Lung Cancer Symptom In The Face You Might Not Recognize Right Away

Lung cancer is one of the top five most serious and common cancer types. In the UK, approximately 47,000 people are diagnosed as suffering from the condition each year. Like all cancer types, there is no available cure at the moment, so identifying its symptoms early on is very important.

Symptoms of lung cancer oftentimes appear only in the later stages or when cancer has already progressed. There are some lung cancer symptoms, however, that appears not related to the deadly ailment. The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation reveals one such seemingly unrelated symptom.

A Seemingly Unrelated Symptom

According to the sole lung cancer charity in the UK, the symptom may manifest in the sufferer’s face. The charity revealed that most people often think a swollen face may be the result of an allergic reaction. This may be true to some degree, but such condition may also have been due to a superior vena cava obstruction, a condition usually caused by lung cancer.

The lung cancer foundation said that superior vena cava is a huge vein found in the chest. It transports blood from the upper half of your body into the heart. A superior vena cava obstruction happens when something prevents the blood from flowing. This is caused by lung cancer growth, which is situated near the vein.

The cancerous growth may be exerting pressure on the vein, or it may have even spread to nearby lymph nodes. Such blockages can result in the swelling of the face.

Other Symptoms

In many instances, swelling may also occur in your neck. You may also experience clubbing in your fingers. Finger clubbing is when the look of your fingers change, becoming more curvy with the ends appearing to be larger than the rest of the fingers.

Clubbing is another sign which may not be recognized by everyone right away. In fact, some may not even relate it to lung cancer. Studies have shown, however, that clubbing is oftentimes the result of lung cancer and other types of heart diseases. This happens when there is an insufficient amount of oxygen in your blood.

Loss of appetite and weight loss without dieting is another symptom of lung cancer. While losing weight is generally considered as good, unexplained weight loss of ten pounds or more should be a cause for concern. Such weight loss often happens to people suffering from stomach, esophagus, pancreas, and lung cancer.

Other symptoms include a cough that does not go away even after two or three weeks, persistent cough that worsens with time, and coughing up blood. Some patients experience persistent breathlessness, a constant lack of energy and tiredness, as well as chest infections that keep on coming back. It is recommended that you see your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms.