Tonsillitis
Jul 13th, 2005 by Lilian
This is not a medical blog. It is the sharing of parents’ experiences.
A mom is stressed out because her two years old son has tonsillitis and refused to eat. The discomforts made him cry. I had personally experienced tonsillitis and I can tell anyone that it is not a good thing. Not only I lost my voice, I can’t eat. A few of my kids got this tendency of getting tonsillitis too.
So much so that the paediatrician has even showed me a few times what an inf lammed throat looks like. With four kids, I frequented the doctor’s clinic very often. So, this kind doctor taught me what are the signs to look out for. I roughly can judge if my sons need medical attention or even, hospitalisation through my maternal instinct.
However, newer parents may wish to equip themselves with more information by reading, consulting their doctor for advices and discussing with other parents.
I found a very good site explaining about tonsillitis in children. It is from the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Here is what they explained on their site:
What is tonsillitis?
Tonsillitis is a viral or bacterial infection in the throat that causes inflammation of the tonsils, which are small glands on either side of the throat. In the first six months of life they provide a useful defence against infections.
I had my own tonsils removed. It has gotten too sensitive and flared up almost every month. My children had been hospitalised before due to tonsillitis.
Therefore, my advice is to seek a doctor if a child is unwell. Do not attempt to self-treat a small child.
The site further advice :
Advice and Treatment
If the child in your care is simply refusing to eat, or having trouble swallowing, and has a fever, you should consider seeing a doctor for advice. He/she will diagnose tonsillitis based on your description of the attacks, and on examination of the mouth and neck.
All the above information and more can be found on this page.
Remember that it is always wise to seek a doctor if your child has been sick for a few days. Avoid traditional treatment.
I relate to this very well. Once the tonsils are inflammed, it affects the ears really bad when you attempt to swallow. I am (or my tonsils are) very sensitive to tap water and dust (peanut skin, too many kuacis and the likes). If I go to Malay weddings, I must always bring my own water and dare not drink the air sirap coz more often than not it is very unhygenic (hands dipping in the drink etc :0).
That is why I am very concerned when Amira accidently or purposely drinks/sips her bath water and eats nonsense picked up from the floor.
We also have the RO water machine and another water dispenser at home. No choice .. I just need to get the basics right for my throat.
On another note, the reason why I do go all out (and I do believe that prevention is better than cure) is becoz, sometime in 1976, my brother, then 6yo, went for an operation to remove his tonsils and he ended up in ICU coz he was allergic to a certain anesthetic and couldn’t breathe …. and that got my VERY scared … until today ….
Ciao
Only prescribed antibiotics will cure infalmed tonsils. Period.