Tonsillectomy recovery time is unique for each patient. Recovery time for children is much shorter than tonsillectomy recovery time for adults, with seemingly less pain. My own eight year old son was back to his old self in less than a week after his tonsillectomy. This may have fanned the flames of my unreasonable expectations of my own tonsillectomy recovery time as an adult. His was fairly typical of a child his age. Children’s bodies heal faster than adults’ do.
Tonsillectomy recovery time for an adult is a different story. Age matters. In fact, it appears that the older an adult is at the time of their tonsillectomy, the longer the recovery is, in general. Based on my own adult tonsillectomy recovery, and the stories of thousands of my readers, I’d put the average adult tonsillectomy recovery time at approximately 10.43 days. Yes, I’m THAT good! Humor aside, ten days seems to be pretty typical. I added the .43 because so many people, myself included, thought they had it licked and went back to work around day ten, only to find they weren’t quite ready. As scabs slough off in second week of recovery, many adults experience a bit of a pain relapse, just as they thought they were almost recovered. This is a really tough period for many. They’ve spent almost two weeks with minimal sleep, minimal nourishment, minimal activity, and lots of pain medicine. It can be downright depressing for adults recovering in this second week.
I do hear from many adults whose recovery times are closer to a week – perhaps due to my good advice, perhaps due to genetics. It’s hard to say why some adults’ recovery times are shorter, and their experiences less traumatic. There are also cases that drag out further. If you’re one of a small minority that requires re-cauterization for bleeding, or don’t take the proper precautions, (many of these are outlined here and in my book), your tonsillectomy recovery time may be as much as three or four weeks. I want to make an important point here- one that I cannot overemphasis: Stay hydrated! Keep drinking fluids! Dehydration is the worst enemy of the tonsillectomy patient.
Treat Yourself! Buy a Slushie machine!
This little machine will soon be your best friend! Read the comments on all these pages. Having a slushie at the ready will improve the quality of your tonsillectomy recovering Life!
My advice: ask your employer, your family, your friends, and the rest of the world to give you two weeks for your adult tonsillectomy recovery time. You may surprise them, hopefully for the better.
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.
Tonsillectomy Recovery Time
I am an 18 year old female and I had my tonsils out Friday May 31st and it is currently Thursday June 6th so I am on day 7. First of all, despite all of the things that I was told, I was completely caught off guard by the level of pain. I don’t think anything could have prepared me for it, though. Pain meds will be your best friend- although I have never felt completely pain free even on days when I took pain meds every four hours exactly on the hour. Ironically, the first two days after surgery have probably been the easiest for me. Since then, sleeping has been impossible, swallowing even worse, and the ear and throat pain on a scale of 1-10 has been a consistent 7-9 despite pain meds. ‘ve been able to force down some room temp soft foods like mac and cheese and noodles, and of course some water ice and ice cream, but nothing is easy. Swallowing water is even a daunting task. I’m really hoping I start to feel better, I’ve been miserable and irritable and bored! (And I’m sure my family is sick of me laying around feeling sorry for myself), Wondering if it will get any easier with days 8 onward? One can only hope!!! This is definitely the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life.
Best of luck to anyone getting theirs out, hang in there!!
I had my tonsilectomy on Feb 22nd, 2013. I am a 45 y/o female. Unfortunately, I am allergic to Tylenol and was not able to take a mixed drug. This required me to take the full narcotic Hydromorphone. I took a anti-nausea with it from the start, to prevent nausea. My huge warning to you is drink a lot of water. Popsicles are good, but dairy will make you feel sick. The reaction of the cautery with the dairy is nauseating. I ate a lot of thick soups, like split pea and butternut squash. Don’t eat anything hot, but room temperature or slightly warmer. The side effects of the anti-nausea and the pain meds, made me dizzy all the time and I absolutely could not have driven until I was completely clear of the drugs in my system. I was on the Hydromorphone for about 2 weeks. The pain subsided about day 14 or 15 and did not come back. What happened after that was severe constipation that was extremely painful. When I took a laxative that should have been mild, I felt nausea and felt like I would vomit for days. I did, but only one time. I thought the nausea would never end and the anti-nausea did not relive the feeling. Please make sure that you are taking in enough fluids and also taking a probiotic or eating yogurt. I ate coconut yogurt for the first 2 weeks, since dairy did not agree with my system. You will want to brush your tongue. Do not be agressive and activate your gag reflex. I brushed my tongue on day 12 and it was the best thing I did. I had a thick layer of yellow crust on my tongue. It was from the cautery. For days it tasted like I had sand on my tongue, after I brushed it. My nausea improved a little after brushing my tongue too.
I praise God that I did not have any bleeding. Yes the recovery was about the worst experience I ever had, but I will say that the problem I was having of feeling like there was a constant lump in my throat, is gone and it will ultimately have been one of the best decisions of my life. Do not eat scatchy, hard or crumbly foods for about the first 4-6 weeks. The new tissue in the back of your throat is very soft and sensitive. Tiny seeds from strawberries and other berries, can make you feel like they get stuck and choke you. I also had difficulty with rice, until just a couple of days ago.
Do not be afraid of the surgery or recovery. Be aware that your body needs to get stronger after you are on bed rest for 2-3 weeks. Give yourself extra time and don’t rush your daily activities. Don’t go back to a heavy exercise routine to quickly. I continued to have dizzy spells and ear congestion until just days ago. I would not say that you are truly back to normal until week 5. I would not say that recover is 100% age related. I know someone in her early 20s that had as much, if not more trouble than me with recovery.
A couple more things. Your ENT may say you can use a throat spray like “Chloroseptic”. Don’t do it. It dries out your throat and makes it much more painful when it wears off. There is a lidocaine rinse that your physician can prescribe. It is very thick and can make you feel nausea, but it does help to decrease the pain, if it is unbearable. Swelling can be very scary on day 4 or 5. Use an ice pack on your neck as long as you think it helps you. Eat cold foods and ice chips. They do a lot of manipulating your mouth and throat during the surgery, and I am sure there is a great deal of trauma that occurs to your entire neck, throat, ears, jaw, tongue and uvula.
I really hope that my recovery tips help others.
I’m 16 years old and on day 5 of recovery. I have a very difficult time swallowing. It’s like my mouth can’t open wide enough for food because of my jaw pain. I also have pain under my tongue. I’m trying not to be too down in the dumps about this but goodness, its just so painful. I’ve been relying on liquid hydrocodone to offset the pain but it doesn’t really do much except make me tired and eating a little less painful. Does anyone know how long this pain lasts for? How do you know when the scabs fall off? just want this entire thing to be over and done with.
I am a 20 year old female and I had my tonsillectomy on March 12th (two days ago). The surgery itself is nothing to be scared of. I have been terrified of even the THOUGHT of surgery for years, but it was a lot less scary than I had anticipated. My throat recovering feels very similar to the sore throats I used to get due to my tonsils, so this pain is familiar to me. The one mistake I have made is forgetting to take my meds routinely. I now have an alarm set for exactly every 4 hours so it is impossible for me to miss a dosage and end up in even more pain. I also requested liquid pain and antibiotic pills to make swallowing and digesting a bit easier. The first night, the antibiotics made me sick. Vomiting with the majority of your throat being an open sore is NO GOOD. Lastly, the humidifier is a good idea. It keeps the air you’re breathing in nice and moist so that your throat won’t dry up and become more painful. I wish everyone a simple recovery!
I’m a 42 year old femail on 1st night post tonsillectomy and UP3. I was prepared for the pain but I can not swallow without everything going up my nose and it is causing me to panic. How long should I expect this to continue? Any and all replys/answers are welcome. Thank you.
Today is day 3 for me, had tonsils removed 2-28-13. 21 yr old female; today the pain has been much worse than the previous days.. I woke up not being able to tlk due to my tongue and uvula being so swollen. Not to mention my ears feel like they’re going to explode. I’ve been able to eat solid foods since day 2 ( yesterday) today I had pizza.. Which I don’t think was a good idea, warm foods and broths seem to make it hurt worse so I’m sticking to cold foods now. Pain meds made me real sleepy today so I decided to go for a nap.. Well I didn’t anticipate the nap lasting for 5 hours which I missed taking my pain med at the sch time.. Woke up in the worst worst pAin yet. Although this is the worst pain I’ve felt, I don’t regret the surgery. For all those who are going to go through with surger, to me it is worth it, but there is no doubt you will be in pain for days..
Hi all,
I am a 40 year female and had my tonsillectomy 7th Feb 2013. I have never experienced pain quite like it. In 10 days I lost 10kg due to not being able to eat anything and only consumed water. Days 6-10 were incredibly difficult and i thought the pain would never end.It has been the worst 2 weeks in total and having a 30 labour 6 years ago delivering my son was an absolute breeze. Its the fact that you cant sleep,eat and drink and taking pain meds is difficult.I read someones comment on here that his wife said he was a baby and should try labour… well Im here to confirm that it is by far the most excrutiating pain for anyone to go through.. and families and friends should be encouraged to read this forum to help understand that whoever has had the operation that they arent babies and its 100 times worse than a bout of tonsillitus. I would like to say a huge Thankyou to everyone who has posted on here as I constantly read this forum during many early hours of the morning when in pain.
I would also like to say A big Thanks for this website, Its a godsend and truely helps.. I am day 23 and am able to eat now… look forward to eating pork scratchings etc. My throat is still sometimes tender but by far better than it was. had 20 days off work and feel this was just about adaquate. I wish you all a good recovery and highly recommend asking your GP for a Difflam throat gargle.It numbs the throat……
I’m on day five of recovery and I ran out of my Oxicodone for pain two days ago and awaiting a refill, they have prescribed a Tylenol pain reducer which I just ran out if today as well. My ears and my gland area around my throat have been really sore at times but it comes in waves. I’m 31 and at this point don’t see things getting better for still another week or so. I’ve attempted some foods, because I’m starving, but quickly lose my appetite because my tongue is so swollen and I’m not able to open my mouth fully yet. I’m afraid to sleep because the pain is so horrible when I awake. The pain meds make me nauseated and weak too.
This site has been extremely helpful in aiding me before my procedure and while I am recovering. Today is day 3 post surgery and I am feeling nauseated even though I take an anti-nausea med with my pain medication. I now know after all the reading that it is due to all of the mucus that is collecting in the back of my throat. It is AWFUL to attempt to cough or get the mucus to move. I have often awaken due to me choking or having the feeling that I was going to choke because of the mucus. So, I will cut back on the sugary, sllushees I have been so dependant on getting me through…..move to water with lots of crushed ice and try to be neural to avoid vommiting at all cost. My ears are hurting far worse today than they were yesterday and I am hoping that this too will subside as the dy goes forths. I do keep them covered because just a whisp of cool air inside was making a very noticiable change.
How often would anyone advise to drink water? I had mine out today and think it would be a good idea to set my alarm during the night to drink water? Any suggestions?
I am on day 6 post-op; still unable to open my mouth fully or even enough to allow a spoon to enter it. While I was aware that everyone has a different rate of recovery, I find it hard to believe that I am going to be ready to return to work on Monday!
I am a 52 yr old white female; I also am diagnosed with “Mixed Connective Tissue Disease” which in my case encompasses RA, Sjogren’s, Raynaud’s and Scleraderma. Common sense tells me that with these additional health issues are playing a part in my recovery, I’m wondering if extra recovery time (beyond the typical10 days) should be requested?
I work in a stressful healthcare facility that at times is very fast paced. The physicians are demanding and cause the staff a good bit of anxiety. I’m not sure that I am ready to jump right back into that. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Maureen-I am on day four and also have auto immune health concerns that I believe will lengthen my recovery time. My ENT expects 14+ days due to RA and Lupus. I would suggest talking to your doc again to get more time off work for recovery.
Here’s a question to the Doc: The smaller the tonsils (less swollen), the quicker and less painfull the recovery?
I am a 21 y/o female scheduled for my tonsillectomy in 6 days, and have done a lot of research on how to improve my recovery.
I have cleared my schedule and plan on really relaxing and allowing my body to heal after surgery.
11 days after my surgery, I have secured a fantastic opportunity down in London with a prestigious barristers’ chambers. As a budding barrister, this will be an invaluable experience which I do NOT want to miss.
I understand average recovery time is 10 days, so I hope to be well enough to attend the meetings. My question is, what can I do to really speed up my recovery?
I want to be fighting fit and able to give a good account of myself, and the last thing I want to do is cancel (although if I am seriously ill, I will obviously have no other choice but to do so). Is there any steps I can take to help a speedy recovery? I do not care if they are painful or cause discomfort, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary so I don’t miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime!
Looking forward to your answers!