Enlarged Tonsils and Adenoids

Tonsils and adenoids are part of the immune system. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids reduce or prevent nasal breathing. Breathing through the nose is preferable from a health perspective as it cleanses and humidifies the air before it passes through the airway. This significantly lessens the likelihood of illness and infections because the inhaled air is passed through the body’s natural filtration system.

Enlarged tonsils can result in chronic open mouth posture, halitosis, mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, and sleep-disordered breathing. Furthermore, they can lead to dental misalignment and impact the development of the jaw and facial structure. Similarly, enlarged adenoids can exacerbate issues with nasal breathing, chronic open mouth posture, sleep disturbances, and ear infections.

Treatment

Surgical intervention is certainly the most well known treatment for enlarged tonsils and adenoids. When a child or adult has surgery to remove tonsils and adenoids because of frequent infections/inability to breathe through nose/sleep apnea. The immune tissue often regrows and the airway becomes affected again, and the problems and symptoms return. This is why it is key to visit a myofunctional therapist after removing tonsils/ adenoids to help train the soft tissues of the face, neck, and mouth to function properly. This helps to ensure proper oral posture, swallowing pattern, nasal breathing. So this helps prevent regrowth of tonsil and adenoid tissue. It is also linked to a decrease in asthma and seasonal allergies. As medicine evolves many doctors have now started to recommend surgery as the last option for treatment when the adenoids and tonsils are inflamed. They are, instead, recommending myofunctional therapy as the first option. Within myofunctional therapy there are many avenues that can be explored and implemented that can be used to reverse hypertrophic tonsils and adenoids.

❗️Did you know that the relapse rate for sleep apnea and airway constriction after tonsils and/or adenoids are removed is greater than 50%?