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What are tonsils? |
by Kate Simmons >> more about the author
Do you have a friend or family member whose tonsils have been removed? Perhaps you’ve even had your tonsils out! Tonsils are lumps of tissue on each side of the back of your throat. But there’s more to this tissue than you may realize!
Like a fence that keeps out trespassers, your tonsils are a protective barrier to germs. They make special cells called lymphocytes that fight infection! Sometimes the tonsils themselves can become infected. When this happens over and over again, or when the tonsils are a size that interferes with normal breathing, swallowing or sleeping, a doctor may recommend that they be removed so the patient can stay healthy and happy!
Have you ever heard of pharyngeal tonsils?! We more
often refer to these body parts as adenoids. Your adenoids are located
higher in the throat than your tonsils, at the back of your nose. Your
body also has a third set of tonsils that can be found at the base of
your tongue!
- “What Are Tonsils and Adenoids?” DukeHealth.org. Duke University Health System. Web. 22 Dec. 2011.
- “Tonsils and Adenoids.” entnet.org. American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Jan. 2011. Web. 22 Dec. 2011.
- "tonsil." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 22 Dec. 2011.