Get your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
159 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM BlogQuestions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction

Suggest Treatment For Swollen Tonsil And Breathlessness During Physical Activity

My son has a swollen tonsil and is struggling to breathe whilst playing football. He is booked in to see a doctor a Princess Margaret Hospital however it is still 4 weeks away and his training has grown from 2 days a week to 4 days a week. He is unable to sleep at night and his tonsil has been swollen for over 7 months. Should I take him to the hospital?
Thu, 27 Aug 2015
Report Abuse
General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic,

Swollen tonsils with other symptoms like breathing difficulty are actually due to acute tonsillitis (upper respiratory infection) which is mostly due to viral infection (adenovirus,rhinovirus) or some times bacterial
(streptococcus, staphylococcus etc) or spitocheatas etc.

Your son needs to be evaluated further by clinical examination of throat and some laboratory investigations like complete hemogram, ESR,chest X-ray and pulmonary function test.

The treatment is mainly antibiotics (macrolides or quinolones or amoxycillin etc) with analgesic, antiinflammatories and antihistamines with mast cell stabilizers and other symptomatics for 7 to 10 days.

If there is chronic infection of tonsils then surgical removal should be done.(tonsillectomy)

So,consult ENT specialist for full course treatment and further advice.

Regards,
I find this answer helpful
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer. For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service [Sample answer]
Share on
 
Loading Online Doctors....
Suggest Treatment For Swollen Tonsil And Breathlessness During Physical Activity

Hi, Welcome to health care magic, Swollen tonsils with other symptoms like breathing difficulty are actually due to acute tonsillitis (upper respiratory infection) which is mostly due to viral infection (adenovirus,rhinovirus) or some times bacterial (streptococcus, staphylococcus etc) or spitocheatas etc. Your son needs to be evaluated further by clinical examination of throat and some laboratory investigations like complete hemogram, ESR,chest X-ray and pulmonary function test. The treatment is mainly antibiotics (macrolides or quinolones or amoxycillin etc) with analgesic, antiinflammatories and antihistamines with mast cell stabilizers and other symptomatics for 7 to 10 days. If there is chronic infection of tonsils then surgical removal should be done.(tonsillectomy) So,consult ENT specialist for full course treatment and further advice. Regards,