The main symptom of many diseases of adults and children is deviations in the appearance of tonsils. To determine what happens to them, you need to know exactly what healthy tonsils look like. If you notice any defect in them, you should immediately go for a consultation with a specialist, without delaying treatment.
Function
Healthy tonsils protect the human body from the attacks of harmful microorganisms. The thing is that they are one of the organs of the immune system. They are located in the throat and is a lymphoid nodule involved in the production of lymphocytes. Only a small fraction of them appears in the lymph, and the remaining lymphocytes are involved in the neutralization of fungi, bacteria and viruses in the oral cavity. When the tonsils in a healthy person change color, this signals an inflammatory process that begins in the body. Most often, it is caused by infections that were transmitted by airborne droplets, and lymphoid tissues could not cope with them.
In addition, hematopoietic function, also expressed in the production of lymphoid cells, is assigned to healthy tonsils. In the human body there are 2 paired and 2 unpaired tonsils. They are located in the area where the nasopharynx passes into the pharynx and forms the pharyngeal ring.
Appearance
If you do not know what healthy tonsils look like, the photos presented in the article clearly show what they should be. Their size is about the size of a walnut. Healthy tonsils are always pink. The glands never go beyond the palatine arches.
However, this description is not typical for everyone. It all depends on the individual characteristics of people. Someone from birth has enlarged glands, and this is also considered the norm.
Details
All people have suffered from pain in the throat more than once and experienced the discomfort associated with it. As soon as unpleasant symptoms appear, the patient always tries to find out what caused them. Often, forgetting how healthy tonsils look, a person perceives his tonsils as inflamed and tries to treat them. While they can be completely normal. It must be remembered that you should not take medications without the advice of a doctor. In order not to be mistaken, it's worth seeing how healthy tonsils look in the photo.
So, they do not solder with the palatine arches, can be pale pink, they should never be plaque. On healthy tonsils there are small elevations. They are located directly on the surface of the glands. To distinguish them from pathology, it is worthwhile to carefully consider this feature of the tonsils of a healthy person in the photo.
Also, the remaining sections of the pharynx along with the soft palate, posterior mucous walls, tongue and tongue should not be inflamed. Their appearance is the same as healthy tonsils should look - all pink.
Be sure if there is a suspicion of an infection, slightly press on the tonsils and see if pus or cork has stood out from them. Of healthy tonsils there will be no discharge.
The mucous membranes should be free of swelling, bright vessels and follicles, which clearly appear on the surface.
Healthy tonsils in the throat correspond to all of the listed symptoms at the same time.
Location
Tonsils are located in several areas in the oral cavity. For this reason, their names were given to them based on location. So, palatine tonsils are ovoid formations, which also resemble almonds in some way. Each person in the body has two. They are completely symmetrical, located in the isthmus in the mouth. It also has an arched structure, to which the tonsils are adjacent on the sides.
The palatine are the only tonsils that are located in plain sight. They are always easy to see. But their size will be different for everyone: a lot depends on the individual characteristics of people. On average, they are 20 mm formations. Their entire surface is completely covered by mucous membranes. Epithelial tissue on them is called spread. This name was given to her due to the fact that her layers of cells cover each other. Having performed a histological analysis of these tissues in the tonsils, the deepest cavities, crypts, are also found. They have a high content of mucus, in which many cells of the body's immune system are always present.
There are also individual tonsils located in the nasopharynx. They were called so because of the peculiarities of their shape. Often these organs are also called adenoids. As in the case of palatine tonsils, crypts are always found in their histological structure. These organs have a number of unusual features. Immediately from the birth of a person, their rapid development takes place, up to 8 years, and then they simply disappear, and in adults, adenoids are completely atrophied.
The lingual tonsil is located in the region of the base of the tongue. It is completely covered with lymphoid tissues, in which round grooves can be seen. There are crypts, at a depth of only 3 millimeters. Their development resembles the "fate" of the tonsils of the nasopharynx. They actively develop only from the moment when a person turns 14 years old. And then, closer to 20 years, rapidly decreasing in size.
Tonsils and other lymphoid organs together make up the so-called lymphatic ring of Walder. Their main function is to protect the body from microbes and bacteria in the areas through which bacteria and microbes enter it. They can enter through food and inhaled air.
Such functions are largely justified by crypts. Their epithelium contains lymphocytic filters. This is what provokes rapid immune responses. The peak of vigorous activity of this body occurs in children until puberty begins.
Disease
The main primary symptom of the presence of inflammation in this organ is soreness and discomfort. Noting that its appearance differs from the appearance of healthy tonsils in the photo, it is necessary to establish the presence of the following symptoms.
- Swelling and redness of the back walls in the throat and in the soft palate. This indicates that pharyngitis began, which was triggered by harmful microorganisms.
- Pain, redness and swelling of the tonsils, the absence of plaque indicates a sore throat, plaque will appear later and will be yellow-white.
- If the sore throat was of a herpetic type, then soon small bubbles on the glands will appear. When they open, they will become sores. Already at the first stages it is easy to understand that the organ does not look like healthy tonsils in an adult or a child.
- The presence of purulent thick mucus that drains from the nasopharynx is a symptom of inflammation of adenoids, rhinitis or sinusitis.
- The presence of caseous plugs or pus in the throat, which is secreted if the tonsils are lightly pressed, is direct evidence that this is chronic tonsillitis.
- Caseous plugs are dense, spherical formations, which make it painful to swallow. They look like specks of white color located on the back of the throat and tonsils. It can be difficult to see them, even with a photo of healthy tonsils in an adult. The thing is that they can hide in the folds of the glands.
- Chronic cough and enlarged follicles on the walls of the nasopharynx indicate that a person suffers from hypertrophic pharyngitis.
- The presence of a white coating that covers the mouth, including the gums, tongue, posterior pharyngeal and tonsil walls, is a direct sign that a fungal infection has begun. It is very easy to calculate it, having on hand a photo of healthy tonsils in an adult. Such a disease begins due to weakening of the body's immune systems or due to a long course of taking antibiotics.
Sore throat
Symptoms of a sore throat are felt already after a couple of hours from the moment when harmful microbes entered the body. Be sure to pay attention to the presence of:
- Sore throat.
- Discomfort and pain.
- Migraines, general weakness, apathy and inability to concentrate.
- Enlarged glands, their reddish color.
- Swelling and swollen lymph nodes.
- Husky voice.
But you need to remember that the manifestations of the disease will vary slightly depending on which particular glands are inflamed - pharyngeal or linguistic. To understand this, you need to carefully look at the photos of healthy tonsils and find out which of them are located.
Manifestations of inflammation of the lingual tonsils:
- The presence of sore throat.
- Difficulty swallowing.
- Pain syndrome, which is aggravated by sticking out the tongue.
- Difficulty pronouncing a series of words.
- Temperature rise.
If the pharyngeal glands become inflamed, the following symptoms will appear:
- Difficulty breathing through the nose.
- Pus will come out of it.
- Ears will hurt.
- The temperature will rise.
It is important to start the treatment of acute inflammation in a timely manner as soon as the first signs are detected. If treatment is not started, the disease will become chronic and will haunt the person throughout his life. So, chronic tonsillitis is exacerbated more than once per year.
This disease temporarily incapacitates a person: his mental activity becomes difficult, as is his ability to concentrate. Also, during an exacerbation, the patient runs the risk of acquiring an infection in the kidneys, heart, and joints.
If it is an acute sore throat, it is disposed of in 10 days, taking into account medical recommendations. But if the same disease has become chronic, it can be treated for months.
Do not confuse
It is rare to notice that a person in adulthood does not have a raid on the tongue. This is due to the fact that most eat poorly, constantly suffer from nervous overload, do not get rid of bad habits.
A normal situation when a healthy larynx hurts . This can happen after overloading the vocal cords, when a person shouted or spoke a lot, due to a lot of stress. In such cases, all mucous membranes suffer. If snot flows down the back of the throat, this is a sign of rhinitis that has not yet affected the throat, as it is just beginning.
Throat examination
In order to detect deviations in time, it is important not only to know how healthy tonsils look in the throat, but also to properly examine the organ. Be sure to do this with proper lighting. So, one daylight will not be enough. It’s best to take a flashlight, but not the one that has a cold blue glow. The thing is that such a light can give a false effect that the tonsils in the throat are healthy. Photos of the tonsils presented in the article will help compare your tonsils with the norm.
During the inspection, specialists often use a disposable spatula made of wood or the back of a teaspoon. To assess the condition of the soft palate, tonsils, posterior walls without provoking vomiting, push the tongue in the area close to its tip.
Sometimes the symptoms are very expressive, and you can do without a spatula. It will be enough if he presses his tongue down, opening his mouth wide.
For the inspection to pass correctly, those who inspect need a good overview. This can be achieved if the patient breathes through the mouth.
In children
When the child is sick, the mother, before consulting a doctor, tries to conduct a throat examination herself. But she can’t always understand what the problem is. By looking at how healthy tonsils in a child look in the photo, you can more accurately determine what happened. It must be remembered that redness does not always indicate an inflammatory process. As well as the mismatch of the appearance of healthy tonsils of the child in the photo and in life, not in all cases is a sign of pathology.
The throat in children can hurt very often, it can be both allergies and chemical burns. But the most common nuisance is the respiratory virus. Sometimes an inflammatory reaction caused by harmful microorganisms can begin, this organ can be injured.
The main symptoms of the presence of pathology in children: refusal to drink and eat, runny nose, sore throat.
To compare the tonsils of your child with the healthy tonsils of the child in the photo, it is not fast enough (within a couple of seconds) to examine them.
Given the main signs of the disease, you can determine whether a sore throat or not. In order to competently inspect, you need to follow the following recommendations.
So, the child needs to be put to the window, which is located on the sunny side. With a lack of natural light, you must use a small flashlight.
You need to take an ordinary tablespoon and, after washing your hands, pour boiling water over it. Then push it in the middle of the tongue. You can not insert it too deep, otherwise the child may feel sick.
The child should open his mouth as much as possible and press his tongue down.
In the process, the child must breathe deeply in the mouth, in which case the tongue itself will lower, and it will be easier to examine the tonsils.
If the child has healthy tonsils, no wounds will be found in the oral cavity, and the tongue will be clean. It may have a slight physiological plaque, but nothing more.
The glands will be symmetrical and pale pink. Again, they will be deprived of ulcers, bumps and various formations.
The entire nasopharynx will be pink and without swelling. The phenomenon is considered normal when the back walls of the larynx contain many blood vessels, which appear and are visible. But pathology is the case when they swell, they have tubercles, ulcers, plaque.
Treatment
As soon as pain appeared, the temperature increased, you need to observe bed rest.
The first task is to get rid of infections and eliminate the causes of the disease. Only a doctor will conduct a competent diagnosis, you should never try to be treated on your own, because the disease can progress as long as the person is engaged in eliminating the wrong symptoms. Specialists always prescribe the necessary and appropriate medications in a particular case.
It will also require compliance with sanitary standards, which will include: thorough hygiene, wearing a mask, food from separate dishes. This will not infect the rest of the family.
Among the main methods of treating tonsil diseases is a gargle. The effect of mixtures, which at this moment appear on the glands, leads to the destruction of the harmful bacteria that settled on them.
To gargle, dilute with water preparations:
- "Dioxidine";
- "Furacilin";
- "Subordinate";
- Miramistin et al.
Only a specialist can choose which remedy is suitable for the patient. To relieve symptoms of inflammation and eliminate pain, they can prescribe dragees for resorption, among which:
- Lidocaine
- Strepsils
- Decatilene et al.
Most of them contain anesthetics, are aimed at combating bacteria, and can be local antibiotics.
Sometimes serious antibiotics are indispensable. This is especially true in cases where follicles or purulent plaque are detected. Often use:
- Amoxicillin, which is an effective antibiotic. It is used against many harmful microorganisms. It must be taken into account that along with it they take medications that normalize the work of the gastrointestinal tract.
- "Amoxiclav" - an effective tool containing clavulanic acid, etc.
Often used and methods of alternative medicine for therapy. A popular method for treating tonsils is rinsing with a salt solution. To reduce pain, gargle with solutions of lemon juice. Decoctions of sage, calendula, chamomile have established themselves as effective medicines.
Compresses with cabbage, inhalations with onions, dressings with salt help to quickly cope with the disease. One must always be aware that a number of means can do more harm than good. A person can incorrectly diagnose his ailment, not know some of the subtleties, and this leads to the fact that while he is being treated in the wrong way, the disease progresses and causes many negative consequences. Only a specialist can correctly determine which disease the patient suffers from and how to treat it.
Diagnoses associated with tonsils can always be eliminated only with the use of medications. Alternative methods can act as support for the body fighting the infection.
Most often, traditional medicine offers healing broths. They are prepared very simply. Take 2 tablespoons of herbs and pour 1.5 liters of boiling water. Then boil the mixture for 10 minutes, then let it brew for 2 hours and filter. Drink the resulting broth 3-4 times a day for a quarter cup.
Before using folk remedies, it makes sense to consult a doctor.
Prevention
To prevent all kinds of diseases, it is necessary to maintain a protective function in the body and stimulate the immune system. Bad habits, unbalanced nutrition affect the frequency of gland diseases. Therefore, it is worth adjusting these points in order to maintain health.
It is also important to refuse to drink cold water, to avoid hypothermia, to timely treat the sources of infections in the body - rhinitis, caries, sinusitis, sinusitis.
As soon as the first symptoms have been detected, the first thing to do is go to a specialist so that only he prescribes medications. Otherwise, neglected diseases that affect the tonsils can lead to rheumatism and cardiovascular diseases. And this can already become life threatening.
Why are tonsils removed?
An operation that aims to remove tonsils is called tonsillectomy. In this case, there are adenoids, i.e. palatine tonsils. The need for such a procedure can be caused by several reasons. Among them are: detection of infectious diseases that were provoked by the inflammatory process in the tonsils; relapse of a chronic disease; diagnosing a serious disease - nephropathy, for example.
Often, this type of surgical intervention is prescribed in cases where standard treatment and antibiotics are not able to cope with the disease, and there have already been unsuccessful attempts to use them.
Most often, this operation is carried out in children whose tonsils have excessively increased in size and began to lag behind their loggias. Surgical intervention of this type is carried out easily, there are no difficulties. But, of course, it can only be entrusted to qualified specialists.
The procedure will take 10 minutes, in its course they must use both general and local anesthesia.
But when it comes to removing tonsils in adults, the process becomes much more complicated. The thing is that the tissue of a given organ is already being restored differently, it is more closely adjacent to the base. For this reason, the surgeon needs to dissect the mucous membranes, and then remove the tonsils from the walls of the loggia. Next, it is necessary to restore and isolate the nearby blood vessels.
Be sure to apply local anesthesia. Intervention occurs after the doctor has made sure that the anesthetic has penetrated into the base itself, and then checked the general condition of the sick person. After the operation is completed, a whole course of antibiotics can be prescribed. A person who has undergone it, for some time will encounter difficulties in the process of swallowing, sore throat. Usually, in this case, a light diet is prescribed, which includes only soft or mashed dishes.
You need to remember that at the moment, removing tonsils is not such a common procedure as in the old days. Medicine has stepped forward, and today experts use many types of therapy, the latest medicines that allow you to heal this organ. But the patient himself plays a large role in the treatment. He needs to drink fluids as much as possible, follow hygiene procedures. Tonsil surgery is the last resort a doctor can take.
Conclusion
Tonsils - an organ that has many important functions in the body. It is always worthwhile to monitor their condition in order to notice the symptoms of the disease in time, so it is very important to know what healthy tonsils should look like.