Adenoids
Adenoids
Adenoids and tonsils are often confused with each other. However, they both
are part of defence tools to help our body stay healthy. So, what are adenoids?
What are they for? And why do kids sometimes have to get their adenoids removed?
The adenoids are lumpy clusters of spongy tissue that sit in the back of the nose above the oof the mouth. They sit high on each side of the throat behind the nose and the roof of the mouth. Adenoids get bigger after a kid is born and usually stop growing by the time a kid is between the ages of 3 and 7. Although you can easily see your tonsils by standing in front of a mirror and opening your mouth wide, you can't see your adenoids this way. A has to use a small mirror or a special scope to get a peek at your adenoids. Sometimes a doctor may want you to get an X-ray of the adenoid area.
Like tonsils, adenoids help keep your body healthy by trapping harmful bacteria and viruses that you inhale. Adenoids also contain cells that make antibodies to help your body fight infections. The infection-fighting job of adenoids happens in the first few years of a kid's life, a job that grows less important as you get older and your body develops other ways to fight Some doctors believe that adenoids may not be important at all after kids reach their third birthday. In fact, adenoids usually shrink after about age 5, and by the teenage years they often practically disappear.
Because adenoids trap germs that enter a kid's body, adenoid tissue sometimes temporarily swells as it tries to fight off an infection. Although adenoids may eventually return to their normal size without medical treatment, they often don't. Adenoids can even get so walloped by a bacterial invasion that they become infected themselves. Swollen or enlarged adenoids are common. And often, if a kid's adenoids get infected or swollen, so do her tonsils. Your adenoids may be swollen or constantly infected if: you have hard time breathing, or can breathe only through your mouth your nose sounds 'blocked,' or like someone's pinching it when you talk your breathing is noisy or 'rattly' during the day you snore a lot at night, or stop breathing for a few seconds when you're asleep you have a hard time swallowing you have a sore throat you have swollen glands in your neck you are having ear problems, or need a second or third set of ear tubes you are having frequent sinus infections. When infected adenoids swell, sometimes it's hard for a kid to hear things, sort of the way it sounds if you cup your hands over your
Once upon a time, most doctors quickly recommended removing a kid's adenoids and tonsils when they became enlarged. Not anymore. Enlarged adenoids are actually normal for some kids. And because problems caused by adenoids usually go away by the teenage years, doctors don't like to take them out unless they absolutely have to. If you have some of the symptoms of swollen adenoids, your mom or dad will probably take you to the doctor for a checkup. The doctor will ask you how things feel in your ears, and throat, and then take a look at these parts. Your doctor will listen to your breathing by using a stethoscope. He or she may also feel your neck near your jaw. To get a really close look at things, your doctor may even want to take one or more X-rays.
Your doctor may use a small mirror or a bendable light to look at your adenoids. If he or she suspects infection, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics for you to take by mouth, or maybe an injection of penicillin.
If enlarged or infected adenoids keep bothering your health and doesn't help stop them from coming back, your doctor may finally recommend removing your adenoids. Although adenoids can be taken out without the tonsils, if you are having tonsil problems, the tonsils may need to be removed at the same time. This is called a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. A and adenoidectomy is the most common operation that kids have.
Getting adenoids removed is especially important when repeated infections lead to and ear infections. Badly swollen adenoids can interfere with ear pressure and fluid movement and this can sometimes lead to hearing loss. Kids whose infected adenoids cause frequent earaches and fluid buildup are candidates for an adenoidectomy with ear tube surgery.
If you are scheduled for surgery, you'll go to an to have your adenoids, and maybe your tonsils, removed. Adenoids are removed through the mouth. But don't worry, you'll be given a medicine that makes you sleep during the operation, and removing your adenoids will not make you look any different. The cut area will be left to heal naturally. There are no stitches to worry about. Because your throat will be sore for a few days after surgery, you'll probably prefer eating a lot of soft foods, like ice cream, pudding, and soups. But you can eat whatever you want.
Recovery is about a week after surgery, everything should return to normal.
Updated and reviewed by: Mansour Noushmehr MD
Date reviewed: November 2003
[TOP]
children's health