How many days tonsillitis

A person with tonsillitis may have a sore throat, fever, swollen glands in the neck, and trouble swallowing. Inflamed tonsils look red and swollen, and may be covered with a yellow or whitish coating or spots.

Someone with tonsillitis may have:. Bacteria also can cause it, most commonly group A streptococcus strep throat. Rarely, tonsillitis can be caused by something other than an infection. Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine your throat and neck. Your doctor may use a soft cotton swab to gently collect a sample from your tonsils and the back of your throat for testing.

It's important for your doctor to know if bacteria are causing the infection. If you have strep throat, you'll need treatment with antibiotics to kill the bacteria.

This will help you feel better and prevent other problems that can come from untreated strep throat. If your doctor prescribes antibiotics, be sure to follow the directions carefully. Finish taking all the medicine even if your symptoms go away and you feel better, or the infection could come back. If a strep test comes back negative, it's probably a virus causing the tonsillitis and antibiotics won't help. Just like with a cold also caused by a virus , you'll have to take it easy for several days and let the virus run its course.

Rarely, if someone gets tonsillitis a lot, the doctor or an otolaryngologist pronounced: oh-toe-lar-un-GA-luh-jist, a doctor who specializes in ear, nose, and throat problems may recommend a tonsillectomy pronounced: tahn-suh-LEK-tuh-mee. This is a surgery to remove the tonsils. Tonsillectomy used to be a common procedure, but now experts recommend watching and waiting because large tonsils often shrink on their own over time.

Symptoms include a sore throat, swollen tonsils, and fever. This condition is contagious and can be caused by a variety of common viruses and bacteria, such as Streptococcal bacteria, which causes strep throat. Tonsillitis caused by strep throat can lead to serious complications if left untreated. Tonsillitis is easy to diagnose. Symptoms usually go away within 7 to 10 days.

In very young children, you may also notice increased irritability, poor appetite, or excessive drooling. Tonsillitis is incredibly common in children. In fact, almost every child will probably get tonsillitis at least once. If symptoms last longer, or if tonsillitis comes back multiple times during the year, it may be chronic or recurrent tonsillitis.

Acute tonsillitis will likely improve with home treatments, but in some cases may require other treatments, like antibiotics. Chronic tonsillitis may also cause tonsil stones , where materials like dead cells, saliva, and food build up in the crevices of your tonsils. Eventually, the debris can harden into small stones. These may come loose on their own, or they may need to be removed by a doctor. Your doctor may recommend a tonsillectomy to surgically remove your tonsils if you have chronic tonsillitis.

As with chronic tonsillitis, a standard treatment for recurrent tonsillitis is a tonsillectomy. Recurrent tonsillitis is often defined as:. Research from suggests that chronic and recurrent tonsillitis may be caused by biofilms in the folds of the tonsils. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms with increased antibiotic resistance that can cause repeated infections.

A study examined the tonsils of children who had recurrent tonsillitis. The study found that genetics may cause a poor immune response to group A streptococcus bacteria, which causes strep throat and tonsillitis. Learn more about the genetics behind recurrent tonsillitis. In rare cases, tonsillitis can cause the throat to swell so much that it causes trouble breathing.

If this happens, seek immediate medical attention. If you have tonsillitis, you may be contagious 24 to 48 hours before you develop any symptoms. If you take antibiotics for bacterial tonsillitis, you should stop being contagious after 24 hours. You can develop tonsillitis if someone with the infection coughs or sneezes near you and you breathe in the droplets. If you touch a contaminated object, like a doorknob, and then touch your nose or mouth, you may also develop tonsillitis.

Being in contact with many people increases the risk of being exposed to tonsillitis. This is why school-age children often get the illness. It typically takes 2 to 4 days to develop symptoms after being exposed to someone with tonsillitis. Find out how to reduce your risk of getting or spreading tonsillitis. Tonsils are your first line of defense against illness. They produce white blood cells that help your body fight infection. The tonsils combat bacteria and viruses that enter your body through your mouth and nose.

However, tonsils are also vulnerable to infection from these invaders. Tonsillitis can be caused by a virus, such as the common cold , or by a bacterial infection, such as strep throat.

Viruses are the most common cause of tonsillitis. The viruses that cause the common cold are often the source of tonsillitis, but other viruses can also cause it. These include:. Since the Epstein-Barr virus can cause both mononucleosis and tonsillitis, sometimes people with mono will develop tonsillitis as a secondary infection. If you have viral tonsillitis, your symptoms may include coughing or a stuffy nose.

Around 15 to 30 percent of tonsillitis cases result from bacteria. Your doctor can prescribe antibiotics to treat bacterial tonsillitis, though they may not be necessary. Besides antibiotics, treatment is the same for most cases of viral and bacterial tonsillitis. Diagnosis is based on a physical examination of your throat. If a tonsillectomy is necessary, doctors can choose from a variety of methods. Medical practitioners have successfully used lasers, radio waves, ultrasonic energy, cold temperatures, or a heated needle to remove the tonsils.

Surgery has increasingly become the last port of call. The negative implications of surgery may outweigh the positives of tonsil removal.

While tonsillitis can be distressing and uncomfortable when it occurs, it will pass without any serious long term implications for most people. Learn more about treating tonsillitis at home here. Tonsils are the first line of defense against potential diseases and infections.

For this reason, they can easily develop an infection. Viral or bacterial tonsillitis can be contagious and spread from person to person. However, if tonsillitis is due to a secondary illness, such as sinusitis or hay fever , it is unlikely to spread.

A viral infection is the most common cause of tonsillitis. The most common types of virus that infect the tonsils include:. The most common type of bacteria to infect the tonsils is Streptococcus pyogenes. However, less often, other species can cause tonsillitis, including:. Different types of tonsillitis may occur. Doctors define them by their symptoms and recovery period. People often confuse tonsillitis with strep throat.

However, there are important differences. A specific type of bacteria called group A Streptococcus causes strep throat. Symptoms are often more severe. Streptococcus can also infect other parts of the throat. Bacterial tonsillitis can lead to complications. However, this is rare and usually occurs in young children.

Viral tonsillitis does not usually lead to complications. The infection may spread to other parts of the body and cause complications, including:. The tonsils and adenoids play a role in helping the body fight infection, but they can become enlarged and require treatment. Learn more. Tonsil cysts may cause no symptoms and are generally no cause for concern. But a doctor should rule out other, similar health issues.