Does your child snore while sleeping? Does your child experience poor spirits during the day, difficulty concentrating in class, memory decline, or trouble keeping up with studies? Does your child have hearing loss or kidney inflammation issues? All these could possibly be caused by enlarged adenoids or chronic tonsillitis. Take advantage of the long holiday in October to get these conditions treated promptly, giving your child's health a "boost" so they can engage in their studies in the best possible state of health!
Snoring during sleep: Hindering learning and threatening hearing
Many parents don't understand how snoring, which seems like just a habit, can affect a child's learning. Dr. Yi Hui, an expert in pediatric ear, nose, and throat (ENT) at Wuhan Minsheng ENT Specialty Hospital, explains that long-term snoring isn't just a habit; it's a condition where the child's breathing is obstructed during sleep, and airflow is not smooth. Insufficient oxygen supply to the brain during sleep negatively affects their daytime spirit, ability to receive and digest knowledge, and memory. Over time, this can cause irreversible harm to intellectual development.
"Children's snoring is often due to enlarged adenoids or tonsillitis," Dr. Yi said. If left untreated, it can lead to various complications. For example, the Eustachian tube in young children is short, wide, and straight, making it easy for adenoid inflammation to spread to the middle ear, causing secretory otitis media. In its chronic stage, it poses significant harm to the child’s hearing. Many parents only become aware when their child's hearing has severely declined, and upon examination at the hospital, they discover that the culprit is enlarged adenoids.
Repeated tonsil infections can easily lead to nephritis and heart disease
Some children may not have obvious snoring during sleep, but their tonsils inflame periodically, becoming a recurring problem. Each time, they need intravenous drips, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory drugs at the hospital to improve. In severe cases of chronic tonsillitis, doctors may recommend surgical removal of the tonsils. However, many parents are hesitant: Can such a young child endure surgery? Will removing the tonsils affect their immunity? As a result, the surgery keeps getting postponed.
Dr. Yi points out that repeated tonsil infections pose significant health risks to children because the tonsillar crypts contain hemolytic streptococci. When the tonsils repeatedly inflame, these streptococci can spread, potentially damaging the glomeruli, joints, myocardium, and heart valves, ultimately leading to nephritis, arthritis, myocarditis, and heart disease. These diseases are difficult to cure under current medical standards, so once contracted, they can be quite troublesome. Therefore, if chronic tonsillitis meets surgical indications, such as four or more inflammations per year, grade III enlargement or higher, causing snoring or other complications, early consideration of surgery is recommended.
Plasma minimally invasive surgery: Stopping the snoring
If examinations indicate a need for surgery, generally speaking, children aged 3 and above can undergo adenoid surgery, and those aged 5 and above can undergo tonsil surgery. So far, there have been no reported cases where this surgery significantly lowers the child's immunity. In fact, the human immune system doesn’t solely rely on the tonsils. After removal, the spleen, bone marrow, and other immune organs will compensate to some extent, and its impact on immunity isn't as significant as many parents imagine. Moreover, leaving diseased tonsils and adenoids causes more harm than good.
As for parents' concerns about whether their child can endure surgery, Dr. Yi emphasizes that minimally invasive surgery differs from traditional excision surgeries, which involve larger wounds and greater pain. The current plasma minimally invasive surgery directly grinds down the inflamed and enlarged tonsils, with almost no incisions, or even no cutting at all, making it very tolerable for the patient. Post-surgery, the child only needs to stay in the hospital for observation and care for 1-3 days before being discharged. A seven-day holiday in October is more than enough. Therefore, he reminds parents that treating adenoid and tonsil conditions during the golden week is far more important than going on vacation! However, examinations and treatments should ideally be conducted at reputable specialty hospitals with experienced specialists, as younger patients require ensuring both the quality and safety of the surgery.