I know Dr's used to say if you had strep throat a certain # of times within a year that your tonsils should be removed. Do they still do this? My son has strep and gets it quite frequently. It would KILL me to have to have him get his tonsils removed, but he also suffers with them...
Any info?
sandj100304
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
My sister has been getting strep throat very frequently since she was a little girl (she is 25 now). The doctor says she is just a carrier of it (not contagious unless it acts up) and that removing her tonsils wont do anything for it.
Jan05Bride
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
I always had strep throat / high fevers as a kid but the doctor never made me take them out. When I was a freshman in college I became a nanny to 3 boys. Well I had strep throat 8 times in ten months, I was constantly sick with extremely high fevers. I finally had them taken out the summer I turned 19. I haven't had a sore throat in almost 10 years ... I believe it's worth it if your child doesn't have to suffer any more
btrflygrl
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
webmd.com has all that info...I used to get ear infections alot when I was a kid....and then I got tonsillitis at 2...the swelling in my tonsils never went down (after 2-3 months of being sick on and off) and I finally went to an ear, nose and throat specialist who said they should come out. Oh..and the General Practioner never diagnosed me correctly with the tonsillitis, they told me it was a virus and they couldn't do anything for me unless it was strep!!!
ETA: Oh and BTW: a co-worker had his 6 yr old do it recently and the recovery time is SO much less for kids! Took me 3 weeks to be able to eat and speak without pain!
cooky11111
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
My daughter gets strep alot but they Doc says they won't remove them unless she gets it 6 times within a one year time frame.
TwoBugs
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
Removing tonsils isn't done nearly as frequently as it used to be, say 20 years ago. I think in order for the procedure to be considered, you (or your child) has to have 6 episodes of strep throat in one year, or 5 episodes each year for the past 2 years.
Your son sounds exactly like me when I was about 6-8 years old. I got strep literally every 2 weeks. My parents took me to tons of ear ear nose and throat docs and the majority said not to take them out. This was in the early to mid 80's. Maybe this phase of not taking them out was popular then. I grew out of it. My tonsils are naturally HUGE now but they dont hurt or anything. Thats all the help I can be.
mnttnbchbride
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
I had mine out when I was 9 (almost 17 years ago). I had frequent strep and ear infections. I can honestly tell you that I have NOT had strep ONCE since they were taken out, and I remember how horrible it was to have throat infections. I think that I've only had a couple ear infections since then....
IrishTracy
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
I suffered w/ strep throat & tonsilitis since I was a kid. I had kissing tonsils (meaning they touched eachother) I kept being told 'Oh they are so bad' but Doctors never did anything. When I finally saw a specialist (ears,nose & throat) he took one look at them & I was in the operating room less then 2 weeks later. I was 20 at the time. I will tell you it takes longer to heal the older you are. I have felt great ever since!!
I hope Scotty feels better!
Jax430
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Re: Strep throat and tonsills ?
My friend has been getting frequent strep, and her doctor just told her that she may need to have her tonsils out (at age 24).
