Is Tonsillitis a contagious disease?

If you’re wondering if tonsillitis is a contagious disease then you should know that most acute infections of the tonsils are due to viruses or bacteria and is usually contagious by direct person-to-person contact. The contagious viruses are spread through airborne droplets released during coughing or sneezing, or incidentally via contact with infected surfaces such as cups, tissue, or utensils. Moreover, children are more prone to get infected with tonsils as they might touch infected bottles and stationary objects, share lunch boxes, and play around with infected things. Furthermore, the function of tonsils decline as a person grows up which makes children more susceptible to getting infections.

How will you know if you’ve tonsillitis?

The most common tonsillitis symptoms include the following.

• A sore, scratchy throat
• Swollen tonsils on which white or yellow patches might be present
• Fever
• Difficulty or irritation while trying to swallow
• Cough
• Tender and possibly enlarged lymph nodes in your neck
• Headache
• Feeling tired or fatigued
• Bad breath

The aforementioned symptoms suggest you’ve tonsillitis and might appear to get over two to three days. But chances are high that if you leave tonsillitis untreated, the infection may recur in future and may lead to complications.

Complications of tonsillitis

Let’s shed some light on the complications of long-standing tonsillitis.

• Infection from the tonsils might also spread to the middle ear resulting in its infection.
• Tonsils get inflamed severely and almost touch each other. This might lead to snoring, disturbed sleep and mouth breathing.
• Infection of the tonsils can lead to complications such as rheumatic fever which might affect the heart valves and the joints.

Tips to avoid spreading tonsillitis:

• Avoid going out when you’ve tonsillitis symptoms. Until and unless your symptoms are not gone, tonsillitis can be contagious.
• Cough or sneeze into a tissue and dispose of the used tissues promptly.
• Wash hands quite often, especially after you’ve coughed or sneezed, before eating, and after using the bathroom.
• Don’t share personal items such as water bottle and lunch box with others.

When should you consult a doctor?

It’s strongly advised to consult a doctor if you or your child gets infected with tonsillitis even after taking the aforementioned precautionary measures. Visit your nearest homeopathy clinic as soon as you spot tonsillitis symptoms such as:

• Severe pain on only one side of the throat
• Unable to open the mouth
• Swelling or redness of the neck
• Change in voice such as muffled speech or speaking as if a hot object is being held in the mouth
• Abdominal pain and a bad headache

Tonsillitis treatment options

The very first line of treatment in conventional medicine is prescribing antibiotics when tonsillitis symptoms such as pain and inflammation do not subside within four days. This is to prevent secondary bacterial infection. But this can be exhausting after a while.

Surgical removal of the tonsils is an extensively practical process in cases of recurrent or chronic tonsillitis. Tonsils are an important component of the immune system and should not be removed unless required. Tonsillectomy might seem like the easiest solution to getting rid of acute throat infections but it is associated with a significant risk of primary and secondary hemorrhage and could be fatal in a few cases. Even after getting the tonsils removed, you might still suffer from sore throat. Just like any other surgery, a tonsillectomy might have risks such as:

• Anesthesia given during surgery might have minor side-effects like a headache, feeling of nausea or vomiting and even mighthave major risks like death.
• There might be problems like severe bleeding which might require a longer hospital stay.
• Swelling of the tongue or soft palate and bleeding during healing might also happen.

Timely intervention with the best tonsillitis treatment option would save you from complications of tonsillitis. Homeopathy offers a long-lasting and customized solution for tonsillitis condition. Homeopathic medicines are prescribed after the thorough case evaluation which extracts the causative factors and characteristic tonsillitis symptoms.

You might want to read more on natural homeopathic treatment for tonsillitis

Conclusion

Yes, tonsillitis is contagious and children are more prone to getting infections. And this is why it is highly recommended to book an appointment with your homeopath for a consultation as soon as you spot tonsillitis symptoms.