Question
My child has been snoring recently during sleep and has been diagnosed with adenoid hypertrophy by the hospital. Can adenoid hypertrophy be treated with Chinese medicine?
Answer
Adenoids are actually a group of lymphoid tissues attached to the posterior wall of the nasopharynx. If children are infected during their childhood, the adenoids can swell and become inflamed, obstructing nasal breathing and affecting the drainage of the sinuses, making them prone to sinusitis and middle ear infections. For your child’s condition, it is advisable to first provide anti-inflammatory and symptomatic treatment. Chinese medicine can help improve symptoms to some extent, and it is also important to pay attention to strengthening daily preventive measures and actively preventing various respiratory infections. Since adenoids are most prominent at the age of 6 and then gradually regress and shrink, appropriate treatment and enhanced prevention are sufficient. Surgery or plasma treatment should only be considered when the hypertrophy is severe and significantly affects the child’s quality of life (surgery can be performed from 18 months old, and complications are rare).