I went to the doctor yesterday because of a terrible pain which started at my jaw line and went all the way down my neck. He told met that my salivitory glands and lymph nodes were inflamed, gave me some antibitoics and pain-killers and sent me on my way. I didn't get a chance to ask him...what causes this sort of thing? Can I prevent it in the future? It really really hurts!

http://www.sinuscarecenter.com/salivaao.html

see if this helps answer some of your concerns and questions for you. It is usually caused by sometype of an infection..

various things can cause salivary glands to become inflamed; viral or bacterial infections are not real rare. If it responds to the treatment, it's probably not something to worry about. It's if it doesn't go away that other things need checking out. Sometime there can actually be stones in the glands, from dried out saliva. Persisting lumps in the glands also need to be evaluated for tumor: but I wouldn't get excited about that at all for now, especially because pain typically implies infection. Prevention? Keeping well-hydrated, keeping saliva flowing. Sucking on lemon candies, for example.