What is tonsillitis

Understanding what is tonsillitis

This article briefly discusses what is tonsillitis so that next time whenever you have any sort of throat infections, you can better identify the disease. It is a condition in which the tonsils get inflamed, due to a bacterial or a viral invasion. Our tonsils are made of lymphatic tissues, when these glands get inflamed; the patient is in immense pain and have difficulty in swallowing anything. These lymphatic tissues are located in both sides of our throats and around the tongue, when these glands get contaminated with virus or bacteria the result is inflammation and swelling which we know as tonsillitis.

In order to understand what is tonsillitis; you need to understand its subcategories which are: acute, sub-acute or chronic. The acute tonsillitis can be either viral or bacterial. The virus responsible for this type of inflammation is Epstein-Barr, sub-acute is strictly bacterial caused by streptococcal bacteria, whereas; the chronic one lasts a long time and is caused by bacterial infections again. In the first two cases the inflammation can sometimes go away on its own, without taking any particular treatment. However, the last type is the most painful one and as the symptoms last a long time usually antibiotics are prescribed by doctors to get rid of it. Although, anyone can get this condition but children aged between 5 – 15 years are more prone to it. As it can be either bacterial or viral it happens to be contagious, so closed crowded spaces such as school, day care facilities, gym are all the places where you can catch the disease. The spreading starts when an infected person sneezes or coughs and the other person breathes in those infected droplets. Our tonsils try to fight what is breathed in through the mouth and nose but as more white blood cells get accumulated on them, it causes the tonsils to swell up. Off course the strength of a person’s immune system plays a vital role at this point.

The symptoms of tonsillitis are quite similar to that of sore throat or a common cold, so naturally you ask what is tonsillitis and how do we distinguish tonsillitis from similar infections. A person may have fever accompanied by headache, difficulty in swallowing, hoarseness or complete loss of voice, sneezing and coughing, enlargement of the lymph nodes. Understanding what is tonsillitis helps you to differentiate it with other infections. The main difference is that the tonsils become red and swollen and have white patches on them. It is these swollen patchy tonsils that help a physician to diagnose correctly. However, a physician may do further tests such as CBC, or take throat swab to determine the root of the infection; as it can be either viral or bacterial.

Now that you know what is tonsillitis, you need to know that the treatment options vary from simply doing nothing to surgery, depending upon the patient’s condition. Apart from taking medicines; gargling with salt water, drinking tea, sucking on lozenges all provide relieve to the patients. You can control your condition by altering your diet and looking for natural ways to fight the recurring swollen tonsils.

Signs of tonsillitis

What are they?

School going children are more prone to all sorts of illnesses and throat infections. As they are always in contact with other children in closed spaces, they are more likely to get effected by all sorts of contagious infections. This is why young children show signs of tonsillitis more than older children or teenagers. With their care free and active life styles it is not possible for parents to follow them everywhere. However, parents should learn how to identify such signs so they can give their children the appropriate treatment.

Some parents are unable to identify signs of tonsillitis and may misunderstand it for sore throat or common cold and end up giving the child wrong medicine. While both the treatments and symptoms of tonsillitis and other throat infections may be similar, there are specific treatments required at times which require parents to understand these signs. The contagious disease causes the tonsils to become inflamed. This inflammation is usually the first sign, accompanied by tonsils becoming swollen and they may have appearance of whitish yellow spots on them. As the child catches this infection mostly he or she gets a high fever. But if your child is running a high fever it does not necessarily means he has tonsillitis. Parents should know other signs of tonsillitis too to understand the disease better. Although fever is the first sign read on to know some of the other signs.

You should start with administering your child’s fever. If the child has a continuous fever which goes over 101F, it means the lymph nodes in your child’s throat are swollen. Other accompanying signs of tonsillitis are that your child may complain of fatigue or being tired even if he or she has not been active. The fatigue is accompanied by severe headaches or a heavy head. Some kids might even complain of abdominal pain or cramps. This might make a child lose his / her appetite. Since he is already having difficulty in swallowing this abdominal pains makes a child completely abandon food, and thus increases the weaknesses. Since the child’s lymph nodes get swollen, they hurt when touched. If you feel the sides of your child’s neck, they might twitch as the nodes become tender to touch. If you ask your child to open their mouth you can easily see the swollen tonsils, and if you see them covered with white substance it means your child’s tonsils have accumulated pus. This gives your child foul breath. But don’t get scared of the pus. It might seem very painful and hard to tackle, but if your child is diagnosed in time and starts getting the right treatment you have nothing to worry about. Your child would be fine within a few days. Apart from the medicine prescribed by your doctor, you can do several things at home for your child to provide relief from the pain.

Above mentioned are some of the most obvious and common signs of tonsillitis. These are enough for you to distinguish between tonsillitis and other throat infections.

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