Clinical Nutritionist Sona Parmar answers a reader’s question about adenoids.
Q: My son is six and suffers from repeated infections in his adenoids. He’s already had his tonsils removed and we thought that would help the problem, but it has not. Is there anything else we can do? I don’t want my young son to have to undergo another surgery.
A: The adenoids are glands that live at the back of the nose. Along with the tonsils, they form an important part of a young child’s immune system – they filter out bacteria and viruses entering through the nose and produce antibodies to help the body fight infections. From when your child is born to about four years of age, the adenoids grow and then, they become progressively smaller, almost disappearing completely by adulthood.
So what’s the problem? Well, in some children, the adenoids become enlarged, restricting breathing through the nose. As well as leading to snoring, there’s also an increased risk of glue ear (a condition caused by the accumulation of fluid within the ear) and ear infections. Because of these problems, an adenoidectomy is usually recommended.
But what if there was a way to relieve the glue ear and ear infections without putting your son through surgery?
In nutritional medicine, both of these conditions are related to food sensitivity. How can you know, without an expensive allergy test, which food your son has a sensitivity to? It appears that by far the most common food trigger is dairy produce: everything from milk and yoghurt to cheese and ice-cream. Not only are these foods renowned for their ability to stimulate mucus formation in and around the ears but, when a child has a sensitivity, dairy produce also makes them more likely to suffer from frequent colds and a blocked and/or runny nose.
So I’d start off by removing milk and other dairy products from your son’s diet (ideally this should be done under the supervision of a clinical nutritionist to ensure he doesn’t miss out of important nutrients).
If your son doesn’t improve on this regime, it’s probably worth eliminating the other commonly implicated foods, namely wheat, eggs and chocolate (in fact, all sugar is best avoided as it suppresses immune function, therefore making ear infections more likely).
In addition to this, in order to help clear the ear, nose and throat (ENT) tract and protect against repeated infections, I’d suggest a herb called echinacea, which is widely available. It’s both a great anti-inflammatory and anti-infective. I’d suggest that you buy a pre-packaged tincture (basically a concentrated liquid extract of the herb) from a reputable company (e.g. Bioforce).
Maybe surgery won’t be necessary after all. BY DAILY NATION