Tonsil issues - what should I do?

[Asparagus1]

My 6 year old had tonsillitis twice in 5 weeks recently. He has been better for 2-3 weeks now but although his tonsils are no longer red and infected they are still huge. One side in particular. When he is asleep he snores very loudly and snorts. When I look at his tonsils and ask him to say ‘ahh’ one of his tonsils is touching his uvula and they stick together.

Is this normal after tonsillitis? I feel like if I ring the docs about this they’ll say it’s no big deal and not warrant an appointment…

You need to get it checked ASAP and dont take no for an answer. I know a mum whose little boy had this and he needed them out ASAP as it can obstruct the airway. I hope you get the help you need quickly.

Oh really! Ok I will make sure I ring and push for an appointment tomorrow, thank you 🙏

No problem. I've had tonsillitis loads as has my little boy and the antibiotics should shrink the tonsils back down and clear the infection. The fact they are still so big and it's a recurrent infection so close together it needs to be reviewed urgently.

He’s my youngest of 3 children and he seems to get every illness going!! My older two hardly ever missed a day of primary school, so it’s all new territory for me and I wasn’t sure if I was overreacting by worrying about it so much. Thank you 🙏

Oh bless you. No your doing the right thing.
My little boy (3) is currently going through his 11th ear infection in 9 months and trying to get him sorted for surgery has been an absolute nightmare. Push and push until your happy. You know him better than anyone.

Oh bless him, that’s rough, earache is so painful 🥺 hope they sort him out soon x

Just thought I’d update.

I took him to the docs, apparently every time someone has tonsillitis there is scarring of the tonsils which is why they are so big. He said it’s a case of waiting it out because as children grow the tonsils don’t grow so they won’t look as big when his throat gets bigger. He was willing to refer to ENT if I wanted but he said they don’t refer for an opinion, they refer for removal so I need to decide whether to put up with the snoring and big tonsils or whether to go for removal. He said his adenoids more than likely are big as well, and to try and give him ibuprofen 3 times a day for a couple of weeks to see if that helps 🤷🏼‍♀️ so we are trying that and seeing how it goes

I had my tonsils out at 38, and it was horrifically painful. Get him to a doctors for an assessment and too see if he needs them out. The longer you leave it the more painful. (Not suggesting you have a needless surgery but if he does sooner is probably better.)

Enlarged tonsils and adenoids don’t just cause snoring and tonsillitis, they can cause sleep apnea which affects sleep obviously, behaviour, concentration, coping mechanisms, etc.

Glad the Dr saw him. I would definitely ask for a referral as I know in our area the waiting list is up to 2yrs long 😱 so best to get on the list now. Urgent ENT referrals can be anything from 2-6 month wait.

If its affecting him so much he needs to be seen for advice. I hope he's OK.

DS2 had multiple bouts of tonsillitis when he was little. We had them taken out just before his 4th birthday. (We went private as I had private health through work but he had met the NHS guidelines for removal).

He was like a different child. He went from being pale and quiet to lively and energetic. He jumped from around the 50th centile in height to over the 75th where he has stayed into his teens.

I would get him on the referral list. If he covers whilst you wait you can always come off the list. Once tonsillitis becomes chronic it’s hard to shift.

recovers not covers