General Question

meagan's avatar

Could an allergy sufferer benefit from having a tonsillectomy?

Asked by meagan (4670points) March 20th, 2011
4 responses
“Great Question” (0points)

I’m 22, and have regular allergies. I’ve been taking zyrtec for almost a year now, and they help with almost all of the symptoms.

Some days I get a scratching, itchy feeling around my tonsils which I’m sure is caused by my allergies.

I’m wondering if this is happening because of the allergy irritants that go through my nose, and down my throat… (gross, right?)

Anyway, as a young child I always had doctors comment on how large my tonsils are. And now I’m wondering if maybe I should have them removed.

What does everyone think?

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Answers

Seaofclouds's avatar

My tonsils were taken out when I was 8 and I still get the scratchy irritation you describe in that area when my allergies are bothering me, so I doubt it would make a difference. Now if you were getting recurrent infections because of the drainage, that would be different.

john65pennington's avatar

My were taken out at age 10. They gave me ether before and vanilla ice cream after the surgery. Yuk! I can still taste that ether everytime I eat vanilla ice cream.

Taking my tonsils out has not helped my sinus problems at all. I still sneeze at the sun and I still sneeze at sweet perfume.

I now think I might even be allergic to my wife. Each time I look at her….I sneeze.

creative1's avatar

I have terrible allergies to pollen and had my tonsils out when I was 6 yrs old due to them being always infected. Tonsils are nothing to mess around with if yours are enlarged then can affect your hearing later in life I would see your ENT (ear nose and throat specialist) to see what they say about it.

As far as alllergies they if they persist for a long time they can turn to asthma. A good ENT can help you with both issues.

lonelydragon's avatar

Doubtful. Allergy problems are caused by a histamine reaction. Basically, your immune system is treating a harmless substance (like a dust particle or pollen) as if it’s a pathogen. The immune response triggers the sneezing and excess mucus production that produces the scratchy feeling in your throat. A tonsillectomy would not effect the immune response. A better (and less invasive) alternative is to see your doctor and ask for new allergy meds. In the meantime, try taking Chlor-Trimeton. I find I get more relief from that than the Zyrtec.

@john65pennington “I now think I might even be allergic to my wife.” Sorry, I don’t think there’s a pill for that one. ;)

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