Tonsillitis and its Homoeopathic Treatment: A Case Review

Abstract – Tonsillitis is one of the most common condition caused by bacterial or viral infection characterised by inflammation of the tonsils that is present at the back of the throat , it generally affects the children but affecting the adult people is also not uncommon.Tonsillitis can be acute or chronic present with symptoms of sore throat , difficulty in swallowing , fever, swollen lymph nodes. This case study of acute tonsillitis of a male child aims at proving the beneficial role of homoeopathy in treating the symptoms of tonsillitis.

Keywords – Tonsillitis, homoeopathy, cure, symptoms, pain, inflammation.

Introduction – A tonsillitis is the clinical condition resulting from bacterial or viral infection that affects the tonsils , an oval shaped lymph nodes located at the back of the throat , each on the both  sides  causing it’s inflammation and redness with discomfort and pain in throat , difficulty in swallowing, fever, etc. It mainly affects children with 15- 30% of children experience tonsillitis at some point ..it can also occur in adults but it is usually less common. Sometimes recurrent episodes of tonsillitis can occur within a year in some individuals which may lead to long term discomfort and often results in complications.

Various preventive  measures and treatment for tonsillitis are available depending upon its severity and the underlying causes. Homoeopathy is one such treatment and various medicines has been proved and found out to be effective in clinical practice. Homoeopathy is based upon the laws and principles that aims to restoration of health of the individual, Both acute and chronic tonsillitis can easily be managed and cure with homoeopathy by taking proper case history and analysing all the symptoms and at last  remedy selection is made on the basis of symptom similarity and thus helps in promoting the health and well being of the individual.

Causative Factors 

Bacterial infections – Infection by streptococcus is the most common cause of tonsillitis. 

Viral infections – Various viruses are responsible for causing inflammation of tonsils such as – 

Influenza virus

Epstein Barr virus 

Enteroviruses 

Adenovirus 

Fungal Infections – In rare cases fungal infections may also cause tonsillitis.

Certain allergies, smoke, hot weather , pollutants may also contribute to cause tonsillitis.

 

Types and Symptoms of Tonsillitis 

There are mainly three types of tonsillitis

Acute Tonsillitis – the onset is sudden and the symptoms may persist for 2-3 days or may be upto more than 2 weeks.

Chronic tonsillitis – the tonsillitis that remains for a longer period of time with persistent discomfort of the throat and if left untreated may cause potential complications.

Recurrent Tonsillitis – Frequent  episodes of tonsillitis occurring several times in a year …making it very uncomfortable for the patients to carry out daily activities.

Symptoms

• Sore throat
• Difficulty in swallowing solids and liquids 
• Red swollen tonsils 
• Whitish or yellowish deposits on tonsils 
• Fever and chills
• Pain in throat while talking 
• Swollen lymph nodes of neck 
• Pain may extend to the ear 
• If the tonsils become very large it may cause difficulty in breathing 
• Headache 
• Refusal to eat 
• General weakness 
• Lethargic 

Complications

It left untreated, tonsillitis can lead to several complications such as – 

• Quinsy 
• Otitis Media 
• Sleep Apnea
• Cervical and Parapharyngeal abscess
• Laryngitis 
• Kidney Inflammation
• Rheumatic Fever 

Prevention 

Tonsillitis is contagious and some preventive measures should be taken to avoid its occurrence and spreading

Avoid sharing food, drink, utensils with an infected person 

Avoid irritants and pollutants that could be responsible for throat inflammation

Maintain a healthy lifestyle through proper diet and exercise

Wash hands regularly 

Do not make close contact with an infected person 

Drink plenty of water 

Maintain good oral hygiene to remove bacteria which is essential in prevention of tonsillitis

Homoeopathic Therapeutics 

Several homoeopathic medicines that are useful in tonsillitis are: 

Apis, Arsenic, Ammonium Carb, Aconite, Belladonna, Baptisia, Bartya carb, Calc Carb, Capsicum, Cuprum mett, Dulcamara, Drosrea, Fluoric Acid, Hepar Sulph, Ignatia, Kali bi, Kali -i, Lac-c, Lachesis, Merc Sol, Nat Sulph,, Nit-acid, Phytolacca, Psorinum, Silicea, Staphysagria, Sulphur, Thuja, Tuberculinum, Zinc etc.

Case Report 

A case report of 8 years old male child came with his mother and father on 29th of july 2024 with  complaints of pain in throat since last 10 days, Mother stated that she gave him home remedies, he was slightly relieved from it but since last few days the complaint has aggravated and created lot of discomfort and marked irritability in behaviour.

Case History 

Chief Complaints 

Pain in throat while swallowing since past 10 days 

Fever with chills especially at night 

Constant desire to swallow 

Pain extending to ears when swallowing ++

Not eating properly as it aggravates the pain 

Modalities 

Pain better by cold drinks +++

History of Present Illness 

10 days before the patient was apparently well … On 18th July he came back to home with family after having dinner at wedding reception of their relatives and on that midnight he started having discomfort with soreness and rawness in the throat and felt difficulty in falling asleep …on the next morning when he woke up his whole body was aching, heat sensation throughout the body, thermometer showed 101° F temperature, his mother gave him paracetamol tablet after which his complaint of fever ameliorated but the pain in throat continued, …he did gargles with warm water but it didn’t  do any  better and the pain gradually aggravated day by day and since past  few days there is marked sensitiveness to pain.

Treatment History – Took paracetamol for fever and done certain home remedies but the problem didn’t get cured.

General Physical Examination 

Temperature – 99° F

Tongue – white coated 

Pulse – 110 bpm 

Dark reddish inflamed tonsils on both sides 

B.P – 120/90 mm Hg

Skin – Pallor 

Nails – Pallor 

Respiratory Rate – 19/min

No signs of cyanosis and oedema present.

Physical Generals 

Appetite – Refuse to eat because pain gets aggravated while eating.

Thirst – Increased for cold water.

Desire – Cold drinks ++

Aversion – NS

Perspiration – Night, odourless.

Stool – Twice, daily, satisfactory stool.

Urine – Normal, no burning or odour is present. 

Sleep – Difficulty  in initiating sleep. 

Dreams – NS 

Thermal – Ambithermal.

Mental Generals 

Sensitivity for pain has increased in the past few days.. does not want to eat anything because of the fear that pain will increase. 

Totality of Symptoms

Sensitiveness to pain 

Refusal to eat 

Inflamed tonsils

Dark red tonsils

Pain extending to ear on swallowing 

Pain better by cold drinks

Repertorisation