I spent a long weekend out-of-town and got the mumps. I got home Sunday with a hard, painful swelling under my right ear.


© AndrewEick



Obviously I didn't get the mumps vaccine when I was a baby because I contacted the mumps several times when I was a young child. According to my mother, the last time I got the mumps was when I was 5 years old.

Now, at age 35 (yesterday was my birthday!), I got awful mumps. I am just thankful that I only have it on one side!

Well, this is what I get for going out. Who knows who I bump into who has got the mumps virus? Like the flu, i can "inhale" it from air droplets.

Mumps is a viral infection that primarily affects the parotid glands - one of three pairs of salivary glands, located below and in front of your ears. If you or your child contracts mumps, it can cause swelling in one or both parotid glands.

Complications of mumps are potentially serious, but rare - and your odds of contracting mumps aren't very high. Mumps was common until the mumps vaccine was licensed in the 1960s.

Mayo Clinic has a comprehensive, easy to understand, complete resource information on mumps.