Adenoids and tonsils - what is the difference?

In ordinary life, people often equate the concepts of adenoids and tonsils, considering them equivalent terms, believing that there are no differences between them. The confusion arises due to their proximity to each other. According to their anatomical structure, they belong to the tonsils, but their location and structure are of a different nature. At the same time, the tonsils and tonsils perform a protective function and prevent various types of infections and bacteria from entering the human body.

What is the difference between adenoids and tonsils becomes clear after studying the anatomical structure of a person. The tonsils are paired tonsils that are located on the vault of the palate. They are located on both sides of the pharynx and can change as a result of certain conditions.

They are easy to visually detect without the use of special devices. The tonsils regularly come into contact with foods consumed by humans and are the first to fight pathogenic microorganisms entering the body. They are characterized by an oval shape and a soft structure. On the outer surface you can observe small dimples in which pathogenic bacteria can accumulate and develop.

Adenoids are a type of unpaired tonsil, which is located in the pharyngeal cavity. In children, this term refers to the third amygdala, which atrophies as the child grows up and ceases to function by the age of 13. In most cases, inflammatory processes of the adenoids are observed in children aged 3 to 7 years. The tonsils are located in the upper part of the pharynx and are covered by the palate, so they cannot be detected visually without special instruments. Adenoids are characterized by an irregular shape; they are divided into 5 or 6 parts by small grooves.

Their main function is to protect the respiratory tract from the interference of pathogenic organisms from the outside.

Paired tonsils and adenoids differ not only in location. Significant differences are associated with the peculiarities of the course of inflammatory processes and the essence of treatment.

The main causes of inflammation of the tonsils

Inflammatory processes of the tonsils and adenoids can be caused by various factors. Only a doctor can often determine the exact nature of their appearance. The most common provoking factors include:

close contact with infected people;
inflammatory diseases in the oral and nasal cavities, including various types of sinusitis;
hypothermia;
unfavorable conditions at the place of work;
poor ecology and adverse environmental factors;
lack of vitamins and nutrients in the body.

Hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil

The terms tonsils and adenoids are often used. There is a connection between them. What's the difference? In order to understand these terms, you need to study the pharyngeal gland.

In addition to the palatine tonsils, as already mentioned, there is also such a lymphoid formation as the pharyngeal tonsil. It will not be possible to see it well in the mouth, because it is located above the back wall of the pharynx, where the roof of the nasopharynx is.

Under the influence of certain factors, this amygdala can enlarge, and a state of hypertrophy develops. In medicine, it is usually called adenoids, and the inflammatory process is called adenoiditis.

During normal functioning, the adenoids enter the lymphatic pharyngeal ring. Immediately after birth, a person does not yet have adenoid follicles. After three years, the body develops a powerful protective system, the essence of which lies in the lymphatic follicles. They are the ones who can stop the spread of microorganisms and maintain health. Thanks to immune cells - lymphocytes, the defense system can recognize a foreign organism and destroy it.

In children 15 years of age, some tonsils may shrink or disappear altogether. This is exactly what concerns the adenoids. But in adults, there is no longer lymphoid tissue at the site of the adenoids. Therefore, for a long time it was believed that adenoiditis is a childhood disease that almost never occurs in adults. Such misconceptions arose due to the fact that it is almost impossible to see adenoid growths due to the anatomy of the nasopharynx of an adult. Only with the help of medical equipment and modern diagnostics has it become possible to identify this defect. The leading role here is played by examination using an endoscope, the flexible tube and optical component of which helps to see the adenoids in adulthood.

There are many factors for the appearance of adenoids; they often arise due to inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx.

Adenoid growths in childhood predict the return of the problem in the future. After all, after their removal, the situation may repeat again due to a surgical error or hereditary predisposition. Further treatment will depend on the degree of proliferation and, accordingly, the size of the adenoids.

How do inflammatory processes in the tonsils manifest?

In most cases, when visiting a doctor, adenoids and tonsils mean the same thing to a patient, since there is no difference between these terms for him. For a specialist, the symptoms of the clinical picture are decisive in the diagnosis and prescription of further treatment.

Inflammation of the paired tonsils is accompanied by the following symptoms:

the appearance of acute pain in the throat, which intensifies significantly with swallowing movements;
general weakness and increased fatigue, a feeling of “brokenness” of the body;
strong increase in temperature;
swelling of the laryngeal tissues;
increase in the size of lymph nodes.

A characteristic sign of tonsillitis and acute tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils. In severe cases of the disease, a whitish film can be observed on the tonsils. The danger of inflammatory processes lies in the potential threat of blocking the airways.

The difference between the treatment of tonsils and adenoids

Due to different symptoms and causes of the disease, their treatment is not the same.

To begin with, it is worth considering general procedures that can alleviate the patient’s condition.

Immunomodulatory drugs. All these diseases are caused by the patient’s low immunity, so the first step towards recovery is taking vitamins and immunomodulating drugs that improve the general condition and trigger the body’s defense mechanisms.

Inhalations . This procedure destroys harmful microorganisms that have settled on the tonsils and adenoids
. If you have a special device, it can be done at home.

Rinse with special products . To get rid of microorganisms, you should rinse your mouth with various preparations.

. These can be products purchased at the pharmacy, chamomile and sage herbs.

Since these diseases can be caused by different reasons, it is worth treating them separately:

Adenoids

Preparations for the treatment of allergies. These funds help reduce the influence of irritants that provoked this disease.

We also recommend reading Adenoids for allergies: symptoms, principles of treatment

Vasoconstrictor drugs . Allergic rhinitis is a faithful companion to inflammation of the adenoids, so the patient is prescribed medications to combat nasal congestion, as well as to get rid of sneezing.

Tonsils

Medicines for sore throat. Inflammation of the tonsils can be caused by a sore throat or tonsillitis, which contribute to the proliferation of bacteria in the tonsils. These drugs reduce pain and also stop the progression of the disease.

Antipyretics . They help relieve fever to improve the patient’s well-being.

Antibiotics. Completely destroy harmful microorganisms that cause inflammation. Prescribed only by a doctor.

The main symptoms of inflammation of the adenoids

Inflammation of the adenoids is also accompanied by a number of symptoms, but they manifest themselves somewhat differently than with adenoid disease. The main signs of inflammation are:

the appearance of impaired nasal breathing, inhalation and exhalation through the mouth, the most pronounced symptom during sleep;
weakness, feeling tired, apathy to what is happening around;
complaints of headache;
dysfunction of the auditory system;
change in voice timbre, appearance of nasality, pronunciation of words through the nose.

The difference between inflammation of the adenoids is the appearance of yellowish discharge from the nasal cavity and an unpleasant odor from the mouth. A characteristic symptom is redness of the skin of the lips and nose due to enlarged adenoids.

What is the difference between the treatments?

At the first symptoms of inflammation of the tonsils, you should consult a doctor. The earlier the disease is detected, the milder the disease will be and the risk of complications will be minimized.

The course of therapy for inflammation of the adenoids is reduced to the following prescriptions:

nasal drops containing essential oils and natural ingredients, for example, Nazivin and Vibrocil;
if the disease is viral in nature, antiviral agents are prescribed in the form of Viferon, Kagocel;
if the disease is bacterial, antibiotics are prescribed;
rinsing the nasal sinuses and instilling herbal decoctions with anti-inflammatory effects;
rinsing the nose and gargling with saline solution.

Are adenoids and tonsils the same thing?

Adenoids - pathologically enlarged nasopharyngeal tonsils - are a very common disease, including in children. Adenoids have always been associated with their removal, and this has been a nightmare for many generations of Russians.

Fortunately, times are changing, and the view on this problem is changing. Why adenoids enlarge and why there is no need to rush to remove them, Galina Tarasova, chief researcher of the department of pediatric ENT pathology of the Scientific and Clinical Center of Otorhinolaryngology of the FMBA, professor of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education, told MedNews.

Galina Dmitrievna, thirty years ago almost everyone had their adenoids removed, even babies under one year old. Has anything changed today?

“Indeed, one of my teachers, who taught me how to operate on adenoids, said that she once even operated on a seven-month-old child. Now, thank God, this is not the case. And there is a position that it is still better not to remove the pharyngeal tonsil until the age of five. The fact is that previously a child who had 4-6 episodes of acute respiratory infections in a year was considered to be frequently ill. There was even a Baranov-Albitsky classification depending on age. Now allergists and immunologists explain that up to 12 episodes of acute respiratory infections per year can be considered normal, especially for a child under five years of age. This is his adaptation to the outside world, to meeting new bacterial agents, to a new environment, thus the formation of the immune system occurs.

But the attitude to this is twofold, and there are still supporters of adenoid removal, of which there are many. However, the global trend is that it is better to treat them conservatively. There is nothing superfluous in the body, and the pharyngeal tonsil is an important immune organ. In addition, as a rule, the enlargement of the pharyngeal tonsil does not occur on its own, but due to an inflammatory process (allergic or caused by a bacterial infection). This means we need to find the pathogen that supports this inflammation and “remove” it, as is done elsewhere. That is, to cure, and not just cut off the inflamed organ.

Especially if the problem is allergies.

- Certainly. Adenoids can develop due to an allergic process. Allergic inflammation involves not only the mucous membrane of the nasal cavity, the lymphoid tissue of the nasopharynx, but also the pharyngeal tonsil. Remove this exacerbation of the allergic process, and it will also decrease. And, most importantly, you won’t have to remove it; conservative treatment will be enough.

Otolaryngology is both a surgical and a therapeutic specialty. And based on the choice of treatment methods, we can be divided into “surgeons” and “conservatives.” Surgeons are always inclined to remove it, but in this case I compare an inflamed tonsil with myocarditis. This is also an inflammatory process, but for some reason there is no talk about removing the organ. But our doctor, seeing that the child is either often sick or has severe difficulty in nasal breathing, still recommends adenomotomy. For some time after the operation, there really is relief, but very quickly everything returns to normal. After all, the cause of the disease (deviated nasal septum or inflammatory process, etc.) has not gone away.

Several generations of parents were frightened by the fact that if the child’s adenoids are not removed in time, there will be a complication in the ears, and he may lose hearing.

- It was so. Even now, the surgically minded part of ENT doctors scares parents with the fact that otitis media will develop, followed by hearing loss and deafness. You can scare, it’s the easiest thing, but not everyone likes to treat. Because this is a rather lengthy process, the child needs to be cared for, but doctors, especially in the clinic, do not have time for this - the duration of a patient’s appointment is limited to a few minutes.

But this does not mean that a conservative approach to this disease is impossible. Of course, this is quite difficult, but if the inflammatory process in the pharyngeal tonsil or already in the presence of adenoids is correctly treated, then the child will not develop otitis media and there will be no hearing loss. And hearing loss itself is now treated quite effectively: there are special devices to restore the patency of the auditory tube, there are inhaled corticosteroids that relieve inflammation in the pharyngeal tonsil, and thereby reduce the size of the adenoids and eliminate the inflammatory process.

Are there situations when you still can’t do without surgery?

- In rare cases, which, moreover, are associated with the fact that the parents did not consult any doctors for a long time, the child is completely unable to breathe through his nose. And then emergency help is needed. There is also a problem when the pharyngeal tonsil is very large in size, and a situation of night apnea arises, that is, the child stops breathing. The reasons for this have not yet been fully studied, but apnea in childhood is often associated with an enlarged pharyngeal tonsil and adenotomy is recommended. I think this issue is still waiting to be resolved and perhaps another reason will be found, but for now we still have a blank spot here.

In addition to the pharyngeal tonsil, there are also palatine tonsils. Are they now also less likely to be removed?

- Of course, surgical activity today is also reduced in relation to the palatine tonsils, the inflammation of which is called tonsillitis - acute or chronic (synonymous with acute tonsillitis - tonsillitis). Many medications have been developed that affect the inflammatory process in the tonsils and stop relapses of the disease in the patient.

In addition, more subtle and accurate diagnostics have appeared. Currently, indications for removal of tonsils are associated diseases such as rheumatism, kidney disease and others. And only immunological diagnostics carried out (mainly abroad) at the antibody level make it possible to determine whether there is a relationship between these diseases and inflammation of the tonsils. Only then do they decide on their removal. We have not yet implemented this into widespread practice. And the doctor makes this decision based on his subjective feeling whether the tonsils are clinically changed or not changed.

Surgical issues

If there are pathological changes in the adenoids and tonsils, the question of their removal may be raised. The decision to remove them promptly is made by the doctor based on the clinical picture. Surgical intervention is carried out only in exceptional cases, since after it is carried out the human body is left without natural filters that protect it from microflora of a pathogenic nature.

The main reasons for deciding on the need for surgery are:

ineffectiveness of traditional treatment, in which the symptoms of inflammatory processes do not go away;
high risk of complications, which is directly related to constant inflammation of the tonsils;
severe enlargement of the adenoids, a potential risk of impaired hearing function;
frequent relapses of sore throat.

Tonsil removal surgery can be performed under local or general anesthesia. Surgical intervention is carried out by the cavity method or using a laser.

General information

Adenoids and tonsils, in their anatomical structure, are parts of one ring, which forms the nasopharynx. They differ only in location. The structure of the tonsils is very similar to lymphatic tissues.

Glands

In medicine, paired tonsils are called tonsils, and they are located in the pharynx, on different sides. They are clearly visible to the naked eye. It is they who receive the first blows of various infections. They come into regular contact with food and drink. Depending on the conditions, the tonsils can change their size and color and are actively involved in the function of hematopoiesis. They remain in humans throughout life.

Adenoids

The third pharyngeal tonsil is called adenoids. It is located behind the soft palate, which is why it is very difficult to see without special equipment. During adolescence, the adenoids atrophy. In an adult, adenoids are completely absent.

Important! Even based on this, it is not worth asserting that adenoids and tonsils are the same thing.

What unites both tonsils is the function they perform - protecting the body from viruses and infections. However, they are not always able to cope with their responsibilities, and sometimes they themselves can become a problem and a threat to health. This happens more with children. Parents should pay special attention if their child has frequent colds that regularly develop into sore throats. They lead to changes in tissues, and the tonsils begin to grow.

Adenoids, tonsils, tonsils: what's the difference?

An even greater misconception is that adenoids, tonsils, and tonsils are often perceived as one organ.

Based on the anatomical structure of a person, it can be seen that the adenoids are a single pharyngeal tonsil, and the tonsils are a paired palatine tonsil. They are closely related to each other and often inflammation of one of them spreads to the others.

Important! Treatment occurs using different methods. With regular repetition of inflammatory processes on the pharyngeal and palatine tonsils, doctors recommend removing them.