What is the difference between acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis?

Tonsillitis is usually caused by colds and fevers. Many people don’t think it is a big deal, so they don’t pay much attention to it and don’t treat it in time. What is the difference between acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis?

Difference between acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis

Acute tonsillitis and acute pharyngitis are closely related in most cases. The causes of both are viral or bacterial infections. Fatigue, cold, and excessive smoking and drinking are common triggers. The local symptoms of the patients are basically the same, such as dry throat, burning sensation, and sore throat, which worsen when swallowing, sometimes leading to ear pain, dry cough, swollen and painful lymph nodes at the angle of the mandible, and may be accompanied by systemic symptoms such as fever, general discomfort, headache, poor appetite, and dry stool. The systemic symptoms of acute pharyngitis are generally mild, while those of acute tonsillitis are often severe.

If the tonsils are found to be congested and swollen, or even have yellow-white pus spots attached, while the surrounding pharyngeal mucosa is relatively less congested, it is acute tonsillitis; conversely, if the congestion and edema are mainly in the pharyngeal mucosa, or the sides of the pharynx are red, or the lymph follicles on the posterior pharyngeal wall are proliferating, and the tonsillitis is mild, it is acute pharyngitis.

The treatment methods are basically the same. You should pay attention to rest, drink plenty of water, and keep your bowel movements smooth. For patients with severe systemic symptoms, they can take antipyretic and analgesic drugs such as APC; gargle topically with compound borax solution or warm salt water, iodine lozenges, Liushen Pills, etc. If there is a bacterial infection, the neutrophil count in the blood test is elevated, or there is purulent pharynx or tonsils, you can take spiramycin, cephalexin, etc., or inject penicillin. If you are allergic to penicillin, you can use gentamicin or lincomycin.

Prevention and care of tonsils

1. Quit smoking and drinking and exercise regularly. People who are prone to tonsillitis usually have weak body resistance. Regular exercise can improve the body's ability to resist disease. At the same time, be careful not to overwork in your daily life. If you feel tired, you should rest and adjust in time.

2. Develop good living habits. Patients with chronic tonsillitis should develop good living habits, ensure adequate sleep every day, add or remove clothes in time as the weather changes, and remove humid air indoors. For patients, the diet should be as light as possible and they should not be picky about food.

3. Prevent all kinds of infectious diseases and epidemics. During the spring and summer when epidemics are more frequent, you should pay more attention to personal hygiene and avoid frequenting crowded public places. If you have a high fever caused by tonsillitis, you can wipe your body with alcohol to help reduce the temperature. If you really have no appetite, you can adopt liquid or semi-liquid diet method.

4. Completely cured. Once you suffer from acute tonsillitis, you should cure it thoroughly to avoid recurrence and eventually turn it into chronic tonsillitis, leaving the root of the disease.