Tonsillectomy Adult – What to Expect
Tonsillectomy as an adult is quite different than tonsillectomy for children. The methods employed for tonsillectomy in adults and children are generally the same, (See Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy Methods page), and the risks for adults are similar to the risks for children, (See The Tonsillectomy Risks
Tonsillectomy – Adult Recovery and Risks
Most studies indicate a two to four percent risk of delayed hemorrhage [severe bleeding]. Where tonsillectomy in adults differs most from tonsillectomy in children is in the recovery. Recovery from childhood tonsillectomy generally takes five to seven days. Recovery from tonsillectomy in adults usually requires at least ten days and more often two weeks.
Before deciding to get an adult tonsillectomy, it’s important to choose a time frame in which you have the time and the support. Recovering over your favorite Holiday might be a good choice in terms of time, (eg holiday leave from work or school), but it may not be a time that people will be available to help you.
The pain associated with adult tonsillectomy recovery, by almost all accounts, is more intense than that experienced by children. Some theorize that children haven’t had as much time without pain as adults and thus their frame of reference is different than adult tonsillectomy patients. Others assume that children may be less able to articulate their discomfort. Having read the accounts of THOUSANDS of adult tonsillectomies in the forum,(See Tonsillectomy Forum page), I can say with some confidence that generally, the younger the patient, the easier the tonsillectomy recovery. There are of course exceptions. I’ve read from many middle aged adults who had a fairly smooth recovery. Perhaps they read up on this website and prepared well. Perhaps they had good genes. In any case, many time an adult tonsillectomy recovery is better than the horror stories we hear about.
“If I could recommend one item to buy before tonsillectomy, it would be a humidifier. My readers know how important moist air is to a healing throat. I bought one of these years ago and still use it daily” -Greg
I’d like to take a moment here to make a suggestion. As you read through the people’s accounts in the various chat rooms, message boards, and adult tonsillectomy forums, consider this: People having a harder time, may be more prone to seek out information and share their experience in these venues. Adults experiencing milder tonsillectomy recoveries, might be less apt to be posting. I don’t want to drag Richard Nixon into my website, but this silent majority may be quietly recovering and you’ll never hear from them.
My advice is to research as much as you can, talk with your doctor, talk with your family and friends, and talk with your employer before scheduling your adult tonsillectomy. I wish you all the best.
I’ve put together a collection of items that I think would be helpful, if not essential, to making tonsillectomy recovery a little more pleasant. Check out the Tonsillectomy General Store.
Thank you Emma, great suggestions, appreciate the information you shared, my 27 year old son will be having tonsillectomy in March. I had mine at age 22 but way back then 1980’s I was admitted to hospital day before surgery and went home day after once I ate a soft food breakfast. Ice collar helped and definitely sitting up vs laying down, were these things you did?
I had tonsillectomy on 14-11-16 at 28 years old
Lots of complications during surgery it normally takes 30 minutes for surgery I was in there 2hours 15minites surgeon explained there was a lot of pus in my tonsils and she couldn’t get them
Out and I also bled a little but all is well
Day 1 wasn’t too bad didn’t feel much at all just slept tried to eat kebab but it was too spicy so I ate the bread lol
Day2 still ok a little more pain and a little blood in the morning horrible taste and smell coming from my throat
Day3 went to walk in center was prescribed antibiotics pain was still controllable and manageable
Day4 more pain and earache started to kick in started to take some stronger painkillers rather than just the paracetamol
Day 5 (today) pain still as bad as yesterday but hopefully will only last another couple of days managing to eat cheese on toast and drink coffee again
Hoping to be able to eat normal again by day 7 but like I say I’m
Only on day 5 so good luck everyone
I am currently on day 7 of post tonsillectomy and had I known the pain and the vulgar smell was going to be as bad as this, I wouldn’t of thought twice about cancelling the procedure.
Ever since a young age I’ve had sore throats, tonsillitis and tonsil stones (caused bad breath).
I am 33 year old female and had the surgery carried out on 03/11/16.
Day 1: due to local anaesthetia administered to the area, I didn’t feel much. The worse pain was caused by the number of little cuts on the side of my tongue. I stayed overnight in the hospital just in case l had a bleed.
Day 2: got discharged with some strong pain killers which I thought I wouldn’t need as I still couldn’t feel much pain. I thought people were over exaggerating about this whole thing.
Day 3: when hell broke loose. Yes, the pain kicked in and when I mean it kicked in, none of those strong painkillers did much. Only worked for 2-3 hours then I was in agony again. This is also the day when I noticed a large patch of white (pus) covering the whole of the back of my throat. This was something so severe the smell of it made me feel so sick that I can’t even describe. It’s worse than any tonsil stones you will ever have. I was unable to eat or drink for good half of the day.
Day 4: the pain is at its worst so I am now keeping a record as to when I could pop my next pills. The smell is uncontrollable. It smells like a gone off milk or meat that’s been left to rot in the heat. That’s as close as it’s gonna get. Some people have this and some don’t. Knowing my luck- I had it!!
Day 5: I have began to eat in small amounts and have lost a lot of weight in 5 days time. Im trying to swallow as much as fluids as possible but the pain is like having broken glass and sharps all in one and trying to swallow that. There is literally no taste in my mouth apart from that rotten smell. I have began garrgling with warm salt water and can see few of the white pus fall out as I spit it out and you can even smell it inside the sink. (Sorry to be very descriptive).
Day 6: I had to go to my GP and get some anti biotics as I don’t think anything else would move these white pus out of my mouth. The doctor told me if I have rough foods it will scrap it off but its impossible to eat rough foods as I can’t even tolerate water, let alone that.
Day 7: the pain is still strong and I’ve been told to expect this till day 10. I guess the worse part is over so now I just need to be able to deal with the smell. I wake up middle of the night with chunks of white puss on my tongue and have now got all my tongue covered with some form of bacteria. The salt water isn’t helping as much as I thought it will be as it only stings the sides of my tongue where it’s been pierced during surgery due to tubes or whatever it was.
If you are ever thinking of this surgery, just consider that smell first than the pain as I don’t know which ones worse. Good luck 🙂
Ps: has anyone had these white pus and how long did it take to go away? I’ve read that it can take up to 6 weeks. Pls help!!!
The white pus you’re talking about is actually the scabs. It looks really gross and infected, but that’s your throat healing. If you look up tonsillectomy images on googles, you’ll find a lot if pictures showing what you described.
Well; I’m on day 8 post op and i can relate.everything mentioned here is happening to me ?. How long before it gets better?
I am a 51 year old female. I just had my tonsillectomy on October 27th, 2016. I’ve read many horror stories in my research prior to having this done. So I had braced for the worst, but hoped for the best! Day 1 was rough,especially the first time I tried to swallow. Still feeling the effects of the anaesthetic I slept the better part of the day. I had everything set out the night before surgery. Humidifier was a god send! On day 2, I wasn’t having a lot of pain but Dr. said keep up on the pain meds,so I took the next dose.I had problems with my throat swelling. ( I asked about this before hand as I also have asthma). Dr. said it rarely happens…by 10 am I was in ER with breathing problems. Unknown to me I was also having an alergic reaction to the pain meds. Blood pressure was only reading 90/50. Was given steroids for swelling,medicine to regulate blood pressure, and morphine for the pain. Like everyone else I stocked up on popcicles and ice cream etc. Turns out for me cold set my nerves on end! So a lot of room temp hot chocolate and tea. At this point I am rotating just regular tylenol and Advil. Which is working just fine for me. Days 3,4,5 pain was tolerable.trying to eat a little more, pudding, soft cooked eggs things like that. Day 6, I am already tired of being still, got up and moved around some, talked a little more, felt ok. Day 7, too much talking yesterday seems to have made my throat tight. So I woke up in a little more pain than usual.(But it wasn’t an unbearable pain). Probably the most irritating thing is I can feel the scabs in my throat. However I am sure the longer the scabs stay in place the more the skin underneath will have time to heal. I am scheduled for post OP visit with surgeon on Monday November the 8th,so hopefully my recovery will remain mostly uneventful. I am writing this post because almost everything I read prior to surgery was SCARY! ( I almost canceled it)But I wanted to let others know that not EVERYone will have that type of pain.Every surgery will have pain, but not everyone will have unbearable pain. For those that do, I wish you a speedy recovery!
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am 54 and will undergo a tonsillectomy one week from today. Reading all of these horror stories was scaring me to death. I have no choice on this surgery; I’ve been sick for way too long and the antibiotics aren’t clearing up the infections anymore. You have given me hope that I will actually get through this.
I need to have mine out and I am horrified. Praying for an easy recovery for you..
Thank you for your non horrific description of this experience, I am 52 and may have to face this soon.
Your story helped me so much! I am a 58 year old female and I am scheduled to have my tonsils removed on February 22nd. I, like the others have gotten scared about the horror stories shared by some. It was good to read that there are stories like yours that show that it is not always that bad. Hopefully, I will be adding a positive account in another month!
I have not suffered with sore throats/strep but I have a growth of some sort on my right tonsil. My doctor assures me that he does NOT feel that it is cancer but it should be removed and tested. Thanks again for the positive insights!
I have the same thing. I have growths that need to be removed and tested. My auntie also said that he thought they were probably benign but has been wrong before. I found out about these the middle of December at my dentist office. My dentist and the nurse was really freaked out about them and kind of freaked me out. I couldn’t get into the ENT until the 9th of January. I did the best I could just to forget about it and let it go. Now that I’ve seen the ENT I’m a nervous wreck thinking I need to cover all my bases in case I get bad news. That on top of thinking about how miserable I’ll be for 2 weeks his stressing me out quite a bit. I keep putting it off but also know that early detection is always best in case it is cancer. I’m a 46 year old Widow who lives alone in a town a couple hours away from family and friends. It has totally got me freaked out
I read a lot of horror stories before my tonsillectomy but mine wasn’t bad at all! I am 23 and on day 7 and decided to have them out after getting 1-2 infections a month for 5 months (one actually putting me in hospital), and the damage caused meaning I was in pain whether they were infected or not.
After the operation I ate and was able to take tablet medication actually with more ease than before the operation because the obstruction that was my tonsils was no longer there. After going home I have kept my usual diet, just cutting out acidic and spicy things, and taking usual headache dose painkillers. Initially I couldn’t really talk, and had pain in my jaw, tongue, ears and throat but managable and what you expect when you’ve had a tube down there and people pulling your mouth around to operate in there. I found the more you use it, the quicker that goes away.
Day 2 I tried to eat an ice popsicle as many recommended they would make me feel better but actually I found the cold made my ear pain worse and all my stomach wanted was some of my favourite crisps so I tried them and I actually found them more soothing. By day 3 I just had the ear and throat pain which got a little worse day 5-7 but still managable and is due to the scabs coming off. Yet equally with that extra pain I have gotten my voice fully back and I am able to eat at a more normal speed whereas before although I was eating normally, was rather slow.
I’ve never once thought that I wish I hadn’t had it done, I’ve actually felt better than I felt when I’ve had tonsillitis over recent months. Not an operation to do if they aren’t bothering you but it was definitely the right decision for me. Main thing I would say is don’t be afraid to try eating certain foods if that is what you want. Swallowing is going to hurt after a tonsillectomy and if you’re making yourself eat food you don’t really like because you think your throat might take it easier, you won’t do it. You’ll get yourself through the pain easier if its your favourite food, and I haven’t really found much of a pain difference between eating scrambled eggs and eating a pizza, just chew it thoroughly.