ds always sounds congested

[uncertain]

I am wondering whether anyone has experienced this with their own children and whether it could be as a result of allergies.

DS is 3 yrs old and in recent months his nose always seems to sound 'blocked'. He breathes through his mouth a lot, and when he talks he sounds as though he has a cold, even though his nose is not running and he appears to be fine in other ways. I took him to the doctor a few weeks ago and he said that the nasal sound could be caused by enlarged adenoids (sp?), which is apparently quite common in young children. He also looked in ds' ears and said that they looked 'dull', which could be attributed to allergies. The only thing he said, was to try giving ds some antihistamine, but surely this is only a short-term solution..? I don't even know if allergy is the cause.

Anyway I would appreciate hearing from anyone who may have a 'clue' about this - thank you.

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Hi uncertain - My DS was the same as your son; nasaly, breathing through his mouth more and I also noticed that at night he had begun to snore on the odd occasion. He has recently had his tonsils removed and I mentioned this to the consultant who said it sounded like enlarged adenoids. During the tonsillectomy he checked and they were indeed very enlarged so he removed them and he is clear sounding and breathing perfectly through his nose again. Hope this helps.

Thanks robinw & kazziegirl.

Kazziegirl I wonder if I should take ds to have his adenoids checked... do you know how they do this? It certainly sounds as if your situation was similar to mine. I just feel sorry for ds sounding so blocked up and it's hard not knowing whether it's allergies or something else that's causing it.

I think I'll look into it further and get another doctor to check him out... thanks again.

Hi uncertain, I spent my whole childhood breathing through my mouth and having unspeakable amounts of mucus. Eventually a doctor bothered to look up there and found polyps (sp?)completely blocking me up. They removed them and my adenoids and washed out my sinuses. I had to have it done again a few years later, but its not come back since. I was rubbish at sport, always had a cold, talked funny and snored. I hated it. Get a doctor to take you seriously before your son is old enough to be bothered and get him on a waiting list if needed.

Hi again uncertain. I would agree with bobthebaby - go back to your gp and ask if you can have your son looked at. Sounds like his adenoids maybe enlarged. Let us know how you get on.

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Hi uncertain. DS (almost 2) has nasal/sinus problems and was coughing a lot at night. GP said that it was due to sinuses blocking up and draining at night at night. He also snores on the odd occasion. When he does get a cold even the slightest sniffle will cause major blockage. As Robinw suggests a mil-free diet will help. GP suggested this and DS had a course of antihistamines to help clear it up. He is heaps better now though I do find the diet a bit of a pain. HTH

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Here is another vote for maybe it is the dairy products. Not my ds but I. I never bothered having it looked into, just assumed it was me until one day a colleague commented that I was always clearing my throat a lot in the mornings after my coffee and that it was probably the milk (I think I may have been driving my team mad). I changed to soy milk and loved it and started avoiding all dairy and I felt wonderful. Sadly here in Germany fresh soy milk is non-existent and so I have reverted and am feeling blocked up again. I have also started worrying that my ds might have the same problem - will monitor and raise with my doctor.

Good luck!