ofpaperandponies:

Currently dealing with some nice acute viral tonsillitis…I feel like a 4-year-old. It’s uncommon for those past puberty to get tonsillitis; the majority of the time people 12-13 and older have to deal with peritonsillar abscesses (quinsy) rather than a direct inflammation of the tonsils. As the tonsils grow larger, it becomes much less common that they themselves become swollen to the point that they cause problems. They still swell and can become inhabited by bacteria/viruses, but don’t cause blockage of the throat.

Thanks to the fact that I’m 4’11” and have have stocky and diminutive features, I still develop structure-size-related illnesses generally restricted to childhood. It’s…interesting.

biomedicalephemera:

Back to medicine!

Tonsillectomies are one of the oldest medical procedures performed. Almost 3000 years ago, tonsil removal was referenced in a book of “Hindu Medicine”, but it wasn’t until Celcus wrote about separating the tonsils before excising them with a scalpel in ~30 AD that the procedure was considered established as a beneficial medical treatment. 

The tonsillotome (or tonsil guillotine) being shown here was developed by Philip Syng Physick in 1828, and was the preferred instrument to use for almost 80 years. However, this instrument was rarely able to remove all of the tonsil, and fell out of use in favor of the forceps and scalpel. These days, the scalpel/forceps “Cold Steel” dissection method is still the most common way to perform a tonsillectomy, despite numerous alternative methods being widely available. It is the simplest method to learn and perform, causes less post-operative pain or complications than other methods, and as such has remained popular even in the wake of advanced methods like carbon dioxide laser treatment and radiofrequency ablation.

Atlas and Epitome of Operative Surgery. Dr. Otto Zukerkandi, 1902.

Back to medicine!

Tonsillectomies are one of the oldest medical procedures performed. Almost 3000 years ago, tonsil removal was referenced in a book of “Hindu Medicine”, but it wasn’t until Celcus wrote about separating the tonsils before excising them with a scalpel in ~30 AD that the procedure was considered established as a beneficial medical treatment. 

The tonsillotome (or tonsil guillotine) being shown here was developed by Philip Syng Physick in 1828, and was the preferred instrument to use for almost 80 years. However, this instrument was rarely able to remove all of the tonsil, and fell out of use in favor of the forceps and scalpel. These days, the scalpel/forceps “Cold Steel” dissection method is still the most common way to perform a tonsillectomy, despite numerous alternative methods being widely available. It is the simplest method to learn and perform, causes less post-operative pain or complications than other methods, and as such has remained popular even in the wake of advanced methods like carbon dioxide laser treatment and radiofrequency ablation.

Atlas and Epitome of Operative Surgery. Dr. Otto Zukerkandi, 1902.