Column March 15, 2026
Chronic Tonsillitis — A Korean Medicine Approach Instead of Surgery
Hyo-seop Kim
Chief Director
Table of Contents
The tonsils swell three or four times a year
When tonsillitis recurs three to four times or more per year, a tonsillectomy may be recommended. However, the tonsils are an immune organ, and removing them eliminates the throat's first line of defense. Before surgery, it is worth trying to reduce recurrence through immune strengthening.
Korean medicine diagnosis: Lung-Stomach heat (肺胃熱)
- Acute phase: Throat redness, swelling, and high fever — Eun-gyo-san (銀翹散, Yin Qiao San) clears wind-heat (風熱).
- Chronic recurrence: Heat accumulates in the Lung-Stomach system, leaving the tonsils chronically vulnerable — modified Yang-gyeok-san (涼膈散).
- Underlying qi deficiency (氣虛): Reduced immunity makes the patient prone to infection — Okbyeong-pung-san (Yu Ping Feng San) plus heat-clearing herbs.
Treatment strategy: separate acute and remission phases
Acute phase: Quickly suppress inflammation by clearing heat and toxins (清熱解毒).
Remission phase: Tonify qi and strengthen defensive qi (補氣益衛) to prevent recurrence — treatment during this phase is the key.
Habits for tonsil health
- Maintain thorough oral hygiene — brushing and gargling reduce the bacterial load in the mouth.
- Avoid dry environments — when the tonsillar mucosa dries out, it becomes more vulnerable to infection.
- Sleep deprivation directly weakens immunity — secure 7–8 hours of sleep.