August 10, 2009

What are Adenoids?

Adenoids are tonsil-like glands located at the back of the nose. The exact function of adenoids is not understood but it may be a sort of protection from infection, and people can live normally without them.

Babies are born with a very small adenoids. As they grow older, adenoids also so grows. When children reach 10 to 12 years old, adenoids should reach it maximum size. From that point on, the adenoid tissue starts to shrink on its own. It's during the growth phase that adenoids can potentially cause problems.

Enlarged adenoids can block a child's nasal passages and result in nasal congestion, mouth breathing or increased snoring. When adenoids block the nasal passage completely, they can cause sleep disturbances.

The best way to confirm the size of the adenoids is to do a simple x-ray of the neck region, which will reveal if adenoids are enlarged and how do adenoids block the nasal passage.

There are no available medications to help shrink enlarged adenoids. The only treatment that can be done is to surgically remove them.

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