Avail Yourself of Acupuncture Treatment for Your Tonsillitis
Sore throat is a condition often accompanied by several other symptoms. The symptoms that appear often depend on the cause of the condition. Tonsil inflammation (tonsillitis), sensations of scratchiness and dryness, difficulty swallowing or pain may be some of the symptoms that a sore throat sufferer may experience. Tonsillitis may be due to an infection that can lead to feelings of nausea, body aches and headaches, fever and cough. If after a week, those symptoms frequently come back or persist, you may need to consult with your physician.
A viral or bacterial infection can cause the tonsils to become inflamed; most of the time, however, tonsillitis is caused by the streptococcus bacteria. The herpes simplex and the influenza virus are the viruses that usually cause tonsillitis. A patient suffering from tonsillitis may shows signs of blisters in the throat, a coating on the tonsils and swollen glands as well as symptoms such as fever, headache and/or ear ache. Conventional therapies for tonsillitis coming from a bacterial infection will involve antibiotics that are ineffective for viral infections.
The tonsil is actually a lymph node and a component of the immune system and one of its functions is to produce antibodies to help fight infection. Another function this organ serves is to stop toxins from infiltrating the respiratory system. When the tonsillitis is severe, surgery may be required to excise the diseased tonsils. Several years, ago tonsillectomy (the surgical removal of the tonsils) was the most common way to resolve tonsillitis; now, it is used in instances where the inflamed tonsils causes serious problems or when it keeps coming back.
The World Health Organization listed acupuncture as an acceptable form treatment for tonsillitis in 1979. In 1987, a controlled study was performed that showed tonsillitis symptoms being relieved by acupuncture. The conductors of this study concluded that sore throat and fever abatement was attained earlier in the test subjects than in the control group.
The Department of Otorhinolaryngology of the University of Heidelberg conducted a study and discovered that the length of relief of postsurgical pain was greatly lengthened with the use of acupuncture. The subjects who were given NSAIDs were also treated with acupuncture that even further stretched the alleviation of their post-tonsillectomy swallowing for an extra three hours. The researchers concluded that the type of acupuncture treatment used in this study can also be used in patients who have intolerance to NSAIDs.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, the acupuncturist first needs to identify the pattern consisting of excess toxin and heat that causes the tonsils to swell and become inflamed before treating the condition. This swelling causes obstructions in the energy pathways of the lung causing blood and qi to stagnate. The stagnation causes swelling of the lymph nodes. People suffering from other sore throat issues may be diagnoses with a different diagnosis such as yin deficiency or wind heat invasion.
You should always seek treatment with a licensed acupuncturist. This practitioner will formulate an individualized plan of treatment based on the condition you manifest.
Scott Paglia is a licensed and board certified acupuncturist in Bellingham, WA and provides master level pulse diagnosis, Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture in Whatcom County, WA.