Children's Health: Thumb Sucking Can Cause Severe Tonsillitis

It is a common habit by most infants and kids to suck their thumb during sleep or just in any time of the day. Thumb sucking can cause severe tonsillitis which is a painful condition. This bad habit can also cause multiple complications if not stopped at the proper time.

Tonsillitis (pharyngotonsollitis) is an inflammation of the tonsils that are caused by viral or bacterial infection. Too much thumb sucking can inflict bacteria to the throat area which can result to inflammation.

Symptoms of tonsillitis

Swollen tonsils
White or yellow patches on the tonsils
Swollen, tender and stiff neck
Bad breath
Sore throat
Painful swallowing
Headache
Sore eyes
Cough
Body aches
Otalgia
Nasal Congestion
Chills
Fever

Acute tonsillitis is caused by both bacteria and viruses and fever is its common symptom. The surface of the tonsil becomes reddish and has white coating. Lymph nodes in the neck may also be swollen.

The most common treatment for tonsillitis is an antibacterial medication. Antibiotics can help eliminates bacterias that caused the tonsils to be swollen. Pain-relief, anti-inflammatory drugs can help treat the infection. While paracetamol and ibuprofen can help treat fever which is a normal body reaction when bacterial infection occurs.

Aside from thumb sucking, other causes includes drinking cold water or ice cream, gonorrhea, cold viruses and other viruses such as epstein-barr and the HIV.

If your child have a thumb sucking habit and often times your kid suffer from this type of disease, you have to do something fast on how to make this habit go away. It is recommended that you seek medical help from an expert pediatrician about your child's tonsillitis case and ask some advice on how to stop thumb sucking habit.