Does My Child Need Their Tonsils Removed?

Tonsillectomy is a fairly common childhood medical procedure, particularly in kids who have a lot of sore throats due to tonsillitis, or infection of the tonsils. That said, it’s not a first-line therapy for tonsillitis, and deciding when it’s time to give up other treatments in favor of surgery isn’t always easy.

As a leading provider of pediatric ear, nose, and throat (ENT) treatments, ENT Specialists offers an array of therapies for tonsillitis, including state-of-the-art tonsillectomy procedures. Here, learn how our team assesses tonsil problems in kids to determine the best course of therapy to keep them healthy.

Tonsils and tonsillitis: the basics

Tonsils are oval-shaped masses of tissue located at the back of your throat, one on either side of the base of your tongue. As part of your immune system, tonsils help defend your body against invading germs, including airborne germs that cause colds, flu, strep throat, and other respiratory illnesses. 

During childhood, when the immune system is still developing, tonsils play an active role in trapping germs, and, as a result, they also wind up getting infected. Tonsil infections (or tonsillitis) are a lot more common in kids than in adults for this reason.

Kids with tonsillitis have symptoms like:

• Sore throat
• Pain when swallowing
• Fever
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck

Some kids develop white or yellow patches on their tonsils, a sign of infection. When tonsils swell, they can wind up causing breathing problems, like loud snoring and sleep apnea, along with poor sleep quality and persistent fatigue.

As a child grows and their immune system matures, tonsil infections become less frequent. But for some kids, they persist, causing ongoing inflammation that leads to tonsil enlargement and chronic infections.

When tonsillectomy makes sense

In many cases, tonsillitis resolves on its own or with antibiotics when the infection is caused by bacteria. However, some children experience frequent or chronic tonsillitis that returns even after treatment. Our team recommends tonsillectomy only when conservative, nonsurgical treatments have failed.

Specifically, our team recommends tonsillectomy when a child has recurrent episodes of tonsillitis or strep throat infections — for instance, those that occur multiple times within a year. Without treatment, recurrent infections can cause serious complications, like abscesses or pneumonia.

We may also recommend tonsillectomy if your child’s tonsils are so enlarged that they interfere with normal breathing, cause loud snoring, or are associated with sleep apnea, a breathing disorder that causes breathing to be interrupted dozens of times a night. Tonsillectomy is also appropriate if your child’s enlarged tonsils cause problems with speaking or eating or if your child is missing a lot of school due to tonsil infections or strep throat.

Have your child’s tonsils evaluated

Tonsillitis might be common, but that doesn't mean it can’t cause serious problems. If your child has frequent sore throats or other symptoms of tonsillitis, scheduling an evaluation is the best way to make sure they’re receiving the treatment they need to stay healthy and avoid future problems.

To schedule an evaluation for your child, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at ENT Specialists in Salt Lake City, Murray, Draper, and Tooele, Utah, today.