Difficulty Swallowing, Sore Throat and Sustained Fever
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Did you ever experience this illness? Your throat is sore and swollen and swallowing is difficult, accompanied by fever, coughing or stuffy nose - the symptoms of cold. However, the doctor diagnosed that you have tonsillitis and not just a cold. How does tonsillitis attack you? How to cure or prevent it by yourself? This article will answer these questions.
What is tonsillitis?
Tonsillitis is a non-specific inflammation in the tonsillar fossa (two oval pads facing into the aerodigestive tract), which is the most common ear, nose and throat disease at a young age, typically occurring in spring and autumn.
Here are some facts about tonsillitis:
• The cause is closely related to viruses or bacteria, mainly in the form of a hemolytic streptococcal infection.
• Depending on the attacking form, tonsillitis can be divided into two types: acute tonsillitis and chronic tonsillitis.
• Normally, tonsils form a line of defence against viruses and bacteria that enter through the nose and throat and thus play a role in protecting the body.
• Modern medicine indicates that tonsils, the pharyngeal lymphoid tissue, grow increasingly from the age of 4 or 5 years, but shrink from the age of 12, as the body begins to build a complete immune system against viruses and bacteria. This means that tonsils play a minimal role in protection from the age of 12. However, with the incomplete immune system and shrinking tonsils, the teenager is more susceptible to tonsillitis than other groups.
• Children are susceptible to tonsillitis because the defence function of tonsils decreases when they catch a cold, causing the bacteria hidden in the mouth, lymph, nose, and external environment to invade tonsils, causing inflammation.
• It is important to get a prompt and accurate diagnosis because acute tonsillitis can develop into chronic tonsillitis without proper treatment. Moreover, chronic tonsillitis can trigger nephritis, heart disease, rheumatism, and other systemic diseases.
Main Symptoms
1. Acute tonsillitis
In mild cases these are:
• Sore throat
• Low fever
• Fatigue
• Poor appetite
In some serious cases, the inflammation can lead to:
• Difficult or painful swallowing
• Aversion to cold (shivering)
• High fever (38℃-40℃/100.4℉-104℉)
• Obvious hyperemia (red and swollen tonsils)
• Pus (white or yellow coating or patches) on the tonsils
When children have a high fever, they may experience vomiting, cramps and dizziness at the same time.
2. Chronic tonsillitis
• Dry and scratchy throat
• Feeling of obstruction in the throat
• Accompanied by acute tonsillitis history
Complications
1. Local complications of tonsillitis include:
• Acute otitis (signs and symptoms of acute inflammation in the middle ear)
• Rhinitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the nose)
• Pharyngitis (inflammation of the back of the throat)
• Lymphadenitis (enlargement of lymph nodes) in the neck
• Peritonsillar abscess (pus around the tonsils)
2. Systemic complications include:
• Rheumatism
• Acute glomerulonephritis (a type of kidney disease)
• Septicemia (blood poisoning)
• Arthrosis (joint disease)
• Skin diseases (like psoriasis)
• Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)
• Asthma
Cause of tonsillitis
There are several reasons why tonsillitis occurs. The following factors are closely related.
1. Tonsillitis can be caused by other illnesses like flu and scarlet fever. The pathogen, spread through droplets or direct contact, hides in the tonsillar cavity. As soon as the immune function weakens during exhaustion or cold, the pathogens multiply rapidly and trigger tonsillitis.
2. Infection by viruses and bacteria. The invasion of bacteria (such as Streptococcus and Staphylococcus), common viruses (such as influenza and HIV), and the accumulation of secretion easily induce tonsillitis.
3. The incurable acute tonsillitis. If an acute tonsillitis lasts for a long time or is not treated immediately, the symptoms may develop into chronic tonsillitis.
4. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, when the agent of wind and heat enters the body through the nose and mouth, they attack the Lung Meridian and Stomach Meridian and present themselves in the throat in the form of tonsillar inflammation. The second common cause is the excessive accumulation of heat or toxin in the lungs or stomach, plus insufficient body fluid, which causes the balance of yin and yang to be disrupted and excessive yang to prevail, often causing inflammation in the tonsils.
Treatment of tonsillitis
1. Drug therapy
People who have acute tonsillitis should be isolated because of their specific risk of infection. Streptococci, a group of bacteria, is the most common source of infection. In some cases, patients taking antibiotics or sulfonamide medications make a good recovery. Normally, penicillin is the first recommended medicine for you, but if you are allergic to penicillin, erythromycin and lincomycin are suitable for you. Also, if you feel sore throughout your body with high fever, analgesic and antipyretic like aspirin will help you reduce the fever and relieve the pain. In addition to medicine, if you rest well, have regular bowel movements, drink more water, and use liquid food, you can recover in about one week.
Patients with chronic tonsillitis need to prepare for long-term treatment. For example, keep the mouth clean. Try to clean your teeth before going to sleep, rinse your mouth after meals, which may reduce the risk of bacterial infection. The explicit methods include:
• Rinse the mouth with light brine after meals and before going to sleep, 5 minutes each time.
• Take vitamin C. If the patient has a weak immune system and a frequent onset of tonsillitis, they should take the special medications prescribed by doctors that can improve immune function. Do not abuse an anti-inflammatory drug unless acute tonsillitis occurs.
2. Surgery therapy
To prevent the serious complications by tonsillitis, tonsillectomy (a surgical procedure to remove tonsils) has become popular in many countries. However, with the recognition of the immune function of the tonsils, this operation has been controversially discussed in recent years, so that the tonsillectomy has decreased in comparison to earlier. People doubt the surgical complications, efficiency, and effects of immune function. Medical researchers say tonsils participate in the humoral immunity and cellular immunity that B-lymphocytes can produce to bind different immunoglobulins. In this situation, some people say that removing tonsils can impact part of the immunity, although there is no effect on systemic immunisation. However, if the following symptoms occur, tonsillectomy is an effective method for you.
• Tonsils are very swollen and hinder breathing and swallowing.
• The frequent occurrence of acute tonsillitis over five times per year with peritonsillar abscess history.
• Long-lasting low fever, but no other illness besides tonsillitis.
• Nephritis and rheumatism caused by tonsillitis.
3. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapy
Tonsillitis is common among junior and senior students in boarding schools, especially in summer and autumn. According to TCM, the tonsillitis is triggered by the pathogen of wind and heat. Therefore the treatment should be based on the principle of dispersing the wind and the heat, which benefits the throat and the detoxification.
1) The first formula
Ingredients: radish (250g), olives (5g), honeysuckle (20g).
Directions:
• Put the crushed olives and honeysuckle in the gauze bag.
• Put the gauze bag and the radish in the water and cook to a soup.
• Sprinkle with salt and drink twice a day.
2) The second formula
Ingredients: carrot (100g), olives (50g), Taraxacum(15g), rice (50g)
Directions:
• Mince the carrot, olives, and Taraxacum and pack into the gauze bag.
• Stew the above bag with water for about 20 minutes, then filter the juice.
• Boil rice with the juice twice a day to diluted porridge.
4. Diet therapy
1) All foods should comply with the following guidelines:
• Easy digestion
• Contains high-quality protein
• Contains many vitamins
For example:
• Soy Milk: The high-quality protein in soybeans helps you to improve immunity and increase disease resistance. Drink 350-500ml a day.
• Lemons: Lemons are full of vitamin C, vitamin A, and microelements that are good for removing harmful heat, dissolving phlegm and stopping coughing. Soak a lemon in water and drink 350-500ml per day.
2) Prohibitive foods include:
• Spicy food
• Oily food
• Junk food
For example:
• Pepper tends to stimulate the tonsils and aggravate the swallowing pain, causing the tonsils to swell and become congestive.
• Fatty meat contains high levels of fatty acid that provide a nourishing environment for bacterial growth. This can stimulate the pharynx to secrete mucus and worsen the symptoms.
Prevention of tonsillitis
1. Strengthening disease resistance is the key to curing tonsillitis.
2. First treat other chronic diseases, such as rhinitis and sinusitis, because these diseases can be exacerbated by the onset of tonsillitis.
3. People with chronic tonsillitis should follow a healthy lifestyle. For example:
• Get enough sleep
• Wear suitable clothing according to the weather conditions
• Remove dampness in the room
• Children should not be picky eaters or overeating
4. Continue to exercise and improve your ability to defeat diseases. However, avoid excessive exercise.
5. Stopping smoking and drinking alcohol is important to prevent chronic tonsillitis.
6. Treat acute tonsillitis with radical treatment to prevent further problems.
7. Prevent infectious diseases and epidemics. If tonsillitis attacks with high fever, you should drink liquid food and rub the body with ethyl alcohol to lower the temperature.
8. Keep the room well ventilated. Tonsils are sensitive to dust or stimulating substances. Therefore, you should immediately wear a breathing mask if you suffer from tonsillitis.
9. Try to recover well, drink enough water and build up the habit of regular bowel movements.
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