Radio-waves treatment replaces traditional tonsillitis treatment

17 September, 2012

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new technique for the treatment of tonsillitis by using radio waves. This new method is far better than the traditional surgery for tonsils, which is done either surgically or with a laser, said Dr. Lionel Nelson, an associate clinical professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto.

TONSILLITIS IS the inflammation of the fleshy cluster of lymphatic tissues located on both sides of the throat, which are known as tonsils. These tonsils, fight with the germs that enter the body orally. When tonsils are infected with virus or bacteria, they turn red and become enlarged. This swelling of tonsils is known as Tonsillitis.

The different types of tonsils are acute tonsillitis, sub-acute tonsillitis and chronic tonsillitis. The acute tonsillitis is bacterial or viral in nature; the sub-acute tonsillitis is caused due to bacterium Actinomyces, whereas the chronic tonsillitis is usually caused by a bacteria and lasts for a long time. Tonsillitis can occur at any stage but children are more likely to get this disease.

Tonsillitis can be both viral and bacterial, but the most common form is the viral tonsillitis, which is caused by virus' like Epstein-Barr and adenovirus. The other causes of tonsillitis can be fungal or parasitic, but the most infectious form of tonsillitis begins when the person breathes in the droplets infected with virus or bacteria, which another person has breathed out, coughed or sneezed.

The characteristic symptom of tonsillitis is sore throat. The other common symptoms of tonsillitis include pain while swallowing something, swollen red tonsils, high temperature, tiredness, headache, coughing, pain in ear or neck, white pus-filled spots on the tonsils, change in the voice or loss of voice. Some of the less common symptoms of tonsillitis include a furry tongue, feeling sick, bad breath and difficulty in opening the mouth. The viral tonsillitis results in cold like symptoms whereas the bacterial tonsillitis results in fever.

The diagnosis of tonsillitis can be done just by a physical examination by a doctor, but a complete blood cell count is done to determine the origin of the infection. The treatment of tonsillitis usually depends on the type of tonsillitis; if the tonsillitis is viral then some home remedies are enough to cure it and for bacterial tonsillitis the treatment includes antibiotics. But for the long lasting tonsillitis, which causes recurring infections, the doctors suggest Tonsillectomy.

The traditional Tonsillectomy which is performed surgically or with laser includes general anesthesia, a long painful recovery time, with some chances of bleeding and dehydration. But the new procedure which is approved by the FDA can be done in just five minutes and there is no need of any kind of anesthesia. The doctor just uses a needle probe and shoots the area with radio waves; these waves heats and vibrate the extra grown tissue, make the cells to dissolve and the tissue gradually shrinks with time. And the main advantage of this technique is that it is completely painless and does not take any time for recovery, reported ABC news.