen, I would know that it for sure was mumps (and not a bacterial infection). I hope that makes more sense.

His little brother (one year old) may be coming down with the same thing now. He doesn't have any swelling (or if he does, it's hard to see, because he's much chubbier), but he is fussing like he's in pain, he has no appetite, and he has a fever.

I let my childcare family know what was going on, and they are keeping their girls home today. I'm taking the boys in for a mumps test this afternoon. I'm not particularly concerned with an "official" diagnosis myself, but I do want to be able to tell my daycare family what's going on.

I read last night that some strains of the flu can cause parotitis (swelling of salivary glands) like mumps, and the flu has been going around here, so that would be the other possibility.


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