If you are prone to tonsilitis is there anything you do to prevent it?

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If you have had tonsillitis a few times, is there anything you have found that prevents it? I remember someone in here mentioned gargling with strong mouthwash everyday has stopped them catching it again?

I am interested in what answers you get as my teen dc gets recurring tonsillitis and we would love to know if there is anything we can do which helps.

You could try gargling with tepid salty water.
You could wear a mask or put hay fever balm around your nostrils and not touch your face.
Take a multi-vit/min.

The 2nd is probably the best suggestion.

@RainRainGoAway24 , the tonsils can be removed, but they are there for a reason, and the infection will go elsewhere without them.

Get them removed! It’s the only way really as if you are prone to getting tonsillitis, each time you have it your tonsils get more scarred meaning the next time will be a worse case. Best thing I ever did-even if it did cost me £2500!

I've ended up needing iv antibiotics and iv steroids three times in the past year but need to go up to 7 to be eligible:(

@notamumyet2010 , but next time you get a bad infection it will go somewhere else and it will be worse than tonsillitis.

My son and I are prone to tonsillitis and we gargle baking soda solution at the 1st sign of sore throat. The solution needs to be fairly disgusting that's the downside. However if we gargle every couple of hours the symptoms usually disappear or mostly disappear after 24 hours.

Salt water gargle twice a day did it for me. Don't even have the problem anymore.

I wish I knew of a way!!
DD gets it often and has had quinsy before.

She never gets it 7 times in a year so no chance of having them out via the NHS.

She seems to get it if she's been doing too much....

@KirstenBlest I think I’m one of the lucky ones. Since having them removed 6 years ago I’ve not had one issue-no sore throat or anything. But I have heard that can happen for some people. In the end I had to have them out as each case I was getting more ill to the point I was hallucinating due to the high fever. It was scary.

Sorry can't help really but I sympathise as had it a lot as a kid. I think it's still a weak spot of mine but I did just grow out of it in the end.

Sorry to state the obvious but just in case anyone doesn't do this...change toothbrush after each infection!

Further to the earlier message... my son are gargling with baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). Not with baking powder

@Watchkeys is it warm salt water you gargle with twice a day?

My solution is to not get exhausted, failing that, if I do catch a cold etc I try to slow right down and rest as much as possible. Nothing else works in prevention for me.

Wish I knew. Teen DD is on her fourth case in as many months. We have been trying salt water gargle. Going on holiday in a couple of days si hoping she feels better.

I had them removed for the reason and the infection did not go anywhere else or worse. I never heard of that before, until I read it here.
Tonsils are prone for that certain type of infection and it made me extremely ill every time. After removing them, that stopped. Nothing took it's place.

@Parrilalilalila , it's not the tonsilitis that goes elsewhere. As I understand it, the tonsils are part of the immune system, which is why they get infected.
If the tonsils are no longer there then the system is missing that part of the defence.
When a bad infection comes along, that will go elsewhere. You might be fine for several years then get something like a nasty dose of bronchitis. You might not but I know a few who did.

I used to get tonsillitis a lot, and my girls.

At the most recent illness, GP said anyone with recurring tonsillitis should be given a 10 day course of antibiotics, 5 or 7 days isn't enough to fully kill the bacteria, it dampens it enough that feel better, but then gradually comes back again. We used yo ea h get it 3-4 times a year, since that 10 day course a tear ago, neither of us have had it

I used to get it all the time. Now I feel the slightest tickle, I gargle with Peroxyl mouthwash and it seems to hold it off. Also really helps get rid of tonsil stones which I'm also horribly prone to getting. Daily, I use Listerine and gargle with it. Had one bout last year, which is good going for me.

Me too. My tonsillitis was terrible sometimes - wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed even if my house was on fire! My health improved greatly after having them out - taking so many antibiotics was causing me a lot of other problems .

I used to get it loads. What helped; realising it was stress related and taking supplements (probiotics and echinacea). One of those two ran out a couple of months ago. Husband didn't think much of it. I got tonsillitis within 3 weeks (i didn't realise it had run out either, found out at that time). Not taking that chance again! That has been working for me for the past 2yrs. When I get tonsillitis I get it really bad.

I had mine removed 12 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. At one point I’d had tonsillitis 10 times in one year. Since having them out I’ve not had a single throat infection and when I have colds/viruses they are nowhere near as bad as they were when I had my tonsils

Last year I gave up fizzy drinks and had 4 flares of tonsillitis needing antibiotics.
since then have gargled with chlorhexidine mouth wash and restarted drinking lemonade - hopefully won’t jinx it but fine so far this year unlike DS who has had it 4 times already

I'm still searching but here's some of my ideas (I've had it 7 times in the past 18 months)

• a spoonful of manuka honey per day either in hot water with honey or just eat it!
• a warm pack around my neck when it starts
• VIT D & VIT C daily
• salt rinses
• probiotic from Nutri as I do think a lot relates to my tummy
• lower stress and rest! This is near on impossible in my job as a teacher....

£3500 for one teen and £6000 (more complicated) for the other to have them taken out,

Best money I have ever spent! They'd still be on the NHS waiting list now (they were eligible but a long list!) and they'd have missed out on so much in the meantime.

It's utterly ridiculous when I look back on those many, many months of almost non stop antibiotics.

We tried everything mentioned; honestly the only thing that worked was having them out.

I had mines removed, not had a throat infection since. T try instils that are prone to tonsillitis are often permanently swollen this makes it easy for food and then bacteria to stick in the crevices leading to infection. Gargle with a decent mouthwash, pressure wash them down with a waterpik flosser if you can take it. Also gargling with dissolvable aspirin can help reduce swelling.