Uvula Touching Tonsils and Coughing

My son had the same problem when he was 5. He didn't cough, but he did make noises like he was trying to clear his throat. All. The. Time.
His tonsils were huge and his uvula was touching his left tonsil.

We took him to our Dr. and she said it was allergies and to give him zyrtec. That didn't work.

She did strep tests and they came out negative.

She said it was just a viral infection and it would go away in a week or two. Not.

I finally took him to a different clinic and Dr., about a month after we first noticed it.

She took one look at his tonsils and referred us to an ENT.

He took one look at his tonsils and said his tonsils were the size of golf balls and set up a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy.

Two weeks later his tonsils and adenoids were gone and he's never had a problem since.

Sometimes the best solution is to be seen by another Dr. Sometimes they don't know what is going on, but they think too much of themselves to admit that so they keep on doing things that are ineffective.

Get a second opinion.

happens all the time to me! In my case, I call it "my tonsils are meeting in the middle"!

Soooo, is her uvula enlarged? Or is it the tonsils?

In my case, it is allergies causing my issues. Even with taking Zyrtec, Singulair...daily....I still have issues. Right now, my dr. added in a nasal spray...& I'm thankful that I don't have to use my inhaler, too!

Since she's coughing, I think she needs some good allergy meds. :)

My granddaughter was in the hospital for a week last July. Her right tonsil was touching the left one and the Uvula was completely hidden. If I had put my little finger in her mouth it would not have been able to get through the hole she was swallowing and breathing through.

We took her to the ER for her fever on Saturday evening, she started an antibiotic. She was worse by late Sunday evening and on into the early morning so she was back at the ER Monday morning by 5am. That doc was wondering what the other ER doc was thinking because she was not on the right antibiotic. He also actually swabbed her for strep and it came back positive. He started her on a different med. By that after noon she was having trouble breathing and could not swallow. Her tongue was so swollen she could only drool and not close her mouth at all.

I called the pediatric clinic and our regular person was out. The doc on call saw my granddaughter, did a mono test right then, it came back negative. He gave her a shot of Rocefrin, and admitted her to the hospital.

She went in, got hooked up to IV's for the fluids and nutrition. She could no longer swallow at all. She used Mr. Thirsty to suction out her saliva, she was getting so many fluids by this point and could wet an entire pillow in a few moments with yellow drainage and spit.

They did another mono test in case the one they did at the clinic was not valid. It came back negative too.

They ended up testing her for mono 3 times, but it was the worse case of strep anyone in the hospital had every seen. The other docs kept coming by looking in her throat and at her tongue. The anitbiotics did nothing for it. The just kept her at bay as far as getting anything else while she had this. They said it was totally viral and it just had to work it's way through.

The tongue swelling was due to dehydration. She had stopped eating and drinking some time on Sunday. Not even Popsicles were making it down the throat. The swelling did not go down until Friday morning and that was still not to a comfortable level as far as I was concerned.

Earlier that weekend when she was first seen she weighed in the mid 50's. When she got out the next weekend she weighed in the low 40's. She had lost nearly 15 lbs. She went from size 6/6X jeans back to her 5's and 6's. She did gain her weight back fairly quickly and she went past her last weight.

Her brother was supposed to go to Children's Hospital that morning to get some dental work done under general anesthesia. We cancelled that. He could have been carrying this strep plus the docs and everyone else might have gotten it too since they were going to be in his mouth. If he had it or had been carrying it they could have gotten it and in the process spread it even further.

Have the doc test her for Mono and Strep. As many strains as they can.

Please take her to an ENT. Her tonsils need to be assessed. It sounds like they are tinting her palate, and he may feel that your child would be a lot healthier if they were removed. I don't know what he will say about the uvula, but I wouldn't ignore this.

Dawn

Oh My Goodness you are explaining my daughter she is 5 and the same thing is going on with her..She had been coughing for about 8 weeks. The worst is at night due to the nasal drip..I saw the uvula touching her tonsil and freaked out. I took my daughter to her reqular dr and she wasn't concerned like me. She just said zyrtec and nose spray..So then a couple days past and she wasn't getting any better and woke up with a fever. I took her to urgent care and the dr called in to walgreens bactrim and some cough meds as needed and as of tonight her uvula is back where it should be:)

Take her to a good ENT. It may be a combination of allergies and large tonsils. Have her checked for asthma, as well.

My son had very large tonsils, exercise-induced asthma (running and laughing makes it hard for him to breathe and ends up coughing so hard, he pukes). He had his tonsils out and is on Singulair...and doesn't cough nearly as much as he did.