Hi folks I am gonna chime in here cause I have recently had surgery and was told that radiation was not needed. Anyway I was just wondering how someone can tell if it a muscle that is tight from a neck dissection, scar tissue from neck dissection or a enflamed or swollen node. I have just recently been self massaging the area and well just noticed this can't see anything cause the area is still swollen. I am probably just jumping to conclusions but I am hyper cancer sensitive. I guess I am just curious if there is a noticable difference. I think it is too early after my surgery to tell.