Enlarged adenoids

What are enlarged adenoids?

Adenoids are lumps of tissue on the back wall of the nasal cavity. They are found above the tonsils and at the back wall of the nose. Adenoids cannot be seen when looking in the mouth.

Adenoids are made of lymphatic tissue and are known to naturally increase in size by about age 5 or 6 and slowly decrease in size by about age 9. By adolescence, the adenoids usually become quite small. Lymphatic tissue in adenoids helps fight infection. Adenoids can become more swollen when a child has a viral infection and can remain swollen, or enlarged, when children have recurrent infections. Adenoids can also become swollen in children with seasonal or environmental allergies.

Adenoids

Signs and symptoms of enlarged adenoids

When adenoids remain chronically enlarged either due to allergies or to recurrent infections, children can have chronic symptoms. These include:

• severe snoring
• trouble sleeping
• obstructive sleep apnea
• mouth breathing
• speech problems
  
• nasal voice
• problems swallowing
• frequent ear infections

What you can do to help your child with enlarged adenoids

If you are concerned that your child is having sleep problems related to snoring, mouth breathing or obstructive sleep apnea, discuss your concerns with their health-care provider.

What your child's health-care provider can do to help

The health-care provider will listen to your concerns, ask about your child’s symptoms and examine your child. If your child has sleep apnea, certain medications may be given to reduce the swelling in the nose and help your child’s breathing. These may include antihistamines and nasal steroid sprays. Antibiotics are not given for this problem. Children with ongoing symptoms despite a trial of medication may be referred to an otolaryngologist. The otolaryngologist specializes in problems of the ear, nose and throat and can examine the adenoids using a small camera.

Some children with obstructive sleep apnea may benefit from surgery to remove the adenoids in order to improve their symptoms. The operation is called an adenoidectomy. The tonsils are sometimes taken out at the same time.