Adenoids are tonsils located in the mouth. They are capable of producing lymphocytes and help protect the baby's nasopharynx from infections. Sometimes the tonsils can become abnormally enlarged and inflamed. In this case, an ENT examination and timely treatment are required.
What causes inflammation of the adenoids?
The adenoids are the nasopharyngeal tonsils. Their inflammation occurs mainly only in children. This is due to the fact that adults either have very small sizes or completely atrophy. Children, on the other hand, have an increased load on the immune system, which has not yet matured, and the tonsils help it fight viruses and bacteria that enter the body through the nasopharynx.
The following reasons affect the appearance of inflammation and the proliferation of adenoids:
- Hereditary predisposition. As a result of genetic disorders in the structure of such systems of the child as endocrine and lymphatic, at a certain period of time the tonsils grow. If this pathology has genetic causes, then the disease is usually called lymphatic diathesis or lymphatism. In addition to problems with the adenoids, disorders and decreased activity of the thyroid gland can be observed. The child may suffer from apathy, lethargy and edema, and be overweight.
- Pathology during pregnancy and complications in childbirth. The inflammatory processes in the tonsils can be influenced by viral diseases transferred by a pregnant woman at 7-9 obstetric weeks. It can also be caused by taking antibiotics and other medications at any time during pregnancy. Also, doctors observe a relationship with inflammation of the adenoids and hypoxia or asphyxia during childbirth.
- Diseases at an early age. As a result of frequent SARS, the tonsils are seeded with many pathogenic bacteria. Against the background of a decrease in immunity and its constant attacks, adenoiditis can be observed. In addition, as a result of infectious diseases, in particular scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles and whooping cough, a child may even experience secondary growth and inflammation of the tonsils.
- Inflammation of the tonsils can result from increased stress on the immune system after vaccinations. That is why it is so important that the baby is completely healthy before vaccination.
- Feeding unhealthy foods: overeating sweets or eating foods that contain a large amount of chemistry can also affect the formation of adenoiditis.
- The tonsils can also become inflamed as a result of an unfavorable environment. But if it is difficult for parents in megalopolises to protect a child from polluted air, then it is not so difficult to reduce the load on a fragile body by constantly cleaning the house from dust and dirt. You should also pay attention to household chemicals. It can also influence the onset of inflammation.
If one of the parents or the child himself has a history of allergy to something, then the likelihood of inflammation of the adenoids increases.
Symptoms of inflammation of the adenoids
The main symptom of inflammation of the tonsils is impaired breathing through the nose for no apparent reason. This symptom should be observed regularly. It is important for parents to understand that the degree of inflammation has been assessed by the doctor. If this is adenoiditis and mild inflammation is observed, then the problem can be solved conservatively. But if the child has tonsil hypertrophy, then most likely surgical intervention is required.
Therefore, it is so important to consult an otolaryngologist in a timely manner. After all, it is this doctor who will prescribe a certain type of treatment.
In addition to breathing disorders, the child may have the following signs that help diagnose inflamed tonsils:
- Bad sleep. A child, regardless of age, can often wake up at night and cry. Parents may also hear snoring and puffing. But the most dangerous symptom can be respiratory failure during sleep, up to attacks of suffocation. Such symptoms are especially dangerous in infants.
- As a result of the overgrowth of the adenoids, the baby may have a dry type of cough and a feeling of dryness in the oral cavity. In older children, you may notice a nasal tone in the voice and a change in timbre.
- The child's appetite decreases markedly. General weakness and lethargy appear. Capriciousness and increased irritability can be noted.
- As a result of the fact that the canal connecting the nasopharynx and the ear is blocked due to the growth of the tonsils, problems with the ear can be observed. In particular, the child is diagnosed with frequent otitis media and pain. The child's hearing may decrease slightly.
- Headaches.
- Frequent diseases of the nasopharynx.
Due to the fact that the tonsils grow, the breathing mechanism completely changes. The child practically cannot breathe through his nose. When breathing through the mouth, the breath is not as deep as it would be with nasal breathing. As a result, the ventilation of the lungs is insufficient. The child develops hypoxia of the brain and oxygen deprivation.
As a result of hypoxia, the child may experience problems in the perception of information and memorization. Grades at school may even drop slightly.
Stages of adenoids in children
In many countries, inflammation of the adenoids is usually divided into 4 stages. In Russia, there are only three stages. The most recent one simply combined 3 and 4.
1 degree of the inflammatory process of the adenoids is characterized by the growth of no more than 1/3 of the entire space of the child's nasopharynx. Symptoms only appear when the baby is in a horizontal position.
At 2 degrees of inflammation, the tonsils grow stronger. They already overlap half of the free space of the nasopharynx. At the same time, the child's breathing is difficult both night and day.
At grade 3, the adenoids completely or almost completely overlap the course. The child cannot breathe through the nose.
Complications
As a result of the enlargement of the tonsils in a child, adenoiditis may occur. Symptoms are more pronounced here than with inflammation of the adenoids. The following signs of adenoiditis are also added:
- Swollen lymph nodes.
- An increase in overall body temperature.
- Discharge of mucus from the nasal passages is possible, as in ARVI.
- General weakness and lethargy.
Sometimes adenoiditis occurs during an acute viral infection. Then the symptoms of the two diseases mix. But after the ARVI passes, the adenoids can decrease back to their standard size.
If there is no correct and, most importantly, timely treatment of inflamed adenoids, the child may experience the following complications:
- Chronic diseases of the respiratory tract of an inflammatory nature.
- Adenoid face is a pathological deformation of the child's skeleton in the facial area.
- Hearing loss due to closure of the Eustachian tube by adenoids and impaired ventilation of the middle ear. There may be an increase in cases of bilateral, unilateral purulent or catarrhal otitis media of the middle ear.
- Speech may be impaired.
- Frequent acute respiratory infections.
- Deformation in the skeleton of the chest. The baby may have a so-called "chicken breast".
Treatment of adenoids in children
Only after being examined by a specialist to diagnose the degree of inflammation, the form and the presence of complications can treatment begin. A set of measures is used to treat adenoids. Possible drug treatment with the addition of physiotherapy procedures. In some cases, surgical intervention by a surgeon is also required to remove the tonsils.
Drug treatment
This type of treatment will have a favorable outcome in the first and second degree of inflammation of the tonsils. The child should not have a persistent nasal breathing disorder. Treatment with drugs for the third degree of inflammation is relevant only if the child has contraindications for an adenotomy.
Medicines should be selected in such a way as to reduce swelling, relieve inflammation, relieve the child of a runny nose and mucus, and restore nasal breathing. It is also important to strengthen the baby's immunity.
For the treatment of inflammation of the tonsils, the following groups of drugs are used:
- Antihistamine tablets and drops.
- Anti-inflammatory nasal hormonal drugs.
- Vasoconstrictor drops in the nasal passages.
- Local antiseptics.
- Saline and saline solutions.
- Immunostimulants and vitamin complexes.
In some cases, homeopathic medicines are prescribed by doctors to treat inflammation of the adenoids. But most often they can only help in case of prophylaxis or in the first degree of inflammation. The following drugs are used to treat adenoids:
- Euphorbium compositum.
- JOB baby.
- Tuya-GF.
- Adenosan.
Physiotherapy
In the inflammatory process of the tonsils, physiotherapy is used in combination to improve the effect of medications.
Most often, doctors prescribe laser therapy. The course is 10 sessions. Also, specialists can prescribe UV radiation, ozone therapy, UHF and electrophoresis.
In addition, children with a history of adenoid inflammation are recommended breathing exercises, climatotherapy and spa treatment.
Surgery
It is prescribed for grade 3 inflammation, if, as a result of the impossibility of nasal breathing, the child's quality of life deteriorates. Also, adenotomy is prescribed if drug treatment has not led to positive results for a long period of time.
The operation is not performed if a child has blood diseases, severe pathologies in the cardiovascular system, after planned vaccinations, congenital anomalies of the palate and during a flu epidemic.
Adenotomy is performed under short-term general anesthesia, which can significantly reduce the psychological stress on the child.
