pain in front part of neck - help?

I know this is really not the place to ask (since I am not gonna get diagnosed or anything, only a pro. can do that) but I'd like to know if anyone had this happen to them and if so the reasons why and what can be done to relieve it (or if I should be worried about this for real).

I've been having neck discomforts for a few weeks..all in the front part of the neck...like a pressure or something..some days I wouldnt feel it, or feel it sporadically, and other days well..I would basicly have that discomfort all day long. I also noticed that my neck was slightly tense and a bit swollen, but only on one side of the neck..the other side was perfectly normal. The neck is slightly swollen from the upper part, right below the ear, all the way to the front, close to the adam's apple and down almost to the collar bone...like if that entire muscle was swollen..I always sleep to one side so I decided to change that becaus sometimes I would wake up in the exact same position I had when I fell asleep.

Anyways..

these past two days, after feeling a minor relieve sort of, from the neck discomfort and such I was experiencing, I have this horrible pressure feeling and a bit of pain on the middle-bottom part of my neck, right in between the collar bone where the gap is. It bothers me specialy when I talk, and is causing some minor chest pains, and also pressure. It also runs all the way up to the top of my neck, like mostly the throat, its really weird.

any ideas? lol I bet Ill get no answers but at least I tried.

IF any one had this happen please let me know. Hopefully the doctor will have an answer for me tomorrow.

thanks in advance.

Glad you're going to see your doctor.

Either it's a skeletal/muscular problem ... a stiff neck, poor posture, sciatica, whiplash, muscle spasm etc. .... in which case heat, relaxation and muscle-relaxing painkillers (Ibuprofen, for example) would be the way to treat it.

OR.... it's an internal problem..... swollen glands (infection-fighting response to virus), localised inflammation in the throat/oesophagus, acid reflux, goitre (malfunctioning thyroid gland) etc .... in which case you may need antibiotics or other medical treatment. 

My bet would be it's something in the latter category.... most probably the swollen glands.  Have you had mumps or been immunised against them?

no that I know of...I couldnt see my doctor today ( I might try calling though as soon as Im done typing this)...Im getting worried its my thyroid :S Ive always been scared of having a thyroid disease but the last time I got my TSH levels checked they were on the low end of the normal range...so it wasnt even high normal... Its been a few months..maybe 4 or so....should I get them checked again? lol my doctor is gonna get annoyed at me for this...

anyway thanks for the response.

Who cares if your dr. gets annoyed at you? If you're in pain, you're in pain. You need to see them. If your dr. is brushing you off, maybe you should investigate seeing another dr. Heck, you could probably stay at the same office and if you run into your regular dr. just say it was a scheduling conflict and you needed to be seen right away or something.

Sometimes you really need to be vigilant about your health. The drs. always look at the most likely conclusion first and if you're still not better, they expand from there. Keep at it! I went to my dr. with one symptom of fatigue. Could be anything, right? Well....they ran all sorts of tests and finally decided to do a full physical because I swore something was wrong and turns out that I had mono...So, please, try to come out of there feeling better than before you went in.

Keep us updated

thank you so much. You're right.

I have to wait til thursday though, which sucks a lot since this concerns me a great deal..and Im the type of gal who just wont sit still and keep her cool if I feel there's something wrong, and I can't/don't know what it is.

Doctor's here in spain are horrible...I know that I shouldn't care about my dr. getting annoyed...but I've been to her office asking for my thyroid checked a couple of times...but now my dad who;s a doctor, but sadly lives far away, told me to go back in, and tell them a little white lie, so that I can get a test done that he wants me to get, just to make extra sure taht everything's alright.

Im going in on wenesday though and see if they can see me before my appointment...Im keeping my fingers crossed for this...

wish me luck :(