Tips For Tonsillectomy Recovery
1. Drink fluids
2. Drink cold fluids
3. Drink more cold fluids! A steady flow of cool liquid is probably the most important thing to speed your tonsillectomy recovery.
4. Get a good cool air humidifier and run it all the time.
5. Don’t worry about sleep. Forget the normal time convention. Sleep for short intervals, preferably in a recliner. Sleep can be your worst enemy. Sleeping a few hours in a bed usually results in a dry throat that hurts like crazy. It can take almost an hour to get the pain back under control.
6. Keep a written log of your medications as you take them. It’s easy to forget what you’ve taken and when. If you would have problems that require help from the doctor, it can come in handy.
7. Read about others’ experiences and share your own. (Check out the tonsillectomy surgery forum)
8. Plan ahead! Stock up on items you’ll need ahead of time for your tonsillectomy recovery.
9. Take something with your pain medicine. Carnation Instant Breakfast or Ensure will at least provide a base in your stomach and reduce nausea.
10. Plan some minor events. Even a simple event like a walk or a bath can take your mind off the discomfort and help your mindset during tonsillectomy recovery
11. Chew sugarless gum. When pain gets referred to the ears, and it often does, chewing gum can ease the ear pain. It also keeps the swallowing process active, which many believe aids in tonsillectomy recovery.
Those are my top tonsillectomy recovery tips. For a detailed daily checklist, check out my upcoming book.
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 Recovery General Store.
Take care,
Greg
-Greg My short bio
Humidifier- tonsillectomy patient's friend
Tonsillectomy Recovery
Has anyone gargled with a mouth rinse after brushing your teeth? I’m on day 2 and look a look at my throat this morning -pretty yucky
I’m wondering should I be trying to wash/rinse away that yellow ‘stuff’??
I’m reading a lot about scabs and them falling off. Just wondering
I am a 28 yr old male. Had my tonsils removed along with adenoids two days ago. The pain is pretty severe and completely swallowing water and soft foods has proven to be difficult and awkward. Slightly runny scrambled eggs has been the only thing I can stand to eat. The codeine syrup also stings horribly and is difficult to swallow. I am staying at my mother’s house for the time being and she has been a life saver. Obviously speaking is difficult but text messages have helped greatly with communication. I agree with the warm shower being a small relief. Right now I feel fine but thirsty. Everyone who tells you this is painful is absolutely correct but it is bearable. I am hoping to graduate to something more solid food wise soon. I am going to try chewing gum tomorrow. Good luck everyone!
I’m a 31 year old woman on day 6 post op and feel like it’s my turn to share my experience and any tips I’ve learned a long the way. I had my operation at about 12:30 and handled the anesthesia very well. This was my first operation under general anesthesia so it was a learning experience. However, I started preparing weeks in advance, including utilizing this wonderful website. I purchased the hamilton beach ice shaver, but mine seemed to be a defective model and I had to return it without enough time to order another. I ended up getting a moderately priced blender instead, which I feel was a better choice since it can produce so many more drink options. I also made sure to give my job plenty of notice and inform my employer as much as possible about the procedure. I found my doctors office to be very difficult to work with all the way up till the operation. Most of my questions were answered with a “trust us,” and “you’ll find out” Trying to get my pain medications before the day of operation proved impossible and I repeatedly had to explain what I wanted and didn’t want all the way up till being wheeled into the OR. I can’t stress enough how much you have to be your own advocate.
Because I am a coffee drinker the first thing I got out of the hospital was a Starbucks Frappaccino. It was very good and kept me from ever getting a caffeine headache. And it didn’t even feel too cold. Once home I ran my humidifier 24/7 and had tons of water, gatorade, iced coffees, jello, vanilla pudding, apple sauce and protein shakes. I suggest avoiding fruit smoothies because they tend to be pretty acidic. Two drinks I have to suggest is: 1) protein shakes made with a ripe banana and rice milk. They help a lot with hunger pain and nausea. And 2) iced chai tea lattes with rice milk. It’s so soothing and has a lot of healing components like honey and black tea.
As for more solid foods, I had a raw mushroom 2 days ago, which was nice just to have some flavor, cream of wheat yesterday morning (tasts horrible and leaves your mouth feeling gritty,) KFC mashed potatoes, nice for emotional comfort, but left me with some acid reflux, and I had a chicken leg that had been refrigerated. It made me so happy I wanted to cry. It was home baked with skin and lots of paprika. With lots of chewing I handled it very well.
One curious side effect of the medication was itching all over my body, the doc said that’s normal and that adding benadryl to my medications would be fine.
Something I hadn’t heard mentioned yet is that I’m freezing all the time. Between the frozen drinks, ice packs, cold mist humidifier and not using the heater it’s been pretty chilly. I live north of Seattle, so it’s still pretty cold at this time of year. To help warm up I doubled up on comforters, wear hoodies and sweat pants to bed, welcome my cat into my bed and throw a log or two into the fire place every so often.
The first few days that my uvula was enlarged I didn’t like chewing gum for ear pressure because it made me feel like I was going to swallow my uvula. I know it sounds silly, but it just wasn’t comfortable so I put off the gum until the swelling went down.
Here are a few more tips that I’ve found to be very helpful:
-texting is great for communicating with your care taker. I’m sure if feels better to them to get a text with pleases and thank yous than hearing a bell being rung.
-don’t overwhelm your caregiver with demands. doing easy things for yourself will be good for the both of you and you won’t feel guilty for turning a loved one into a maid.
-use the opportunity to keep up with long distance friends and family. I’m in a long distance relationship and being stuck in bed has been great for my relationship. My boyfriend and I IM all the time.
-The simplest forms of entertainment can be the best. I spend lots of my time just looking out the window at my bird feeders. I thought I would get caught up on reading, but I’m too drugged up all the time to really enjoy my books.
-No expectations. This is not a linear process. One day I could go with out pain killers and be chatting up a storm while eating a lot, the next I was practically catatonic, frozen with pain and heavily sedated.
-Solo cups! If you’re drinking as much as you should be you’ll never be able to keep up with the dishes. Solo cups are recyclable and very convenient.
-Get a tongue scraper. I’ve always had one. They’re great for fighting the bumps and film build up on your tongue.
-Enjoy the silence. I rarely sleep more than 4 hours in a row so I typically get up several hours before my mom. I love her dearly, and so appreciate her caring for me, but she likes to talk… a lot. getting up early gives me time to wake comfortably without constant chatter.
-Be positive, make goals and take notice of what you’ve already gained. I’ve been very lucky and have had a fairly easy recovery. I make sure not to take for granted my good fortune. I immediately noticed that my hearing improved and my nasal passages where unobstructed for the first time in months. I made goals, like upping my fitness, since I wouldn’t have an illnesses creeping up every month or so ruining my motivation. Or to buy myself some nice things since I wouldn’t be having partial paychecks from missing work.
I hope I gave some good tips and wish you all the best of luck in your recovery.
Am 34 and had my tonsils out three days ago: so far so good i as given diclofenac codeine and paracetamol I seem to be taking them regularly because I get very bad pain every 4-6hours my fear is to overdose. so I have written down the times I am taking them in order not to exceed the daily allowance. can’t seem to eat anything though apart from tea and I tried ice cream that gave a cold and blocked nose.
Tonsillectomy advice from 25 year old:
1) FOR MEDS — Take the pain pills on time. If 2 pills every 4 hours isn’t working for you, try taking 1 pill every 2 hours instead.
2) FOR MUSCLE PAIN — Apply ice to front and back of neck. Take hot showers. Sit on the floor of the tub, rock back and forth into the stream of the shower, letting the water rinse over your head and neck.
3) FOR VOMITING — Even if you do not feel nauseous, take something for nausea to prevent vomiting. My nausea came out of nowhere and suddenly I was vomiting. If you start to vomit, remain calm. You will be uncomfortable but it will pass quickly. Rinse your mouth afterwards and wait a while before taking more meds. Most likely it will not bleed or hurt your healing process.
4) FOR SWEET ALTERNATIVES — My tongue was so sensitive to fruity, sweet things after the first few days. I replaced fruit drinks with unsweetened ice tea. It is better than water and still gives you a little flavor, which helps orient you when trying to swallow.
5) FOR SWALLOWING — In a way, you have to get used to swallowing in a whole new way. Try filling half your mouth with liquid and holding it there. Swish it around your teeth and tongue. When you are ready, swallow it all in one gulp. This may help to orient you while your throat is still numb. It also helps when swallowing pills and it reduces the amount of air that you swallow, cutting down on burping and nausea.
6) FOR SPIT — If you have excess spit and don’t want to swallow, carry a spit cup around with you. Try chewing mint gum, too.
7) FOR DRYNESS — Sleep with a humidifier. Buy a spray bottle to moisten your mouth when you don’t feel like drinking water (cheap, small ones can be found in the hair care section of convenience stores).
8) FOR ATTITUDE — Before my surgery, I forgot the simple fact that our bodies and states of mind adjust to get us through hard times like these. We are more mellow and less energetic. Stay positive and patient.
It’s been good but scary reading this forum. I’m day 4 and still in the worst pain I’ve ever had. Can’t swallow and feel like I’m choking all the time. I didn’t even know about the scabs…Jesus! Something else to worry about. I’m gonna try the toast although cant imagin it.
Question: I am on day10. I started eating more on day 8 ( Christmas). Now I would like to know what to eat for Healing. My throat is pretty raw from the scabs coming off. Will more vegetables help? I’m still in pain taking children’s desolvable Tylenol and Advil every 3 hours. I would love for my throat to heal quickly so I won’t always be in pain. I’ve got to go back to work January 3.
Hey C,
I think the best thing you can do for healing is rest. As for eating, I really enjoyed oatmeal. It felt good going down and provided much needed nourishment. Staying hydrated is also of paramount importance. Best of luck to you my friend.
im on day 5 Ive been eating anything and everything altho it kills ..i however am a smoker and havent touched a smoke since hosp.I found drinking water helpful ..and the mornings and evening to be the worse.Bit worries about the scabiing and how minging my mouth looks..also get really bad breath no matter how much i brush my teeth.
I’m now on day 7, and have found the best thing is chewing gum! In the mornings when i wake up and my mouth is really dry and swallowing is super painful, the first thing i do is chew gum! it helps get saliva flowing to lubricate my throat, and relaxes it so i can start swallowing water and medication! The sorbitol in it is also meant to act as a laxative which may help counteract some of the constipation!
I’m on day 8 post op and I must say that I have not experienced as much pain as I’ve read on most forums. I think I can attribute that to a tip I found back when I had tonsillitis in both my tonsils: a hot compress made of a sock with a cup of rice heated for 45 seconds to a minute. In the beginning I was taking the Roxicet every four hours until my stomach couldn’t take it anymore. With the hot compress, I was able to ease off the medication to whenever I was feeling some pain coming on. Also, I just sipped on Ensure instead of eating. I was vomiting everything I was eating with an hour. I highly recommend the hot compress because it soothes the swelling and pain.
ON CONSTIPATION: Just yesterday I was joking with my mother in law about the fact that I hadn’t had a bowel movement in 7 days. Today I started to feel nauseated. I couldn’t see any blood, so I assumed constipation. My hubby went to the pharmacy and got some over the counter suppositories. My body was full of ROCKS! Don’t wait 7 days! Go get an over the counter suppository and take care of it earlier!!
oh dear, you are so right in this point!
It is completely worth buying a good blender so you can have shaved ice.
I’m 29 years old and had my tonsils out on Monday 10th. The first thing that bothered me was the swollen uvula, but they gave me a shot of corticosteroids that reduced the swelling a bit. However I can only sleep in one position, otherwise it still blocks my airway and I wake up with a choking feeling. Anyone knows how long it takes to go back to normal?
The pain hasn’t been too bad, much less than I expected, but could be because I’m taking pain medications religiously. I’ve been able to eat toast and crackers, but I must admit that ice lollies and jello feel much better. Also, should I be drinking cold water all the time? And what am I to expect when the white stuff starts falling off?
You should drink room tempreture water, my doctor told me to stay away from fridge cold things and hot things. And make sure you eat solids because it prevents you from getting infections and clears the wound and helps the white stuff fall off!
WELL IM 40. HAD THEM OUT ON 09/06/12 SO IM AT DAY 5. SO FAR SO GOOD- OTHER THAN THE SLEEPING AND ENDING UP WITH THROAT DRY- HURTS TIL I GET IT RE-MOISTENED- I WEAR BRACES SO I THINK I WILL TRY TO RUBBER BAD MY TEETH SHUT WHILE I SLEEP SO I WILL BREATH THRU MY NOSE INSTEAD. MY MAIN QUESTION/CONCERN IS ABOUT WHATS TO COME
I DO NOT LOOK FORWARD TO THIS “SLOUGHING” DO PEOPLE SPIT THE SCABS UP OR SWALLOW THEM OR LIL OF BOTH? IS THERE LOTS OF BLOOD? I LIVE ALONE AND IM A FAINTER SO IM HOPING I DONT GET TOO WOOZY IF THIS IS GONNA GET “UGLY” LOL
I’ve had some of the scabs land on my tongue so I spit those out. The rest – I guess I swallow. I haven’t seen any blood. (Day 10. 59 yrs old)
I’m on Day 11 and had my tonsils taken out the two days before my 20th birthday
From what I can tell, everyone has a unique experience during the recovery process, but there are a few things I have been doing that people haven’t mentioned yet. I have found that always having a cup of ice with me is helpful. It feels good to chew on the ice and swallow cold water or even little bits of the ice. I know it is important to keep drinking water, but for me, plain water is too painful. At least the cold temperature of the ice provides some relief. Also, for the first week or so, especially at night, pills were too hard for me to swallow. My mom started putting them in spoonfuls of pudding and that was way easier for me to swallow. I highly recommend it. It also helped me get something in my stomach to combat the nausea I felt from the tylenol with codeine. Hot steamy showers felt great…I don’t know if they actually did anything to help my throat but it felt nice! Use all the hot water in your water tank…seriously.
Don’t be too concerned about the surgery if you are still gearing up for it. I’m not going to lie, the recovery has been awful. Take a significant time off of work or school, get yourself a wonderful Mom or Dad or husband or wife who will take good care of you and watch movies with you all day. I spent the first few days in a hotel and it was actually really nice to be lazy away from the responsibilities of home…consider it!
Good luck!
I had mine out last Friday and I’ve found applesauce after your meds helps keep them down if your nauseated, even tried hamburger helper from the blender the 2nd night and its texture was a little weird but it was filling and soft – although it being the 5th day when brushing my teeth my tongue is slothing and the coating is coming off.
My advice: To lesson bleeding risk, DO NOT take aspirin, naproxen or ibuprophen for a full week prior to your surger and also avoid them DURING YOUR RECOVERY! Stay away from caffeine or anything that will thin your blood.
After surgery, Cool humidifier run at night close to your mouth as you can safely place it. (I put mine on a small table by my bed so it blew in my face as I slept). This will help your throat from drying out overnight.
Keep your throat moist at all times. Drink plenty of water, juice, whatever you can swallow. Take your pain meds on time (every 4 hours) or you will regret it!
I survived on water, pudding and jello for the first week to keep my stomach settled against pain meds. I also drank protein drinks just to keep my energy up.
Sleep is VERY important, so rest as much as possible!
Day 6-9 were HELL for me – scabs started slouching off. By day 10, I was starting to feel better. I’m on day 13 now and ALMOST back to normal. My throat is still sore, but I’m eating more foods. Still nothing acidic or spicy yet. Sodas still burn, so I’m sticking to juice and water for now.
I have noticied that I’m sleeping better, so I’m hoping that the removal of my adnoids is responsible. Maybe my sleep apnea will be cured. One can hope!
Hang in there, it’s a painful recovery, but worth it in the end!
i guess i am finally writing my own experience. i am 33 yrs old, female, with 3 children. I had mine out on the 5th of June, 2012. day 1-10 were pretty the same story: pains, swellings, lots of tramal/voltarol and going without food. i scabbed all over my uvula and tonsil beds from day 3 and sloughed off from day 7 or so. i am on day 17 today. the tonsil beds are all healed up but my sutures on the uvula are still intact. this gives me a ‘spongy feeling’ on my throat constantly and it is very uncomfortable. i still have moderate pains swallowing. i called the ent today with a complain: food gets stuck up my nose areas and gives me alot of pains, Doctor advised to chew gum to encourage muscle strengthening and advise i come to the clinic for the sutures to be removed next week, june 28th. am hoping that the sutures will finally disappear before that date; if not, i am going in to have them clipped out.
i had cryptic tonsils for two years and consistent feeling that alot of stones were stuck in my throat. it was a bad feeling, with alot of panic attacks. i am praying that i will be able to eat without food going up my nose area soonest. thanks for letting me summarise my vent.
Not sure if this will help anyone else but tepid water and tea is kind of soothing. I’ve been chewing gum and trying to eat toast, mashed potatoes and gravy, crisps and plain biscuits. I can’t bare the furry feeling as soon as I stop eating. I feel sick too. I’m so lucky to have my Family. Don’t do this alone you feel all over the place and can’t do anything. I only had it done 2 days ago, I don’t know how I’m going to cope yet.
I am on day 9. Judging from what I’ve read, I’ve done a little better than average. Other than early morning on day 2 where I felt nauseous with extreme pain plus what felt like a migraine headache all at once, it has felt manageable. Things that helped me most: a humidifier from the moment I got home, Polar Ice gum, Gatorade, Philly Swirl popsicles, and taking 1/2 doses of meds every two hours. Salty things tasted better than expected and helped with the motion sick feelings.
i cant sleep because of the dangly bit is so swollen its blocking my throat! going to raid the house for chewing gum its wednesday now and i had the op tuesday morning, felt fine and was eating crips yesterday and now struggling to open my mouth, i was drinking a lot of milk in hospital but read online it was not good for you, it felt like a calming film going down my throat a lot better to drink than water
My husband had his tonsils out and is at two week mark. His biggest complaint now is that he can’t sleep because he wakes up choking.
Hmm, the tissues take a few months to fully recover and firm up. Not sure but perhaps it will resolve itself in time. (hopefully soon!)
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of taking ensure or something similar with pain medication. The first day of my tonsillectomy, I was taking tylenol with codeine with no problem. The second day, I did not have enough to eat, just a milkshake and a popsicle. The result: I threw up 7 times until I could get some anti-nausea medication. Not only did this irritate my already fragile mouth, but I couldn’t keep down anything to help with the pain, not even regular tylenol. It was horrible and what’s worse is knowing I could have prevented it. See if your doctor can prescribe you anti-nausea medication beforehand just in case you have problems.
does anyone know how to get this awefull taste out of your mouth?
Have your own tonsillectomy recovery tips? Please share….
I had mine out yesterday morning. The pain is pretty bad but has gotten better as the swelling reduces. I am on liquid form of Vicodin and apparently a combo of the anesthesia and narcotics have caused me to have hiccups for about 16 hours, tapering off in the last few hours. This is very painful especially because they are constant and lasted for hours straight. Taste of blood afterwards, slight blood color in spit. Basically drinking water all day. Have eaten scrambled eggs and a soft brownie. Tried a fruit smoothie, but still vey sensitive to the acidic burn. Throat looks much more disgusting than the pictures posted by others. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight. Looking forward to trying some malt o meal, it’s an old favorite of mine.