Strep Throat is one of those nasty circumstances that your throat can get into! It not only restricts you from talking smoothly but also puts hindrances on day-to-day tasks — from working to even having your favorite drinks out there. Being a kind of throat infection, you will also have to be completely conscious about health as long as you have a strep throat. So, here is the common thought about strep throat: you can’t have strep throat if you don’t have Tonsils. Most people believe that Tonsils are the sole reason why they have the issue of strep throat. These thoughts, however, consists of both facts and misconceptions.
The real problem here is that most people don’t understand the purpose of Tonsils and how they can have an impact on your throat health. The ready-to-go thought is that Tonsils cause strep throats and that Tonsils should be removed so that you will no longer face that problem. That having said, in most cases, a problem does not end with that simple binary. On the other hand, there are a bunch of reasons you should consider when it comes to diagnosing and treating a strep throat instead of blaming the Tonsils all of a sudden. In this article, we’ve created a complete guide on Strep Throats and Tonsils to help you.
We will start by addressing the common thoughts people have regarding strep throat and its relation with a part of our body called Tonsils. Just in case, we will also give you an introduction to Tonsils.
Things You Should Know About Strep Throat
You can guess that Strep Throat is a medical condition that happens to your throats. It happens when your throat is infected by a bacteria named Streptococcus. In case you’re wondering, strep throat can happen to anyone of any age. We’ve seen this infection among toddlers, adolescents, adults and even people who are in their fifties or sixties. This is common too, given the fact that infections can happen to anyone — in relation to their environment. One of the major areas affected by Strep Throats is your Tonsils, which can be located at the back of your throat. Following the infection, you can find issues like swelling and continuous pain at that area. There are some other symptoms that determine whether you have one strep throat, and we’ll cover them later.
This doesn’t mean that your Tonsils are the reason why you get strep throat. Well, it’s clear that your Tonsils are the first to get affected when there is an infection in your throat. When you’re talking about your Tonsils getting infected, you are talking about a situation named Tonsillitis. In case you didn’t know, Tonsils is a pair of lymph nodes that you can find in the back of your throat. These lymph nodes — essentially a part of lymph system of the body — are supposed to protect your throat from possible infections and other threats. So, if you don’t have strep throats and other throat infection on normal days, you have to thank your Tonsils for it. But, at times, Tonsils fail to work the way they are supposed to and you end up having an infection that can harm your entire throat.
This is the point when most people think about removing Tonsils so that they won’t face strep throats again. This is also where you should really understand the actual relation between Streptococcus infection and the presence of Tonsils.
Can You Get Strep Throats without Tonsils?
We’ll answer the big question now. We already mentioned that your Tonsils are infected by Streptococcus, especially during the infection periods. It does not mean that your Tonsils are the only affected area. On the other hand, several parts of your throat are affected by the particular Bacterial infection.
The Short Answer:
Yes, can get strep throats without Tonsils. This is because the infection can focus on other areas of your throat if Tonsils aren’t present. So, Tonsils removal isn’t the first thing you should do when you have a strep throat. The action requires some more care knowledge about how the system work. That said, among children, there is a lower chance of Tonsillitis after the removal of Tonsils.
The Long Answer:
There are several disadvantages to simply following the process to remove your Tonsils! First of all, we have already mentioned that Tonsillitis is commonly seen among kids, especially the ones who find themselves in the 5-15 age-group. However safe and effective it can be, Tonsil removal isn’t something that one can do without discomfort. And, when it comes to kids, it’s not really easy either. More importantly, you should understand that strep throat is a common condition among kids of all age. It’s only when it goes past a certain frequency that you should consider the chance of Tonsillitis.
Suppose you have Tonsillitis. The first thing you should do, instead of proceeding to Tonsils removal, is to go and consult a doctor. There are chances that your continuous throat infection is caused by not only Tonsils but also other parts of the throats. In case you didn’t know, strep throat can occur due to many reasons such as Scarlet fever and even some Skin infections. So, understanding the real reason behind your strep throat is the biggest step for getting rid of it. As we said earlier, there is no assurance that you will stop facing issue of strep throat just because you removed Tonsils.
That’s it: You can always have strep throats, whether or not you have your Tonsils. Got the idea? We’ll now go and check out some things you should know about Strep Throats and what you can do to diagnose, treat and prevent this situation from happening.
How to Diagnose Strep Throats?
As we mentioned earlier, there are a few symptoms that will help you diagnose strep throats. Some of such commonest symptoms are given below. While they are common, intense situations should be directly dealt by a doctor and not just some way-outs. We hope you get the idea.
- It needs to be noted that strep throat is almost always preceded by a high-level fever. If you have an extremely high fever all of a sudden, you can expect the entry of strep throat soon. You will also face issues like a sore throat.
- Tiny red dots can be spotted on the roof of your mouth, and they can be white at times. The patches can be found on Tonsils as well. If you look closely, you can find them throughout your throat, which is a symbol for an upcoming strep throat.
- In most cases, there will be a swelling of the neck, which also causes difficulty in having food. You’d have issues when you try to swallow heavy food. This is because the lymph nodes in the area of neck are getting swollen.
- Among children, strep throat symptoms include general tiredness and loss of appetite. This is often accompanied by an inability open mouth and swallow saliva. Of course, you can sense this, but don’t mistake it for the symptom of fever.
These are some of the commonest symptoms you can find for strep throats. The symptoms are found among both children and adults. However, depending on the intensity of infection, your strep throat may cause an extra bunch of issues; for instance, noise when you breathe.
How to Treat Strep Throat?
A bunch of methods are available for treating strep throat. We’d like to repeat something before we start a list of methods: strep throat is a completely common thing for everyone. Unless it gets intense, you can stay less tensed. It doesn’t, however, mean that you should suffer the pain and inconvenience. In that case, you can try one of the following methods.
We already mentioned that strep throat is caused by bacterial infections. So, the go-to choice for treating it will be Antibiotics. Here, you have two options: self-treatment and professional care. We will be suggesting that you should go and consult an experienced doctor, who knows which antibiotic is the best for each type of strep throat. You should also avoid the consumption of food that makes you weak. The perk about visiting a doctor is that you can diagnose the issue if something else is causing the strep throat. As we mentioned in the earlier section, diseases like Scarlet fever are considered an inducer of strep throat.
Depending on the intensity of the problem, the doctor may suggest some additional medicine as well. You are expected to keep track of the medicine as well as to stay away from others. In case you forgot, problems of strep throat are quite contagious. Intimate interaction with the person who has strep throat will cause an instant spreading of the issue.
A Word on Prevention
There isn’t a sure-shot way to prevent strep throat other than to avoid interaction with people who already have it. Another idea is to make sure that you’re leaving a compatible lifestyle. The chances of strep throat are higher among those who consume a lot of fast-food and processed food. An occasional shift to organic is quite helpful in the process of preventing strep throat. The cleaner you are, the less vulnerable you become towards strep throats. So, if there is someone with strep throat around you, you can take some extra steps to stay safe and free from spreading. And, yes, removing Tonsils may be an option to reduce the chances of strep throat, but don’t expect that removal to be an absolute method.
The Bottom Line
We hope you now have a clear idea about whether you can get strep throat without tonsils. To put all these things in a singular perspective, the Tonsil is never the direct reason for your strep throat. It’s the bacteria that causes all these issues. So, you should not try to remove the Tonsils all of a sudden. On the other hand, try to find out the reason that’s causing the strep throat and treat it carefully.
