Q: I am an 18 years old boy. Right from my birth I have the problem of bronchitis. Whenever I eat any cold products like ice cream or have cold drinks, my throat starts aching and I get terrible cold and cough. My throat gets swollen and water comes from my ear and nose. On doctors' advice I have stopped eating cold food but the problem continues after a week or a month or so. On consulting the ENT surgeon, he said that I should not get the tonsils operated since I have an allergy. Please advice. Presently I am taking Roxid.

A:From your description your problem seems to be one due to allergy which may not benefit by surgery on tonsils. It can be better judged if you show to an ENT doctor during an acute attack before starting any medication. Meanwhile, you can take one tablet of Loratadine per day for about 3 weeks and do gargles with Betadine according to the instructions and see the response.