ENT conditions (Mr Gaurav Kumar)

  Why Does My Child Always Breathe Through Their Mouth? Adenoids, Allergies and Blocked Noses Explained You are watching television with your child and notice their mouth is slightly open. Then you realise something. They seem to do it all the time . Perhaps they sleep with their mouth open. They may snore, sound permanently blocked or breathe noisily when eating. Their pillow may occasionally be wet with saliva. Parents often ask: “Why doesn't my child just breathe through their nose?” Occasional mouth breathing is very common when children have a cold. Persistent mouth breathing is different. It usually means either that breathing through the nose is difficult, or that a pattern of mouth breathing has become established. A common ENT explanation in younger children is  enlarged adenoids , but allergies, recurrent colds,  and other causes of nasal obstruction also need to be considered. Current NHS guidance specifically recognises that enlarged adenoids can m...

  White Spots on My Child’s Tonsils — Tonsillitis, Tonsil Stones or Something Else? Your child says their throat feels uncomfortable, so you ask them to open their mouth. At the back of the throat, you notice something white. Perhaps several small white spots cover a red tonsil. Or perhaps there is just one cream-coloured lump sitting in a small hole in the tonsil . A quick internet search can produce several possibilities: tonsillitis, strep throat, tonsil stones, thrush and sometimes much more worrying diagnoses. So what should parents actually look for? The most important point is: White material on a child's tonsil is an appearance, not a diagnosis. Tonsillitis can produce white patches or pus-filled spots. Tonsil stones can also look white or yellow. The child's other symptoms often tell us considerably more than the colour of the tonsil alone. First, what are the tonsils? The tonsils are two areas of lymphoid tissue sitting on either side of the back of the throat. They...

  Swelling Behind My Child’s Ear After an Ear Infection — Could It Be Mastoiditis? Ear infections are extremely familiar to many parents. Your child develops a cold, becomes irritable, complains of earache and perhaps has a temperature. Younger children may simply rub or pull at an ear. In most cases, the illness settles. Then there is a symptom that deserves different attention: pain, redness or swelling behind the ear. Parents may also notice that the affected ear suddenly appears to be sticking further out from the side of the head . This does not mean every child with an earache has developed a serious complication. In fact, NICE emphasises that complications of acute middle-ear infection such as mastoiditis are rare . However, mastoiditis is an important condition for parents to recognise because it needs prompt medical assessment and usually hospital treatment. The NHS describes mastoiditis as a rare but serious infection affecting the mastoid bone behind the ear, ...