What Is Tonsillitis, What Are The Symptoms, And How Is It Treated?
Dr. Lisa Owens answers the question: 'What Is Tonsillitis?'
Dec. 29, 2008 -- Question: What is tonsillitis, what are the symptoms, and how is it treated?
Answer: Tonsillitis refers to inflammation of the glands in the back of the throat. Tonsillitis typically is caused by a viral infection and occasionally is caused by a bacterium. Typical symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat, swelling of the glands, runny nose, decreased appetite, fever -- basically a lot of the common symptoms of a common cold.
Typically tonsillitis can be treated with over-the-counter remedies such as Tylenol, acetaminophen or Advil. And on the rare occasions when it's caused by a bacterium, we'll treat it with an antibiotic. And the most common antibiotic that we use is penicillin.
