7 ms·

It has not been until recent times that any form of messing around the body was for any reason other than self preservation or the improvement of quality of lif

It has not been until recent times that any form of messing around the body was for any reason other than self preservation or the improvement of quality of life. I am talking post-enlightenment/age of reason medicine here, not dark ages blood letting. And we still get it wrong, and still do things without enough of an evidence base, but when it comes to removal of adenoids, the reason it is done is because in those it is affecting it is having a harmful effect on. Whether that be the formation of peritonsilar abscesses (potentially fatal), difficulty breathing (watching a 6 yo struggle to get air into their lungs due to enormous tonsils is not a sight I enjoy seeing) or just missing large numbers of days of school due to repeated illness, with knock on effects to child wellbeing and performance, there is a firm reason why we do this procedure

nailer 8y ago
Weird to hear tonsilectomies being spoken of in thw present tense. It stopped being routine in Australia in the 80s.
- robbiep 8y ago
  There are more than 35,000 tonsillectomies done in Australia every year (and more than half a million in the US). This is a highly routine procedure. In fact there is very clear guidelines on when GPS should refer for tonsillectomy: Tonsillectomy is indicated When young children have had >7 episodes in one year or >5 episodes in either of the last 2 years, or quinsys, or obstructive sleep apnoea. Tcj_pcx for some reason I can’t reply to your comment, but there’s almost nothing in it that actually makes sense: I'll just pass straight over the emotional comments. Massage doesn’t cure tonsillectomy; and frankly this thing that people say, that ‘doctors treat the symptoms not the cause’ is actually a vein of deep ignorance in the general populace. The treatment cures (in around 97% of cases) tonsilitis. Which may have lead to (in the above scenarios) a 6-10 year old child missing up to 30-40 days of school a year. And therefore having a severe impact on that child’s learning and progression. It is not treating a symptom: giving analgesia or an ice cream would be an example of that. Is modifying the mechanism by which the condition unfolds and therefore preventing the condition from occurring again. [0] https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/SAQ201_04_Chapter3_v6_FILM_tagged_merged_3-6.pdf https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/...
  - tcj_phx 8y ago
    I had a girlfriend who'd had her tonsils out as a child. She was an emotional wreck. I got her some bodywork (massage/etc), which she could have had as a child to prevent the surgery, and she's doing much better these days. She's still a firecracker; I'm glad she's living in the next state over.... > tonsillectomies [are] a highly routine procedure. Hopefully someday the medical profession will figure out how to treat the cause of tonsil problems, instead of treating the symptom.
    - panda888888 8y ago
      Any relation between tonsils and your ex's gender/personality ("She was an emotional wreck") is nonsense. Don't post sexist stuff like that here.
      - slowmotiony 8y ago
        OP should have just said "my friend" and you wouldn't call him sexist then. Did you really react like that only because a woman was mentioned in the post? Do you realize that it makes you sexist, and not OP? Don't post sexist stuff like that here.
      - tcj_phx 8y ago
        There's nothing sexist about it. She was a mess, I helped her deal with her problems, she greatly appreciates the help. My point was that people's presentations have a context. She was an emotional wreck because of all the different kinds of "stress" that she was dealing with -- unresolved "birth trauma" (umbilical cord wrapped around her neck), "adverse childhood experiences", etc. Her tonsils were extracted because her doctors didn't know what else to do. If they'd known to look deeper than the presenting symptom, she might still have her tonsils. I responded to robbiep's comment edit above, please look for that too.
        nailer 8y ago
        Do you're saying bad childhood experiences caused emotional trauma caused her tonsils to be inflamed? I'm looking for a better explanation but can't find one. I don't think your comments are sexist, but they do seem illogical.
eletious 8y ago
That isn't true - body modification has been a facet of human culture for a long, long time.

nailer 8y ago

Weird to hear tonsilectomies being spoken of in thw present tense. It stopped being routine in Australia in the 80s.

robbiep 8y ago
There are more than 35,000 tonsillectomies done in Australia every year (and more than half a million in the US). This is a highly routine procedure. In fact there is very clear guidelines on when GPS should refer for tonsillectomy: Tonsillectomy is indicated When young children have had >7 episodes in one year or >5 episodes in either of the last 2 years, or quinsys, or obstructive sleep apnoea. Tcj_pcx for some reason I can’t reply to your comment, but there’s almost nothing in it that actually makes sense: I'll just pass straight over the emotional comments. Massage doesn’t cure tonsillectomy; and frankly this thing that people say, that ‘doctors treat the symptoms not the cause’ is actually a vein of deep ignorance in the general populace. The treatment cures (in around 97% of cases) tonsilitis. Which may have lead to (in the above scenarios) a 6-10 year old child missing up to 30-40 days of school a year. And therefore having a severe impact on that child’s learning and progression. It is not treating a symptom: giving analgesia or an ice cream would be an example of that. Is modifying the mechanism by which the condition unfolds and therefore preventing the condition from occurring again. [0] https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/SAQ201_04_Chapter3_v6_FILM_tagged_merged_3-6.pdf https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/...
- tcj_phx 8y ago
  I had a girlfriend who'd had her tonsils out as a child. She was an emotional wreck. I got her some bodywork (massage/etc), which she could have had as a child to prevent the surgery, and she's doing much better these days. She's still a firecracker; I'm glad she's living in the next state over.... > tonsillectomies [are] a highly routine procedure. Hopefully someday the medical profession will figure out how to treat the cause of tonsil problems, instead of treating the symptom.
  - panda888888 8y ago
    Any relation between tonsils and your ex's gender/personality ("She was an emotional wreck") is nonsense. Don't post sexist stuff like that here.
    - slowmotiony 8y ago
      OP should have just said "my friend" and you wouldn't call him sexist then. Did you really react like that only because a woman was mentioned in the post? Do you realize that it makes you sexist, and not OP? Don't post sexist stuff like that here.
    - tcj_phx 8y ago
      There's nothing sexist about it. She was a mess, I helped her deal with her problems, she greatly appreciates the help. My point was that people's presentations have a context. She was an emotional wreck because of all the different kinds of "stress" that she was dealing with -- unresolved "birth trauma" (umbilical cord wrapped around her neck), "adverse childhood experiences", etc. Her tonsils were extracted because her doctors didn't know what else to do. If they'd known to look deeper than the presenting symptom, she might still have her tonsils. I responded to robbiep's comment edit above, please look for that too.
      - nailer 8y ago
        Do you're saying bad childhood experiences caused emotional trauma caused her tonsils to be inflamed? I'm looking for a better explanation but can't find one. I don't think your comments are sexist, but they do seem illogical.

eletious 8y ago

That isn't true - body modification has been a facet of human culture for a long, long time.