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How long does it take to recover after tonsillectomy?
Tonsillectomy recovery time is unique for each patient. The recovery timeline for children is much shorter than 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 tonsils taken out. This may have fanned the flames of my unreasonable expectations of my own 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
What to expect after tonsil surgery
The timeline for recovery 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.
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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 timelines 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.
My advice: ask your employer, your family, your friends, and the rest of the world to give you two weeks for your adult tonsillectomy. You may surprise them, hopefully for the better.
Recovery is unique to each individual- sure. We know that recovery time for adults is longer, and maybe harder, than for children. I remember my own son bouncing back in less than a week! My own experience taught me that ten days off from a job that required lots of talking was a bit light. I generally advise two weeks. As I’ve said, most employers will let you come back early. That’s easier than asking for more time after the fact. I’ve read the accounts of thousands of tonsillectomy patients- most of them adults. I’ve learned that the time required varies. I wonder though, how many tonsillectomy patients never really post about their experience.
Are you one of those quiet ones lying in the weeds? I’d like to get a better feel for the average adult tonsillectomy recovery time. Please take a moment and share your own experience in recovering from tonsillectomy surgery. You can help us all!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.
-Greg Tooke My short bio
I remove my tonsils on the 16 November 2017, I wasn’t scared. I called my self one of those strong guys. After being awake from doctors hot knifes, I managed to eat ice cream and I drove my suv home. Just at night I felt pain that I never experienced in my life. Day 3 I had a pain in the ears and I could not swallow anything before chewing bubblegum to easy saliva. I’m on day eight I’m still feeling heaviest pain on next and ears. I can eat but not salty food because they burn inside mouth. I use those pain killer that you put in the buttocks(panamor),I don’t know how long I will recover but 2weeks I’m given I assure you is not enough. Now on day 8 the only thing I glad is weight loss hey as I was hitting the gym almost every day I can see improvement on weight loss while lying on bed.
Hello Everybody Lisa here,
I am a 40 year old woman that just had surgery on November 17th. I’m now at day three and wanted to share some of the things I’ve done to ease the pain. I’m taking the pain pills that they’ve given me but I find it much easier if you dissolve them in warm water you’ll feel the effect of them a lot quicker than crushing them. I’m also taking green tea because green tea health benefits help reduce swelling. I also am trying Cardamom tea, it helps also with swelling and digestive /when your stomach decides to not cooperate because of all the meds this added some relief. I also gargle with warm salt water in the morning and throughout the day as my throat feels stiff. Being that I’m on my third day the pain is not as bad as I thought it would be and I’m not sure if trying some of these other remedies have helped but I have managed to have some solid soft foods like a pancake a piece of smashed up chicken. And the swelling on my tongue is down I can see a white film on the back of my throat. So hopefully this can help someb.
I am 35 and what I would consider a healthy female. I had a tonsillectomy 12 days ago and it has been absolute hell since. The day of the surgery went okay until evening. My throat was so swollen and I was in so much pain that I couldn’t take my pain medication. Needless to say I ended up in the ER at 3 in the morning. They gave me an IV and pain medication. They sent me home with liquid medication this time instead of pills. Even that was hard to get down though. Some people have days that are good and days that are bad. Unfortunately for me pretty much every day has been terrible. The swelling in my tongue has finally going down some so that I’m able to see my throat. It looks like it is healing nicely, just slowly. I also did have a little bit of a complication during surgery. My uvula swelled up to the size of a golf ball so they ended up cauterizing that as well. I’m not sure if that played a role in the pain being so severe during recovery. I’m so thankful I took 3 weeks off from work because there is no way I would have been ready after 2 weeks. If I could go back in time there is no way I would go through the surgery again.
I am a 61 year old female and am on day 15 of tonsillectomy and sinus surgery. I still cannot eat! I eat soft foods and still drinking continuously. I had tonsil stones and very enlarged tonsils the Dr said it was some of the worst he had ever seen. Today I started running a low grade fever and still taking pain meds. How much longer is my recovery time? I was told 2 weeks but when I went for a pre-op he said more like 3 weeks! I am so ready to feel better I am not one to lay around and do nothing but this has kicked me in the rear!
I totally feel your pain. I had my surgery 12 days ago and it’s been an absolute disaster. I’m still only able to get down broth. And everything comes out my nose so I have to plug my nose when I swallow. I just can’t believe how bad the pain is still.
What type of broths are you drinking? I haven’t successfully eaten anything in 13 days…meaning I’ve had total one apple sauce cup in almost 2 weeks. I’ve lost so much weight and it’s scaring me because it really hurts to eat but I don’t want to die from malnutrition. It hurts to drink as well but I can tolerate ice water,that’s about it.
I had both tonsil and sinus surgery oh boy if I could have chose I woulda got the tonsil first then the sinus! And I’m on my 5th I’m 28 yrs old so younger I feel a lot better than I have still have the nasty white scabs that’s what’s getting me it’s so hard to eat tasting and smelling that plus not to mention my tongue still swollen I choke when I try to eat rolls and rotisserie chicken 🙁 and it looks and taste so good but it’s so hard to eat. Got my surgery the 30th of November. Hoping within the next couple days things will start looking up.
Hello. I’m a 30 yr old female in the US. I have always had slightly enlarged tonsils, but in early August of this year, found myself for nearly 2 months with multiple bouts of tonsillitis requiring antibiotics and lots of crying, feeling that I would never recover! I finally did, but one tonsil remained enlarged, taking up about 1/2 of my throat. Although it was soft and non tender at that time, my ENT advised that I would likely need a tonsillectomy eventually if it did not decrease in size.
Needless to say, I wanted them out but was extremely nervous!!! I have an anxiety disorder and everyone around me was saying horrible things and not being reassuring at all!!
Some were upset that I needed the time off work, some said “oh, I would never do that, its horrible, you will be in so much pain, you’ll bleed!” Etc….
Luckily I have a psych doc and was able to be prescribed some Xanax. Only needed it twice, but it was nice to have!!
The day of surgery FINALLY CAME and as soon as I was in pre-op all my fears went away.
So beyond the physical things that you purchase prior to surgery, I think its also important to take a moment with yourself if you are nervous and congratulate yourself on how brave you are for doing something that you don’t really want to do. Be kind to yourself and don’t beat yourself up for being anxious! Everybody is at least a little nervous before any surgery and you are doing a great job!
Somethings that I wondered, but didn’t see a lot of people talking about in these support blogs:
1. Its a same day procedure in the US so you go to a same day surgery center. You where a gown, but keep your underwear on. Bra has to go ladies.
2. They give you a relaxation medication right before you go to the OR through an IV. It burns a little bit, so don’t be surprised, but then you feel very relaxed. You are awake enough to slide over onto the OR table. Then they put a mask near or on your face and tell you to take some deep breathes. Its not scary, just relaxing. Then you are out!
3. You will NOT wake up intubated and there is no cotton or gauze in your mouth. You will probably have a mask on your face when you wake up, but mine was blowing mist (humidified air).
4. You are intubated during surgery and they pin your tongue down and may pull it out of your mouth to keep it out of the way. Your tongue will be kind of numb for a while!
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Erin here.
I woke up with some pain, but mainly everything was numb!!! I rested for a few minutes and the nurse called my mom back to post op. I was groggy but after a few minutes, my mom and dad took me home.
The doctor prescribed liquid hydrocodone 7.5 mg/Tylenol 325 mg. Its a common narcotic med. He had a difficult time getting it because it was liquid. Honestly, if your doctor prescribed it in pill form, it will be fine, just have some plastic sandwich bags and a blunt object and you can crush them easily.
Day 0(day of surgery) to day 3 are kind of a blur…
First, always eat something before taking the medication. It can be two spoon fills of pudding, doesn’t have to be a lot, but something.
Second, set an alarm on your phone or watch for 6 hours and take the medication, even if you feel ok or only a little bit of pain, take the pain meds. If you wait until your pain is more than a 5 (out of 10) it will a 10, 2 minutes later! When the meds wear off, they wear off quick!!
I actually took between 5-7.5 mg of the narcotic with a separate dose of liquid Tylenol at the same time. 325 mg of Tylenol isn’t much since one tablet is usually 500mg. So I would take the prescription med plus another 350 mg of liquid Tylenol. This seemed to work very well.
Just don’t consume more than 4000 mg of Tylenol in one day.
Buy a humidifier that blows mist and never turn it off!! You don’t want the air to be dry, and don’t use a ceiling fan!!!! It blows air in your face and dries out your mouth.
If you can, buy surgical masks. They are the type that cover your mouth and tie behind your head or behind your ears. You want to keep all of the moisture in your mouth at all costs! Saliva, ice chips, drool!! LoL. You want your mouth very moist.
Ice chips!!!! These are your best friend. See if you can stay with someone who has an ice machine or plan to make very tiny ice cubes for a week prior to surgery. Keep ice chips at bedside 24/7. Ice cubes are too big, you need to have the cube crushed.
Food: despite the stories, ice cream was too cold for me. Better: jello, pudding and yogurt.
I also drank an ensure diluted with milk.
Nothing red or orange. Stick to vanilla pudding/yogurt. Best yogurt: light and fit vanilla Greek yogurt. Perfect consistency!!
And lots of water and ice chips!!! Ice chips!!!! Have I said that enough.
Strangely, my tongue and jaw/ear area hurt more than my throat. You can let the ice melt in your mouth and it reduces tongue and ear pair.
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Erin again!!
Something that NOBODY told me or discussed was the difficulty swallowing. I don’t mean pain swallowing, because obviously it hurts… But for about 48 hours I had very poor motor function/coordination to swallow.
I work with speech pathologists so lucky I knew that you need to tuck you chin to your chest and swallow 2 or 3 times hard and quick to avoid aspiration. I can’t be the only person who had that issue!
Well, I think I covered some stuff I didn’t see in other posts.
In currently post op day 8. Feeling a bit better everyday.
Hope everyone feels a little bit everyday too.
Erin
Erin.slater2012@gmail.com
Email with any questions!!