Tonsil Infection: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment
What Is Tonsil Infection?
A tonsil is a part of your lymphatic system (the system that regulates your natural ability to fight diseases, also known as immunity). There are two tonsils on each side of the back of your throat. If these tonsils get infected for some reason, the condition is called tonsillitis, commonly known as tonsil infection.
How Does Tonsil Infection Affect You?
Tonsil infection is very discomforting. The symptoms of tonsil infection depend on the type of infection and the age of the patient. However, commonly, you may suffer from the following conditions:
- Sore throat
- Chronic sore throat
- Itchy throat
- Neck pain
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Running nose
- Difficulty in breathing, snoring
- Bad breath
- Unquenched thirst/ dry throat
- Dry mouth
- Pain while swallowing
- Coarse voice
- Ear pain
- Swelling in jaw, throat and neck (sometimes, accompanied by redness)
- Digestive irregularity
But what exactly leads to a tonsil infection? Let’s find out.
What Causes Tonsil Infection?
As the name suggests, tonsilitis is an infection. So, definitely, it is a condition where parasitic germs are affecting your health. This can be credited to viruses and bacteria which may enter your body at various times.
In common terms, the cause of tonsil infection can be traced to another persisting infection. For example, common cold, or contamination from another person. Young children are more at risk of this disease because their immune system is developing. The same holds with older people – in the elderly people, the overworked immune system is compromised.
Plus, if you are already suffering from another infection in your body, then the immune system gets busy dealing with the germs there and your tonsils become vulnerable to infection.
Can You Prevent Tonsil Infection?
Tonsil infection is chiefly a contagious disease. So, you must take good care of your hygiene. Avoid contact with infected people and do not share food, drinks, clothes and utensils with them. Wash your hands frequently, especially before eating and touching your face. If you have a cold, you must use disposable tissue to sneeze or blow in it; do not use reusable towels.
Feed nutritious meals to your children to make their immunity stronger. Advisably, you should do the same. A strong and healthy immune system is more capable of defending your health against all sorts of infections.
How Is A Tonsil Infection Treated?
The physical discomfort arising out of tonsil infection is very disturbing. But, the good news is that it generally clears away in around 10 days. Even better, with proper treatment, this 10 days can be made less discomforting.
How?
Well, when you visit your doctor, your doctor will do a physical examination to check the inflammation and redness. Generally, a physical examination is enough to diagnose tonsilitis. However, your doctor might suggest a few tests to make sure that there is no underlying disease or infection which is leading to this infection.
As long as it is only a tonsil infection, the treatment is very regular. A course of antibiotics along with anti-inflammatory pills, fever medicines will be prescribed. To ease the itchiness and to control sneezing, cough syrup or a lozenge can be used.
At the same time, you must make sure that you take special care of your oral health during the days of infection. Gargle with warm water, inhale steam, and drink lots of water. Avoid dry foods, smoking, sodas and alcohols.
Treatment For Chronic Tonsillitis
If you suffer from frequent tonsil infections or if the infection becomes very serious (especially in children), the doctor may suggest a surgery, called tonsillectomy, to remove your tonsillitis.
Tonsil can be treated easily with proper medicine and care. But if you ignore the symptoms, it may linger for a longer time and even give rise to breathing complications. If you are suffering from a sore throat, visit our doctors at Sunshine Hospitals for the best care and treatment.
About Sunshine Hospitals:
A Multi Super Speciality Institution, 500 bedded Sunshine Hospitals (Paradise Circle, Secunderabad) is promoted by globally reputed Joint Replacement Surgeon Dr AV Gurava Reddy (Orthopedic Doctor) and like-minded associates who share the objective of making world-standard healthcare available, affordable and accessible to the common man. Sunshine has now become one of the best hospitals for many treatments including Orthopedic, Gastroenterology, Cardiology, Trauma and Neurology.
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