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One of the most frequently heard causes of illness in children is “tonsilitis”.

What are the tonsils and how does tonsilitis arise? These are questions childcare centres around Mirrabooka and their personnel often hear expressed by parents.

The tonsils and Tonsilitis – something of a mystery

One of the most common misconceptions is that the roughly u-shaped extension projecting downwards from the roof of the throat is the tonsils. In fact, that’s called the Uvula and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the tonsils.

Humans have four tonsils. They sit roughly around the throat entrance. Their technical names are the phalangeal tonsils (sometimes also called the Adenoid or Adenoids), the tubal tonsils (found in the roof of the pharynx), the palatine tonsils and the lingual tonsils.

It’s only the palatine tonsils that can be seen from a casual look inside the mouth. In common language, most people referring to “the tonsils” usually mean the palatine tonsils.

Their function for many years was relatively unknown. Even as late as the mid-20th century, many doctors advocated their surgical removal in children as a matter of preventative routine, as they were suspected of causing sore throats and serving no productive purpose – much in the same way as the prevailing medical opinion at the time considered the appendix to be redundant.

Today, it is now clear that the tonsils play an important role in the overall immune system’s ability to react to bacteria and viruses invading the body though aspects of their full role in this capacity remain to be fully understood.

Age changes

Tonsils are most prevalent in childhood up to adolescence. After that, they typically begin to atrophy in adulthood, even if some problems with them can arise in later adult life.

In childhood, tonsils are perhaps best known as being the cause of ‘tonsilitis’. This is an inflammation of the tonsil tissues due to either a bacterial or viral infection. It can be very painful and distressing for the affected child, however, a ‘sore throat’ can arise for many different reasons and there is a tendency for the term ‘tonsilitis’ to be used casually and incorrectly as a synonym for all throat pain.

Tonsilitis – treatment

Today, it is rare for doctors to move quickly to surgical removal (a tonsillectomy). Typically an anti-inflammatory medication will be tried along with an antibiotic in cases where the cause is diagnosed as bacterial in origin.

Surgical measures are usually considered only in cases where a child is experiencing attacks of tonsilitis relatively frequently or where the attacks are significantly painful and they’re not responding to non-invasive treatments. It isn’t clear why some children are far more prone to regular attacks than others, though a genetic predisposition is suspected as a factor.

In a few, typically rare, cases a severe attack and inflammation may put a child’s airways at risk. Emergency treatment may be required in such instances and that might involve emergency surgery at the time or fairly quickly after the attack has been controlled through medication.

Mirrabooka Childcare Centres and Policies

Policies here may differ from one centre to another.

Many childcare centres will ask parents to keep a child (or children) at home if they are unwell and particularly if they have been diagnosed with a known condition such as tonsilitis. Each situation may be different though and if a condition has been treated and is seen to be receding, some centres may be happy to accept a child if they’re clearly on the mend.

If you’d like to know more about our policies in these areas, why not make an appointment to come along and meet us? We’d love to see you!