Very often, parents seek help from a pediatric otolaryngologist if their baby is suspected of hypertrophy or inflammation of the pharyngeal tonsil. Statistics show that this disease occurs in half of all cases of diagnosed diseases of ENT organs among preschool and primary school children. Such an ailment, depending on the degree of its severity, can cause difficulties or a complete absence of nasal breathing. Often, the middle ear becomes inflamed, hearing is reduced, and other serious consequences appear. For the treatment of adenoids in a child, surgical, medical methods, as well as physiotherapeutic procedures are used. In this article, you can familiarize yourself with how adenoids are tested in a child, what are the causes of the ailment, and how to treat it.
General definition
Adenoid is called the pharyngeal tonsil. It is located in the nasopharynx. It is this tonsil that produces the cells of the immune system and lymphocytes that help protect the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx from getting various infections there.
Causes of inflammation
How to check adenoids in a child? First of all, the specialist should find out the main reason for their increase in the baby. Most often they are as follows:
- Hereditary predisposition to this disease.
- Untreated airway inflammation.
- Chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.
- Weakened immune system.
Signs and Symptoms
And what are the signs and symptoms of inflammation of the adenoids in a child? These include:
- Most of the time, the baby does not breathe through the nose, but through the mouth.
- A runny nose lasts for a long time and is not amenable to therapy.
- A runny nose may be absent, but breathing will be difficult.
How to check adenoids in a child?
If you notice that your baby has difficulty breathing, as well as snoring, then you need to seek help from a pediatric otolaryngologist. He will conduct the examination of the patient. But how is adenoids checked in a child? The presence of adenoids can be determined by the following diagnostic methods:
- Rhinoscopy This procedure is an examination of the nasopharynx using a special medical mirror.
- Roentgenography. Thanks to this procedure, you can determine the degree of development of the disease.
- Endoscopy This diagnostic procedure is an examination, during which a special device is used - an endoscope that helps to determine not only the presence of adenoids, but also their size.
- Finger examination.
- Diagnostic examination using a bacteriological smear, which is taken from the nasopharynx.
Endoscopy
So, we examined how to check if a child has adenoids, what diagnostic procedures are used for this. However, it is worth familiarizing yourself with some of them in more detail.
How to check adenoids in children with an endoscope? One of the advantages of this procedure is its visibility. Thanks to endoscopy, the parent can see with his own eyes the enlarged adenoids in the baby. When conducting endoscopy, a specialist determines the degree of vegetation and overlap of the auditory tubes and nasal passages, the cause of the increase in adenoids, the presence of swelling, mucus, pus, as well as the condition of nearby organs.
The whole procedure is carried out under local anesthesia, because a specialist, when conducting an examination, introduces a long tube into the nasal passage of the child, whose thickness is about 3 mm At the end of the tube is a camera. All this gives the baby a very painful and unpleasant sensation. That is why local anesthesia is used during the diagnosis.
Finger examination and radiography
Speaking about how to check adenoids in children with a finger, as well as using radiography, you should pay attention to the fact that such procedures are practically not used today. Both methods are harmful to the child’s body, in addition, they do not give an idea of why the pharyngeal tonsil has increased.
Rhinoscopy
And how to check the degree of adenoids in a child using rhinoscopy? In the case of anterior rhinoscopy, the specialist carefully examines the nasal passages, expanding them with a special nasal mirror. To analyze the condition of adenoids, the doctor asks the baby to swallow, as well as pronounce the word "lamp". During this, the sky contracts, which provokes the oscillation of adenoids.
How does an ENT test adenoids in children with posterior rhinoscopy? During this procedure, adenoids and the nasopharynx are examined through the oropharynx using a special mirror. This diagnostic method is highly informative, thanks to it you can assess the size and condition of the adenoids in the baby. However, the child may experience a vomiting reflex, since a very unpleasant sensation appears during diagnosis.
How adenoids are checked in a child, you now know. But what will be the therapy of this ailment?
Treatment features
The technique for treating enlarged adenoids in a child will be determined by their degree, the development of complications, and the severity of symptoms. For this, physiotherapy, drug treatment, as well as traditional medicine can be used.
Medicines
Therapy of adenoids with the help of drugs is effective for grade 1 adenoids. Rarely, it is used for grade 2 of these tumors. At grade 3, drug therapy is carried out only if the patient has contraindications for surgical intervention.
Drug treatment is aimed at relieving swelling, inflammation, eliminating the common cold, strengthening the immune system, as well as improving the condition of the nasal cavity. For this, the following drugs are used:
- Vasoconstrictive drops: Farmazolin, Galazolin, Sanorin, Naphthyzin.
- Antihistamines: Suprastin, Diazolin, Erius, Loratadin, Fenistil.
- Hormonal anti-inflammatory nasal sprays: "Nazonex", "Flix".
- Antiseptic local drugs, as well as drops in the nose: "Collargol", "Protargol", "Albucid".
Traditional medicine recipes
Proven folk remedies for adenoids in a child are also very effective. They can be used only after consulting with ENT at the initial stage of the disease, when it is not accompanied by any complications. The most effective means is the process of washing the nose with a solution with the addition of sea salt. Also often used for this are herbal decoctions of oak bark, calendula, chamomile flowers, eucalyptus leaves, which have antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and astringent effects.
During the use of medicinal herbs, it is necessary to take into account the fact that they can provoke an allergy in the child, which will further aggravate the course of the disease.
Physiotherapeutic procedures
Physiotherapy in case of inflammation of the adenoids is used in conjunction with the use of medications to increase their effectiveness. Most often, small patients are prescribed laser therapy. The usual course of treatment includes 10 sessions. Each year, it is recommended that the child carry out 3 courses of therapy. Laser low-intensity radiation will help reduce swelling and inflammation, normalize breathing, and also have an antibacterial effect. In addition, the effect extends not only to the formed adenoids, but also to nearby tissues.
In addition to laser therapy, ultraviolet radiation, UHF on the nose can also be used. Sometimes ozone therapy is prescribed, electrophoresis with the use of drugs.
In addition, for the treatment of adenoids in a child, respiratory gymnastics, spa treatment, rest at sea, and climatotherapy are used.
Complications in a child
In the absence of adequate and timely treatment of adenoids in the baby, especially 2 and 3 degrees, complications of various kinds appear. Among them are the following:
- chronic inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract;
- increased likelihood of incidence of acute respiratory infections and SARS;
- deformation of the maxillofacial skeleton;
- hearing impairment, which is caused by a child’s adenoids blocking the opening of the auditory tube in the nose, as well as ventilation disorders in the middle ear;
- violation of the development of the chest;
- speech impairment;
- frequent purulent and catarrhal otitis media.
In a child, adenoids can provoke a lag in physical and mental development, which is explained by insufficient intake of oxygen in the brain due to existing problems regarding nasal breathing.
Conclusion
Prevention is especially important for those children who are prone to an allergic reaction, as well as those who have a hereditary predisposition to the development of this disease. To prevent hypertrophy, it is very important for the child to give time to restore the size of the tonsils after suffering colds. After the disappearance of the symptoms of the disease, as well as improving the well-being of the baby, you should not send the child to kindergarten the next day, you must sit at least one week at home for the child, during this period, walk a lot in the fresh air outdoors.