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Tonsils, Tossing and Turning
Can a Tonsillectomy Help a Child With Sleep Problems?
By Teri Brown
The Hazards of Enlarged Tonsils
Dr. Nina Shapiro, an associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology for the UCLA School of Medicine, says parents are often unaware of the negative effects enlarged tonsils can have on a child. According to Dr. Shapiro, enlarged tonsils can lead to symptoms such as loud snoring, gasping at night to breathe, difficulty with sleep, sleep apnea (where your child stops breathing despite effort to do so for five seconds or longer), restless sleep, nighttime wakening, bedwetting and arching his or her head back to get air during sleep. What child can learn and thrive when they aren't getting a good night's rest? "Poor sleep may lead to daytime irritability, fatigue, poor attention and even poor school and athletic performance," says Dr. Shapiro. "Children with asthma or asthma-like illness may have worsening of their asthma from tonsil enlargement."
Dr. Shapiro says enlarged tonsils take up too much space in the back of the throat. During sleep, the muscles in the back of the throat become lax and large tonsils "hit" up against each other during muscle relaxation, causing the noise of snoring. If they are too large, air is not able to pass through the blocked space in the back of the throat. This results in apnea.
