I know this is coming a bit late, but I stumbled onto it in a search so I know others can as well and don't want them to be confused.
Tonsillitis can be caused by bacterial or viral infection. An antibiotic will work on a bacterial infection generally within 3-5 days, but a viral infection has to work its own course in a week or two. The doctor can still prescribe medications to help with pain, but antibiotics won't work.
Also, as tonsillitis is caused by illnesses, it can be accompanied by strep throat, mononucleosis, and other ailments. But, you can also have these without having tonsillitis (strep always swells my tonsils). You should definitely see a doctor if you have swollen tonsils for more than a day or two.
Surgery is a last resort now with all the medications available, but regularly swollen tonsils should not be ignored if you're having any pain or difficulty swallowing. If you have repeated cases of even acute tonsillitis, a surgery may be what you need. If you don't have it very often, however, you still should be able to get medications to help and have a swab/culture done.
Oh, and for the record, tea with honey helps soothe sore throats, but tea actually tends to dehydrate you. So if you're seriously ill with anything like tonsillitis, skip the tea and use warm water with honey or something like that because you need to stay hydrated.