What Is a Tonsillectomy?

The surgery for removing your tonsils is called a tonsillectomy. The tonsils are lymph tissue or masses located in the back of your throat, one on each side. As part of the lymphatic system, tonsils help your body to fight infection. In fact, they are the first to encounter pathogens as they enter your body through your mouth. However, sometimes bacteria or viruses cause infections within the tonsils themselves. This is called tonsillitis.

Why Do Tonsils Have to Be Removed?

If you have a few bouts of tonsillitis with symptoms of sore throat such as difficulty swallowing, inflammation, fever, bad breath, swollen and sore neck glands, and a coating of white or yellow on your tonsils, this is usually not a concern. Your doctor can treat many cases of acute tonsillitis with medication and home treatments. For instance, strep throat is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) which your doctor can prescribe antibiotics to treat.

However, if you have regular occurrences of tonsillitis, also called chronic tonsillitis, your doctor may recommend that they be surgically removed.  It is important that enlarged and infected tonsils don’t get in the way of proper breathing, sleeping, or swallowing. Therefore, tonsillectomies are also common procedures for sleep disorders where breathing is impacted.

Children especially have problems with tonsillitis. It takes time for your immune system to fully develop as you grow from a child to an adult, and during this growth period, the immune system is very active. This means there can be more occurences of tonsillitis which may also be difficult to treat. If your child has over 7 bouts per year, over 5 bouts in each of the last two years, or over 3 bouts in each of the last three years, your doctor will likely recommend a tonsillectomy.

Complete Tonsil Care

Are you concerned about tonsil infections in you or your child? Contact Palm Beach Sinus Doctors at Gardens Cosmetic Center today at 561-776-7112 or use our web contact form. We’ll follow-up right away and make sure you receive the quality care you deserve.