Will My Kid Require A Tonsillectomy?

By Lisa Radice

Is tonsillitis life-threatening to your child? In most cases, no. However in the case of chronic tonsillitis, it can really make your child extremely miserable. Severe cases bring about a very painful sore throat and swollen glands at the back of the mouth, reducing the size of the throat cavity. High fevers usually follow leaving your child bedridden for days.

Tonsillitis generally begins with your child complaining that their throat hurts and they suffer from a loss of appetite. As the infection sets in, a high fever generally ensues and this goes on for a day, at most two. If you inspect your child’s throat, you will most likely see inflamed and red or purple throat opening (a normal throat is usually reddish pink in color). You might also discover puss-covered and overly-enlarged glands if the infection is bad enough. In the case of severe tonsillitis, your child may suffer from a loss of voice due to the swollen glands. Some children have minor breathing difficulties because of the swelling and thus have an uneasy periods of sleep.

While most cases of tonsillitis do not last more than a few days and is more of a nuisance than being dangerous, there are a few things you need to do in order to avoid further health complications with your child. First of all, give your child paracetamol to keep the fever under control and if she runs an extremely high temperature, get her to the doctor immediately. During this period of recovery she might not have much of an appetite, so be sure your child drinks plenty of fluid to keep her body hydrated (fevers cause plenty of fluid loss due to sweating). During this time, feeding your child oil-free and soft foods like yogurt are a good idea, and avoid any deep fried food like potato chips as they can cause further irritation to the throat and make her even more miserable than she already is. Tonsillitis can be contagious and may spread through fluid exchange, so avoid kissing your child or sharing drinks or food during this period.

In general, the symptoms only lasts for a few days at most but if it persists, you will need to take your child to your doctor. For severe cases of tonsillitis, your doctor will normally prescribe the child with a dose of antibiotics (for bacterial-based infections). The treatment will thereby run its course for about a week wherein your child should be well recovered. It is important that your child completes his or her dose of antibiotics however or it might not be quite as effective the next time another dose is required. If the symptoms persists after this time, your doctor will either prescribe a stronger dose of antibiotics or suggest other alternatives such as surgical removal of the tonsils, and this procedure is called “tonsillectomy”. The doctor will need to run a few tests to determine if it is absolutely necessary because tonsillectomies are expensive and most children do not require it. As they grow older their condition generally improves.

If the infection is viral, there is nothing you or your doctor can do except to let the virus run it’s course and in the meantime boost your child’s immune system with strong doses of vitamin c. In the event of a viral throat infection, expect the severity of the symptoms to subside after about 5 to 7 days. Meanwhile, it is important that your child gets adequate rest during this time whilst refraining from vigorous activity. Make sure she drinks plenty of water as well to keep from dehydrating as high fevers generally cause lots of fluid-loss.

As mentioned before, tonsils play an important part to the body’s immune system but sometimes the bacteria can work its way in so deep into the tonsils that they lie dormant there only to thrive again when the antibiotics wear off. The great thing about having a tonsillectomy is that sore throats will be a thing of the past for your child and re-infections will be unlikely for the rest of his life. The minor surgery will usually be performed under general anesthesia so your child will be unconscious during the whole procedure, and the whole thing is over and done with pretty quickly. The tonsils are simply removed by cutting them off at the back of the mouth. Usually the operation will not be performed during an infection or right after, as this could increase the risk of bleeding or bruising.

While the tonsillectomy is a quick procedure, your child might or might not be required to be hospitalized overnight depending on his or her condition and if the anesthesia has worn off or not. Be prepared as your child might cry a lot because of the exposed flesh in the wounded area – it will really hurt to swallow anything, even liquids. It will take approximately 7 to 10 days for the pain to subside.

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Topics: Health and Fitness | Comments Off

Tags: advise, health, Health and Fitness, illnesses, kids health, sore throat, tonsillitis

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