Nearly blocked airway due to habit of chewing ice to cool down

On May 15, doctor Trinh Thuy Lien of the Center for On-Demand and International Medical Examination and Treatment, Central Tropical Diseases Hospital said that when admitted to the hospital, the man’s throat mucosa was red and inflamed, and there was a lot of stagnant phlegm, narrowing the glottal airways. According to his family, the man often chews ice cubes to cool down quickly after playing sports or going out in the sun.

The doctor diagnosed the patient with an abscess around the left lower tonsil and acute epiglottitis. The infection progresses seriously, with large abscesses accompanied by calcified lesions causing narrowing of the oropharynx and airways.

The treatment team assessed that this was a difficult case because the patient was old, the abscess was in a complex location, and the airway was almost completely narrowed. The process of placing a tube through the mouth for surgical anesthesia faces a high risk of failure. However, after 5 days of intensive treatment, the patient’s health improved.

Dr. Lien explained that using ice water suddenly when the body is hot creates a large temperature difference in the throat area. This condition strongly irritates the throat mucosa and tonsils, creating conditions for bacteria to grow, causing inflammation and abscess formation.

Experts recommend that people give up the habit of chewing ice or drinking cold water regularly. This action not only affects your teeth but also increases the risk of prolonged pharyngitis and tonsillitis and leads to complications such as peritonsillar abscess. People should absolutely not drink water that is too cold right after coming back from the sun. Instead, use warm water or filtered water at room temperature, taking small sips to help the body gradually adapt.

Lower tonsil abscesses pose a great danger to health. When signs of a sore throat, difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing and high fever appear, people need to immediately go to specialized medical facilities for timely examination and intervention by doctors, preventing the risk of respiratory failure leading to death. The doctor also cautioned people to absolutely not buy medication at home or try to endure it, to avoid the situation where the abscess spreads and causes airway obstruction when hospitalized.