Tonsillitis is an infection that causes a very sore throat, a high temperature, and pain and discomfort when swallowing. It usually lasts for a few days, before the body’s immune system makes it better. Sometimes antibiotics are required to make the infection better, this is especially the case when there is a high fever, swollen glands in the neck, a white covering on the tonsils, and there is no cough (1).
Some people have a tendency to get tonsillitis a lot. Tonsillitis can spread to become a more serious infection, but this is rare. Having lots of episodes of tonsillitis is mainly a problem because it is unpleasant, and it can cause a lot of disruption to school / work. To prevent this, sometimes we recommend removing the tonsils (2).
Operations to remove tonsils are frequently performed. There will a sore throat for two weeks after the operation. The main risk is the risk of bleeding, which can mean you need to go back to hospital, and in about 1% of cases, mean you need an operation to stop bleeding. The pain and risk of bleeding can be reduced by only removing about 90-95% of the tonsils (‘coblation’), although a small proportion (less than 5%) of people who have this procedure will still get tonsillitis, and so will need another operation.