Smoking during acute tonsillitis

The patient suffering from acute tonsillitis may ask himself the question whether smoking has an additional damaging effect on the course of the disease or whether it interferes with healing. This question must be answered with “Yes”. Smoking disturbs the natural healing processes and can worsen symptoms such as sore throat.

Furthermore, the mucous membranes are already highly irritated by the inflammation, so that the irritation caused by smoking can greatly prolong the duration of the disease. The complete healing of an acute tonsillitis takes about one to two weeks. During this time, smoking cigarettes should be completely avoided.

Pregnancy is a particular strain on the organism of the future mother. Therefore, women in pregnancy are often affected by symptoms of acute tonsillitis such as sore throat, difficulty swallowing and fever. The increased susceptibility to infection is explained by the increased stress on the body to supply another growing organism.

Once the acute tonsillitis has been diagnosed, it usually heals without any problems, just like in other people. However, treatment with antibiotics and antipyretic agents should be carefully checked and discussed with a doctor, as some of the active ingredients can be harmful to the unborn child. During pregnancy, women should generally avoid painkillers such as aspirin or ibuprofen.

These are often used for pain and fever in acute tonsillitis, but high doses carry the risk of serious complications. While in the first two thirds of the pregnancy these drugs can be used in low doses with medical consultation, in the last third there is an absolute contraindication, as bleeding can occur, contractions are delayed and a heart defect in the child (premature closure of the ductus arteriosus) can develop. In addition, antibiotic therapy is often required during acute tonsillitis.

This can be problematic during pregnancy, as the most serious consequence of using the wrong drugs can be malformations in the child. Well-researched and generally unproblematic in pregnancy are penicillins, which also play the main role in the treatment of acute tonsillitis. If it is an uncomplicated acute tonsillitis, well-known home remedies such as gargling with sage tea, calf compresses and drinking a lot are preferable to drug therapy. However, prolonged tonsillitis may have to be treated with antibiotics due to the possible complications, although it cannot be emphasised enough that the use of medication during pregnancy, such as in acute tonsillitis, should only be done in consultation with a doctor.

Acute tonsillitis in infants

Acute tonsillitis is a common disease especially in children. Especially toddlers, i.e. children of pre-school age up to approx. 6 years, often suffer from the unpleasant sore throat and difficulty swallowing, which are accompanied by fever.

Especially with children it is important to pay attention to some important measures. The infant should drink a lot despite the pain, water or tea are best. Lightly anaesthetizing lozenges are also useful against the pain.

A presentation at the paediatrician is useful to avoid complications of an untreated acute tonsillitis. In the worst case, heart and kidney damage and rheumatic fever may occur. Antibiotic therapy must be initiated.

Here it is important to ensure that the infant continues to take the medication even after the symptoms have subsided, in order to prevent reactivation. The treatment of acute tonsillitis also focuses on measures to reduce fever. On the one hand, home remedies are available: cold calf compresses, wet cloths for the head.

If this is not enough, there are medications that lower the fever. Here, it is important to remember to take into account the special needs of small children. Because of the danger of Reye’s syndrome, aspirin should never be given to children under 12 years of age.

Alternatively, the active ingredient ibuprofen is available. In the case of paracetamol, the maximum dose of 60 mg of active ingredient per kg body weight must be observed. Higher doses damage the liver.