What are the symptoms of swollen, enlarged adenoids?
Swollen adenoids may not cause any symptoms or problems. However, symptoms may develop in some cases, especially if the adenoids become very large. Possible symptoms include the following: • Breathing through the nose may be noisy or rattly. This may get worse and cause difficulty breathing through the nose. The child then mainly mouth breathes. • A constantly runny nose. • Snoring at night. In severe cases sleep may be disrupted by the blocked nose and there is difficulty with breathing. • Swollen adenoids may block the entrance of the Eustachian tube. This is the tube that goes from the back of the nose to the middle ear. It normally allows air to get into the middle ear. If this tube is blocked it may contribute to the formation of glue ear (fluid in the middle ear). See separate leaflet called ‘Glue Ear’.
