Inflammation Of The Tonsils (tonsils) - What To Do? Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Inflammation of the glands: treatment methods

The tonsils belong to the organs of the human immune system, they meet and detain microorganisms inhaled with the air, therefore they often become inflamed.

Most often, the pathological process on the tonsils is acute. The disease begins with a sharp sore throat when swallowing, general weakness, and an increase in body temperature. Some patients complain of aches, chills, headache. Submandibular lymph nodes in patients are usually enlarged and painful on palpation.

The inflammatory process should not be ignored, as this leads to serious complications. The disease can turn into a chronic form, which is long and difficult to treat.

The causes of inflammation of the glands are now well understood. The disease responds well to therapy and, with timely treatment, does not threaten with serious complications. Inadequate treatment or a late visit to a doctor can cause serious consequences. Today, the fact has already been proven that rheumatic heart disease, myocarditis, and pyelonephritis develop against the background of angina.

Content:

• Tonsils - what are they and why are they needed?
• Causes of inflammation of the glands
• Symptoms of inflammation of the glands
• Inflamed glands in a child
• Which doctor should I contact for inflammation of the glands?
• Treatment of sore tonsils in adults
• Prevention of inflammation of the tonsils

Tonsils - what are they and why are they needed?

The tonsils are represented by lymphoid tissue, which protects a person, that is, belongs to the organs of the immune system. The tonsils prevent harmful flora from entering the respiratory tract.

Lymphoid tissue contains lymphocytes. These cells actively fight microbes, viruses and fungi, preventing them from multiplying. The tissue of the tonsils is loose, so representatives of the pathogenic flora linger in it. If protection is provided at the proper level, then they will simply be destroyed by lymphocytes.

The tonsils (or the palatine tonsils, which are located between the palatine arches) are a collection of lymphoid tissue that is designed to protect the respiratory system. Paired are the tubal tonsils, which are in the pharynx. If you just look into your mouth, you will not be able to see them. They are rarely inflamed.

Single tonsils include the pharyngeal and lingual. The pharyngeal tonsil is located at the fornix of the pharyngeal wall. It is called adenoid, and when it is inflamed, it indicates adenoiditis. Young children most often suffer from it. In adults, it undergoes a reverse development. The lingual tonsil is located under the tongue at the back of the tongue. It becomes inflamed less often than others.

Causes of inflammation of the glands

Inflammation of the glands is most often caused by infections that are provoked by viral or bacterial flora.

Its representatives enter the tonsils through the nose and through the mouth, since most of them are transmitted by airborne droplets. They linger on the mucous membrane and provoke its inflammation.

Infectious agents that most often lead to illness:

• Staphylococci.
• Streptococci.
• Adenoviruses.
• Herpes virus.
• Haemophilus influenzae.
• Mycoplasmas.

A person encounters pathogens every day. However, people do not get sick so often.

Infection develops when several factors simultaneously affect the body:

• Hypothermia.
• Weakened immunity against the background of a previous illness.
• Acute stage of a chronic disease.
• Unbalanced nutrition, vitamin deficiency.
• Injury to the mucous membranes of the oral cavity.
• Emotional shock.

The final diagnosis will differ from the place of concentration of the inflammatory process:

• Acute angina. The inflammation is concentrated in the glands, and the degree of its intensity varies. Catarrhal sore throat is characterized by swelling of the mucous membranes, an increase in body temperature to 38 ° C, and mild pain. With follicular angina, all symptoms are aggravated. If you examine the surface of the tonsils, you can see a white bloom on them. The third type of angina is lacunar inflammation. In this case, purulent masses accumulate in the folds of the tonsils. This leads not only to severe pain, but also to the appearance of bad breath.
• Chronic tonsillitis. This form of the disease develops in people who have not received adequate therapy for acute inflammation. From time to time, sore throat will remind of itself. If you examine the tonsils of a person with chronic tonsillitis, you can see white plugs on them, which are concentrated in the lacunae. At the same time, a person may not complain of a sore throat.
• Adenoiditis. With this disease, the inflammatory process will be concentrated in the pharyngeal tonsil. A person's nasal breathing worsens, discomfort in the throat appears, the mucous membranes swell. The disease tends to become chronic.

Symptoms of inflammation of the glands

Symptoms characterizing inflammation in the glands may vary, although not significantly.

Common symptoms of the disease include:

• Increase in body temperature to high levels.
• Swelling of the mucous membrane of the oropharynx, hyperemia of the mucous membranes.
• Cough.
• Runny nose. With angina, this symptom is most often absent.
• General physical weakness.

If a person is infected with herpetic sore throat, then, in addition to sore throat and high body temperature, he has discomfort in the abdomen, and a small rash that looks like blisters is noticeable on the tonsils and the back of the throat. They contain liquid. In the future, it may become purulent. After opening the blisters, the affected areas become crusty.

If a person has an inflamed lingual tonsil, then this is manifested by the following symptoms:

• The tongue swells, it hurts a person to move them.
• When chewing and swallowing food, severe discomfort occurs.
• Pain causes a person to change speech, as intense tongue movements become impossible.

Sometimes the patient notices that his tonsils are inflamed, but he does not experience pain. This symptom may indicate chronic tonsillitis.

The temperature remains within normal limits, since the immune system ceases to make efforts to fight the focus of infection.

Inflammation of the tonsils

More often than the rest of the tonsils, it is the tonsils that are affected in people. The most common pathology is acute or chronic tonsillitis. This disease becomes dangerous for humans if there is no treatment. Therapy should be selected by a doctor, this is the only way to make it effective.

The success of treatment is determined by its purposefulness. To do this, you need to know which microorganism caused the inflammatory reaction. For this purpose, the doctor prescribes a bacteriological examination of a smear from the throat. When the analysis is ready, the doctor will be able to choose the optimal therapy.

Unilateral inflammation of the tonsil

If the infection struck the amygdala on one side, then this indicates the activation of local immunity. He, on his own, coped with the pathogenic flora on one of the tonsils and is able to maintain its health.

Sometimes unilateral inflammation is a sign of facial nerve neuritis, lymphadenitis, or other disorders that have no connection with otolaryngological diseases.

Unilateral inflammation requires treatment, which is selected in accordance with the causes of the disease.

Inflamed glands in a child

In children, the glands become inflamed very often. The reasons in most cases boil down to a viral infection, or sore throat.

If cold viruses have entered the child's body, then most often his condition is not significantly disturbed. After 3 days, there is a significant improvement, which can be compared with recovery.

When a child has a sore throat, the symptoms will be as follows:

• Increase in body temperature to high levels.
• The appearance of a severe sore throat, which makes the child refuse not only food, but also water.
• Children become whiny, lose their usual activity.
• Breathing becomes heavier.
• A white coating appears on the tonsils.

If you can cope with a common cold on your own, then tonsillitis requires medical attention. Most often, this disease is treated with antibiotics.

Inflammation of the adenoids is no less common than tonsillitis. With adenoiditis, the pharyngeal tonsil increases in size.

Symptoms that would indicate an inflammatory response:

• Snore.
• The appearance of mucus from the nose, which will be green or yellow.
• Headaches.
• Deterioration in sleep quality.
• Cough.
• Voice change. He becomes nasal.

To cope with adenoiditis and prevent further proliferation of tonsil tissue, you need to see a doctor.

Which doctor should I contact for inflammation of the glands?

An ENT doctor, that is, an otolaryngologist, is engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the tonsils. It is necessary to consult a specialist when the first symptoms of inflammation appear. Nevertheless, few people rush to consult a doctor if their throat begins to ache a little. It is possible that the disease can be dealt with on its own.

However, there are some conditions that require immediate medical attention:

• Body temperature reaches 38 ° C and above. It lasts longer than 3 days.
• A person's health deteriorates sharply.
• First, there is an improvement, and then a deterioration.
• The tonsils become inflamed in the child.
• Purulent foci of infection are visible in the throat.

Treatment of sore tonsils in adults

Most often, inflammation can be dealt with at home. However, if the lingual tonsil is affected, hospitalization is always required.

Self-therapy can only be carried out if the person is firmly convinced that the inflammation has a viral basis. A bacterial infection requires an appointment with a doctor, as it poses a danger to the patient's health. Treatment is reduced to taking drugs that are aimed at eliminating the causative agent of inflammation. In addition, efforts should be made to make a person feel better. This treatment is called symptomatic.

If a person has decided to cope with inflammation on his own, but after 3 days there is no improvement, then you need to contact a doctor.

Recommendations to speed up your recovery:

• You need to drink as much liquid as possible. In addition to water, it is good to use tea, fruit drinks, broths, fruit drinks.
• During the acute phase of the disease, a person must adhere to bed rest.
• You don't need to force yourself to eat by force. Food is consumed as appetite appears.

If the disease is complicated by suppuration that cannot be stopped at home, the person is advised to flush the tonsils in the ENT office.

Tonsils are rarely removed. The operation is required only if all conservative methods were not effective. Also, the help of a surgeon may be needed for patients with chronic tonsillitis and adenoiditis.

Medication correction

If the inflammation of the glands is of a viral nature, then it will be possible to limit ourselves to symptomatic therapy; it is recommended to take antiviral drugs that have a local immunomodulatory effect. The body must cope with the infection on its own. You just need to help him a little.

For this purpose, drugs such as:

• Sore throat sprays and cough drops. Effective drugs are: Strepsils, Septolete, Ingalipt, Chlorophyllipt, Givalex, Tantum-Verde, Lizak, Lizobakt, Faringosept, Throat spasm, etc. These drugs have not only anesthetic, but also antiseptic effect.
• Throat gargles: Angilex, Chlorophyllipt, Furacilin, Streptocid, Rotokan, Givalex, etc. The more often a person performs this procedure, the faster recovery will come. Gargling allows you to remove not only viral flora from the tonsils, but also pus, as well as dead tissue.
• Drugs to lower body temperature: Panadol, Nurofen, Nimesil, Efferalgan, Nise, etc.

If the inflammation was caused by microbial flora, then it will be possible to cope with it only with the use of antibiotics for sore throat. Their reception allows you to prevent the development of complications. The drug must be recommended by a doctor. The dose is selected depending on the severity of the infection. For local therapy, agents with an antibacterial component are used, such as: Polydexa, Isofra, Rinil. If they do not allow achieving the desired effect, then the patient is shown systemic intake of antibacterial drugs. These can be drugs such as: Augmentin, Flemoxin, Amoxiclav, Amoxicillin, Wilprafen, etc.

In order to avoid relapses, antibacterial drugs are drunk full course. The patient needs to finish treatment, even if he feels better after a couple of days of taking medication.

If more than 3 days have passed from the beginning of antibiotic therapy, and there is no effect, then the drug must be changed. This means that the pathogenic flora is resistant to it. In the future, tetracyclines (Tetracycline, Doxycycline, Unidox Solutab, etc.), or macrolides (Sumamed, Hemomycin, Azithromycin) can be used.

Taking a smear from the throat allows you to establish a representative of the pathogenic flora that caused the inflammation and to identify which drugs it responds to. However, the results of the LHC inoculation will be known no earlier than in 5-7 days. It can be dangerous to postpone treatment for such long periods. Bacterial inflammation, like a viral infection, requires symptomatic therapy with mandatory rinsing of the throat.

Treatment of sore tonsils in children

Treatment of inflamed tonsils in children should be pathognomic, that is, aimed at eliminating the cause of the disease.

• If a child has ARVI, then he needs to treat his throat, lower body temperature, and give pain relievers.
• A bacterial infection requires consultation with a pediatrician. The doctor should select the antibiotic.
• Adenoiditis is treated longer than other diseases. For therapy, they resort to corticosteroid drugs (Flicosnase, Nazonex). Also use vasoconstrictor nasal drops (Nazivin, Xylometazoline, Rinazolin). To combat pathogenic flora, agents such as Protargol, Collargol, etc. can be used.

In order for the disease to lead to serious complications, parents should consult a doctor in the following situations:

• Body temperature remains high, even after taking antipyretic drugs.
• White plugs or white bloom are visible on the tonsils.
• The child coughs violently.
• Discharge from the nose is yellow-green in color.

Prevention of inflammation of the tonsils

To prevent the development of inflammation, the following recommendations must be followed:

• Lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Get hardened.
• Avoid stress.
• Do not contact sick people.
• Be in the fresh air more often.
• Take vitamins, but only as directed by your doctor.

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".