Adenoids in children symptoms
Adenoids are most common in children. And this disease suddenly arises: suddenly, after a cold or flu, the baby begins to "sniff" with his nose, snores at night and sleeps very restlessly, during the day he is naughty.
To put this diagnosis, do not have to be an expert. The appearance of the child, whose mouth is always half open, the upper teeth are randomly arranged and protrude considerably, the snot is flowing from the nose, the chest is similar to the "chicken" breast. All this leaves no doubt: the poor adenoids or pathological increase in pharyngeal tonsils, which is very common. It is observed in 50% of all children with ENT diseases. How to treat this ailment with folk remedies, look here.
High in the pharynx behind the nose behind the soft sky is a lymphoid tissue consisting of a proliferation of pharyngeal tonsils, called adenoids( from Greek aden - gland and eidos - species).The pharyngeal tonsil( the third) is part of the lymphadenoid glotular ring and, like its other components, refers to the organs of the immune system. It has the form of a convex quadrilateral and consists of 4-5 lobules, in which there are several shallow depressions - lacunae.
When the baby is born, the lymphoid tissue of the tonsils is still immature, its perfection occurs gradually, as the baby's body adapts to the effects of the external environment, and the tissue of the tonsils grows in response to it.
This is not an endless process, its greatest development of adenoids reaches six years. Approximately from 11-12 years, they begin to decrease in size, and after 16 and atrophy. In most adults, adenoids are completely absent.
This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the human lymphatic system up to six years old is only being formed, and the main load in the protection of the body lies on the lymphatic apparatus of the pharynx. When its formation ends, the nasopharyngeal tonsil( adenoids) gradually atrophies as unnecessary.
Inflammation of the pharyngeal tonsils is called adenoiditis. It occurs due to a strong proliferation of adenoids, when they become a breeding ground for microbes, viruses and fungi. As a result, the inhaled air is not moistened and is not cleared in the nasal cavity, but immediately gets into the lower parts of the respiratory tract, which makes the child easily catch a cold and often gets sick for a long time.
Conditionally adenoiditis can be divided into three degrees:
What processes occur in the body as a result of this?
If the adenoids cover only a small part of the nasopharyngeal space, the baby breathes freely during the day. Since the volume of adenoids increases in the horizontal position of the body, it becomes heavier to breathe through the nose during sleep.
If the adenoids half or completely cover the nasopharyngeal space, then it is difficult to breathe both during the day and at night. This is the case when you have to live with your mouth open around the clock. And this, in spite of the seeming frivolity of the situation, leads to very serious problems.
Due to the fact that nasal breathing is difficult, the air jet is forced to "go around" through the mouth. This means that the airway does not get cleaned, not warmed and not moistened air, which, in turn, absolutely does not "like" the pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lung, which it follows. Sometimes they do not cope with the load. They develop inflammation, which leads to sore throats, laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia.
The nose suffers from "wrong" breathing. Its mucous membrane swells, here the microbes freely multiply. That's where snotty noses with mucus-secretions, sinusitis, voice change( it becomes nasal).
Forced breathing through the mouth with adenoid leads to a decrease in the tone of the muscles of the pharynx. There is a snoring and even a delay in breathing due to the obstruction of the airways( this phenomenon is called the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which we discussed in detail in one of the chapters of this book).Not getting enough sleep at night, the child quickly becomes tired during the day, becomes irritable, his attention and memory are reduced. In some cases, even mental development suffers.
Adenoidal proliferation affects the normal functioning of the middle ear. Violation of the patency of the auditory tubes leads to deterioration of hearing, and persistent inflammatory phenomena in the nasopharynx - to bacterial infection of the middle ear through the auditory tube, resulting in the appearance of otitis media.
In chronic adenoiditis, a child may be tormented by cough: it is triggered by pathological excretions that drain from the nasopharynx. Most of all, coughing pierces during sleep or on waking.
In the nasopharynx, the timbre of the voice is amplified and finally formed. Because of adenoids, which prevent the passage of a resonant wave, the timbre is distorted and becomes nasal. Especially do not give the children the sounds of "m" and "n".In their pronunciation they sound like "b" and "d".
If the adenoids are not treated, the shape of the facial skeleton changes: the mouth is constantly opened, the lower jaw hangs, the nasolabial folds flatten, the hard palate becomes high( the so-called "gothic"), the bite of the teeth is broken, the incisors protrude considerably forward. This makes it difficult to chew food and subsequently leads to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. When the mouth is constantly open, the lower jaw clamps the blood vessels that feed the brain, leading to chronic oxygen starvation of the brain.
Sometimes, adenoids show bedwetting.
Pharyngeal tonsil is present in all children, but only half of them become a source of the disease. Who of the kids falls into the "risk group", what factors contribute to the emergence of adenoids?
Give impetus to their growth of the disease, which inflames the nasal mucosa and nasopharynx: ARD, measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, diphtheria, influenza, etc. So the body tries to protect itself from infection, exposing additional barriers in its path.
The cause of adenoids can be hereditary predisposition. We should not take this as inevitability, but remember that our children are our flesh and blood, yet it is worth it.
Often adenoids are found in children with diathesis, various allergic diseases. In these cases, the lymphadenoid tissue of the pharynx is enlarged, so adenoids are often accompanied by an increase in tonsils.
Overfeeding of babies can cause adrenoids proliferation.
The unhealthy ecological situation also contributes to this. If the house where the child lives is too warm, dry, dusty, adenoids try to adapt to the inhalation of such air and increase in size. They will also react to the presence of odorous washing powders, sprays, various products of household chemicals.
If during pregnancy, especially at week 7-9, the future mother suffers a viral disease, if during the entire period of bearing the child takes toxic medications and antibiotics, hypertrophy of the lymphadenoid apparatus of the pharynx occurs, which begins to actively develop active immunity.
Beginning of tonsillitis hypertrophy occurs in some newborns due to birth trauma, asphyxia during labor.
In order to correctly and effectively treat adenoiditis, we must remember that adenoid growths are associated with a decrease in immunity, which means that the main task is not to get rid of adenoids, but to take measures to increase the body's resistance.
All methods of treatment are divided into conservative and operative.
Conservative treatment is prescribed when the adenoids are enlarged moderately and there are no complications. These are the activities:
. As a result of such treatment( if the parents spend it not on a case-by-case basis, but in the order recommended by the otolaryngologist), the child will be less likely to suffer from acute respiratory diseases, which in turn will create prerequisites for a decreaseadenoids. In addition, as the child grows, the volume of the nasopharynx will increase and nasal breathing will improve.
If conservative treatment does not work, then you need to think about surgical. By the way, and this is fundamentally important, the indications for adenotomy are determined not by the dimensions of adenoid enlargement, but by specific symptoms. By virtue of anatomical features, adenoids of grade III can moderately interfere with nasal breathing, and adenoids of the first degree can lead to a significant decrease in hearing.
Indications for adenotomy( adenoids removal):
Contraindications to adenotomy are abnormalities of soft and hard palate, cleft palate, age of the child( up to 2 years), blood diseases, suspected cancer, acute infectious diseases, acute inflammatory diseasesupper respiratory tract, bacilli.
Perform the operation as under local anesthesia, and under general anesthesia( anesthesia).As a rule, the operation is carried out in the morning and always on an empty stomach.
Surgical intervention lasts only 1-2 minutes. A special ring-shaped knife( adenotom) is inserted into the region of the nasopharynx arch, pressed against it and at this point the adenoid tissue enters the ring of the adenotome. One movement of the hand - and the adenoids removed.
This is the traditional method of conducting an operation. More advanced techniques have been developed and introduced into everyday practice: for example, aspiration and endoscopic adenotomy, adenotomy using shadver technologies under general anesthesia. It hardly makes sense to go into the subtleties of the subtle to the nonspecialist, describing the technique of carrying out these operations. Suffice it to say that they are more accurate and less traumatic.
It should be known that in some cases after removal adenoids grow back. Contrary to the leisure opinion, it is not a matter of the chosen technique of performing the operation or the insufficient qualification of the doctor, but that in the process of the operation( as the form of the nasopharynx is different for all), some part of the adenoids may remain unavailable, which begins to grow. In such cases, secondary surgical intervention is not recommended, conservative treatment is preferable.
Adenotomy is not an urgent operation, therefore, it can be properly prepared. First, it is necessary to cure inflamed adenoids and only then remove them, otherwise there is a possibility of complications. It is also necessary to cure all other foci of infection in the body, primarily carious teeth. Undesirable operation during epidemics of influenza, after suffering acute infectious diseases.
It is best to perform an operation at a time when the child does not get sick for 3-4 weeks.
During the postoperative period during the week, the child should be protected from hypothermia and overheating( not bathe in a hot bath, bath), physical overexertion. Students are exempt from physical education. Do not give your child a cold, hot, spicy food, including fruit, juices. Kindergarten or school can be visited as early as 3-5 days after surgery, depending on the child's age.
Quite often, due to a prolonged absence of normal nasal breathing, children even after an adenotomy do not immediately begin to breathe through their nose. To eliminate this habit, special breathing exercises have been developed.
Your attention is offered several sets of exercises, so you can choose the most suitable for your child.
General requirements for performing gymnastics are as follows.
Exercises should be done in the morning before breakfast and in the evening after dinner in a well-ventilated room.
When doing any exercise, leaning forward, sideways, squatting, you need to breathe out, and straightening - inhale. Raising his arms in front of him, up, spreading them to the sides - inhaling, dropping his hands - exhaling.
Option 1
Option 2
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Option 4