The tonsils and adenoids are tissues in the throat that assist in making antibodies to help fight infections. The tonsils can be seen on the side of the throat at the back of the mouth. The adenoids are above the roof of the mouth and usually cannot be seen.
Inflammation of the tonsils (tonsillitis) or adenoids (adenoiditis) is common in children and the two conditions may occur either separately or together. Tonsillitis and adenoiditis are usually caused by a virus. Symptoms of tonsillitis or adenoiditis are sore throat, fever and tiredness along with cold symptoms, such as runny nose and a cough. It may be painful to swallow and the tonsils are often bright red, spotted with pus and swollen. The lymph nodes in the neck may also swell. Adenoiditis can also cause headache and vomiting.
Strep or other bacterial throat infections can result in a severe sore throat and extremely swollen tonsils, fever and swollen lymph nodes in the neck. Strep throat must be treated with antibiotics.
A child with chronically-inflamed adenoids may breathe through his or her mouth, snore and have a nasal-or muffled-sounding voice. In children, inflamed adenoids can block the passageway between the ears and the throat (Eustachian tube) contributing to ear infections.
Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine:
• Acupuncture and cupping can reduce the fever, congestion, headache, body aches and ease the symptoms.
• Chinese herbs can comfort the sore throat, runny nose, coughing, relieve fever, aching and speed up the recovering process. Some Chinese herbs may strengthen immunity so as to prevent the inflammation or infection.
• Herbal nasal spray and rinse will clear the nasal congestion, clean local inflammation and infection, wash off the excessive mucus, moisturize and subside the irritation of inflamed membranes in the nose and throat.
For more information please call Dr. Liyan Lu at 661-513-9265, Ping’s Acupuncture and Herbs Center.