To push to have his tonsils removed?

[WhooooAmI24601]

DS2 is 6 and a half. He's got tonsillitis (tonsils touching in the middle, fairly sizeable white stripes/spots on them, glands in neck like little solid lumps and a temp of 40.4). This is the fifth time he's had it this year and each time our GP prescribes antibiotics and rubs his chin when I mention the regularity but won't refer DS2, saying he'll grow out of it.

DS1 had his removed at age 5 because he was exactly the same. I'm 35 and still get a couple of bouts each year which knock me sideways so I'm cautious about the whole "he'll grow out of it" thing since I never have.

Would it BU to go this morning and request a referral to have them out? DS2 is never unwell; he doesn't get coughs, colds or bugs and is the most resilient child I know but these tonsils are making him entirely miserable more and more often. I don't want to be one of those rude patients who demand stuff but in this case I honestly think he needs it doing. Unfortunately if I don't get pushy our GP will just leave him.

I would. My mum didn't push for my brother, now he's' 22 and still gets tonsillitis 3-5 times a year. I really don't think it's something you grow out of.

Yes, push for it. My ds had his out at 2.8 yrs because of sleep apnea and because he couldn't breath with sounding rattly during the day-they were described by the consultant as 'gigantic'!

He never had tonsillitis but I got it once two years ago and it was dreadful so I can't imagine how your little boy copes having it so often.

Also, it's an awful op to have as an adult but not a big deal for a kid. Get your big pushy pants on and get shoving I say!

Appointment is booked for 9.30, I've 90 minutes to find my Pushy Pants and psych myself up!

MrsBob how did your DS cope with the op at that age? DS1 really struggled as his became infected so ended up in hospital on iv antibiotics for a few days, which has put me off pushing for it for DS2 if I'm honest.

I pushed, DD had hers out age 7 at Christmas (a few days before Christmas...turkey through a straw anyone?) and she hasn't looked back! It was a bit stressful at the time because she had a reaction to the anaesthetic but we'd def take a couple of weeks of stress rather than weeks off school (& work) & constant misery and pain and having to take antibiotics! Push and good luck!

This happened my ds. Constantly missing days from school for years with tonsils. Doctor wouldnt entertain having them out. Eventually at 14 had a locum from abroad who actually ate me for neglecting ds as tonsils so bad they should have been gone years ago. Got them out and literally never missed a day sick since. I dont know why regular GPs are so against it as locum said ds was swallowing poison constantly from septic tonsils. He had constant tummy ache which GP said was school anxiety!!

Definitely push for it. 5 courses of antibiotics is way too much.

An ENT consultant I know told me that the GPs are deterred from referring. Once they get in front of the consultant they are usually happy to do it (if you get my drift).

DS had his out a few years ago (he was about 8) and he has never looked back. I had to stamp my feet a bit to get GP to refer and expected to have to plead my case with the consultant. But he took one look at DS's throat and put him on the waiting list. We had to wait about 6 months for the op though.

Wear those pushy pants with pride and the best of luck.

I think they are put off referring. I used to get it loads like your child. All they could do was offer antibiotics, which I didn't want.

In the end I stopped going.

If it helps, I only get it once a year now and they are supposedly a useful thing to have so in an odd wya I'm glad I didn't get them out.

But at the time I was begging for them to be taken out.

I'm a GP. All kids have big tonsils, they definitely do get smaller as the child grows up, but bad bouts of tonsillitis can be horrid. GPs are discouraged from referring everyone - a person has to meet certain criteria for a referral to be accepted by ENT - it's usually a set number of episodes of confirmed tonsillitis (not just patient claiming they had it 'x' number of times - must have attended doctor and had it confirmed) or sleep apnoea as a result of enlarged tonsils that generally meet in the middle, even when the child is well

The reason there are guidelines is risk/benefit ratio - there is a real risk of post op bleeding so the surgeons don't want to pull out tonsils unless they deem it 'necessary' - the guidelines are national and not just made up by individual GPs or surgeons. They are evidence based so research has been done to look into who would benefit most from this procedure

If you child meets the criteria, OP, they should be referred. Best of luck with it

I've got enormous tonsils and suffer from it a couple of times a year.

My tonsils have never shrank and some GPs have expressed surprise at this.

However, someone local to me died following a tonsilectomy. Apparently bleeding is a known complication for this type of op. Yes every op has it's risks but I don't think it's such a routine procedure as some people think.

good luck.

I had chronic tonsillitis when I was little. I'd get tonsillitis at least once a month and it was horrible, I was only little but still remember the pain trying to swallow water. I was referred for a tonsillectomy when my tonsils became so swollen that my airway was compromised as the swelling from one bout of tonsillitis hadn't fully gone down before I got the next bout. Since I had them out when I was 4 I've had maybe half a dozen throat infections in 20+ years.

My cousin developed chronic tonsillitis at 5/6 and was getting 6-8 bouts of tonsillitis a year. My aunt firmly believes that doctors know best so wouldn't push for a referral. My cousin finally got a referral at 19 by pushing for a referral herself. She had them out and, although the recovery took longer and was harder than for children, she hasn't looked back and hasn't had any throat infections since.

Yes! My son had his removed aged two, but not before I was removed as a patient by a doctors surgery for being "an overprotective mother". I was very young but DS would snore, stop breathing for periods of time as a baby and I - as you do - called the doctor every time. I was mortified at the letter from the surgery, but registered with a new GP and the first time DS was struggling they referred him straight to the hospital. He had huge tonsils which closed his throat at even the mildest whiff of infection. A serious bout of tonsilitis would have been very dangerous. They were removed within the week.

I think there is some clinical guidance around X number of incidents in a 12 month period which triggers removal, I would ask your GP to review and if they arent willing, I would consider another GP.

Found it: on the patient.uk site my GP gave me the web address for so, a genuine/reliable source : -

Guidelines suggest it may be an option to have your tonsils removed (tonsillectomy) if you:

Have had seven or more episodes of tonsillitis in the preceding year;

Five or more such episodes in each of the preceding two years; or

Three or more such episodes in each of the preceding three years.

And ...

The bouts of tonsillitis affect normal functioning. For example, they are severe enough to make you need time off from work or from school.

My son had his out when he was 4, after 6 months of constant illness ... hasn't been sick once since in the last year. Go for it.

It's done! We were lucky and got the lovely Dr from Liverpool who I've always loved. He took a quick look over DS2's records and said (without any prompting) that he'd need to be referred because his system flags up how many courses of antibiotic each patient has taken over the previous 12 months and DS2 is now on his 9th dose since September last year (all for tonsillitis).

Thanks for the pushes, I feel like less of a dreadful parent now. DH said before work this morning that with the way the NHS is at the minute there's no way we'd get a referral so I'm relieved not to have had to stamp my feet!

Yay! Great news. Good luck with the referral and op!

Just something to try before the operation....

My dd at 3 was hardly ever ill then started getting tonsillitis. 6 bouts in 3 months. Up to getting ear infections, even to burst eardrums but all starting with tonsillitis. It went from gp saying we are not removing tonsils to let's get her booked in asap in the space of 3 months.

I was gobsmacked and couldn't understand how she could suddenly be so sick.
Gp said it's always caused by virus or bacteria. I pushed and said could it not be anything else.
She said in rare cases it can be allergy....

Took dd home, took her off dairy and wheat.
She stopped getting sick. Added back in wheat. Still fine. Added dairy, she got sick.

On off.
On off. It's totally predictable. She's 'allergic' to dairy. But not. Doesn't show up on allergy tests but she absolutely without a doubt has some immune reaction to dairy like her nut allergies. She gets tonsilitis now maybe a couple of times a year but it's always been within a few days of having dairy. Most bugs pass her by but it's like dairy suppresses her immune system and makes her more susceptible to passing bugs.

My DD has been getting tonsillitis since she was a baby and was booked in to have the out in April.

However, as it's been mentioned up thread the op is not pleasant and has its risks.

On the advice of a GP friend I started giving DD probiotics and she's not had an oit break for months. At one point she was getting tonsillitis every 6 weeks.

I'd give it a go and see how you get on.

Oh I've never heard of probiotics plying a part (or dairy). I'll have a look at both while we wait for contact from he ENT people, thanks for the advice.

Probiotics are naturally found in live yoghurt. No need to waste money on supplements. And they only really mask the symptoms of mild to moderate cases. Surgery is still the best option.

I had mine removed at 29 after asking for the referral - I'd had several bouts of tonsillitis per year for 10 year previously (albeit with a 2.5 year bizarre gap in that period).

The final straw was flying back from the US with a tonsuilar abscess - it was horrendous (it went from 'oh, a bit of a sore throat, most likely worsen tomorrow' to 'my life, I just feel crap, can eat, have to drink through a straw and my throats feels like it's made of razor blades' in the space of a 2.5hr internal flight). Went from the airport to out-of-hours when we landed in the UK, where they prescribed 2 lots of oral antibiotics and a spray, then had a telephone appointment on the Monday with GP and just asked outright. They were happy to do so, but had never offered it before. Consultant was fine about it.

I'm glad you've been referred - I think it will have a massive positive effect on him long term, even if it's a bit rough for a couple of weeks.