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.
Update day 8. Yesterday I managed to eat half a tin of soup. The pain still hasn’t got any easier – so to anyone reading this be prepared for atleast 1 week with persistent pain. I went to A&E as I wasn’t eating or drinking, they gave me liquid medicine, works faster than pills but tastes quite acidic. I slept a little better last night too. 1 bit of advice is if your medicine works then take it EVERY time you are meant to, even if you have to set an alarm and wake up. Otherwise the pain will be much worse. Also, unless it’s needed, don’t talk, or try. It strains my throat and puts more pressure around my ears too.
Well this is Day 6 after my tonsillectomy. I can say I am feeling a lot better. I can actually swallow without as much pain and I feel my scabs growing (yuck). I would recommend to drink a lot of WATER and gargle warm and salt water occasionally throughout the day, this will help heal your scabs faster, fight any infection, and will ease the pain. Ibuprofen is a good pain reliever ( take every four hours). Also chewing gum helps to relieve and pain that may occur in your ears and can also relieve and jaw pain. Eat popsicles (ice cream is okay but I wouldn’t recommend it being that dairy products can cause mucus to form in your throat, causing you to cough and you do not want to cough, yawn or sneeze the first few days, (Day 1-3 preferably!), eat chicken noodle soup (warm temp and only drink the broth to help soothe the swollen throat), mashed potatoes, jello, and any other soft foods. Try sleeping at night with a heating pad under your chin, these helps relieve ear pain as well. The first few days were extremely rough for me, but I am glad I made it through and I am so anxious to completely heal. I hope this bit of information was helpful. Good luck!
Update on day 5. Feeling really really terrible. The pain in my ears especially when I swallow pain killers is horrible. I have barely eaten or drank anything. I can’t sleep on my back because my throat closes up. The pain is so bad and hasn’t got any better as the days go on. I have only eaten soggy cereal. I’d rather be back in hospital on a drip and morphine because at this rate I’ll be passing out. I can’t even take cocodamol because I can’t eat.
I had a tonsillectomy on the 2nd May age 30. The procedure took about 45 minutes. I woke up with abit of a cough but kept falling asleep. The nurses took my blood pressure every 30 minutes, it dropped quite low for an hour so they made me drink orange juice and eat biscuits to get it up again. When I drank it sometimes went up my nose which wasn’t nice! It took me a long time to eat and was very difficult swallowing but I wanted to go home and sleep so I pushed myself.
I went home and slept for about 17 hours! The first day I didn’t feel too bad, I didn’t take cocodamol until late. But I only managed to eat a slice of bread with butter. The next morning I felt terrible and really struggled with the pain. I forced myself to eat cereal and take cocodamol then went to bed for the rest of the evening. Now I’m in bed hoping to find more tips!
Amy, sorry your having a hard time. You need to drink a lot. When your throat dries out the pain is worse. I know it hurts but believe me you have to drink constantly even if it hurts even during the night. Good luck.
I had my tonsils out 14 days ago at the age of 60 (should have done it years ago!)
I have found advice here invaluable , I bought a humidifier for nighttime which really helped.
I was advised to eat a crunchy diet which was tough the first week but helped clean my throat, I gargled with warm salt water after each meal to rinse debris away and ate a little manuka honey to help healing. Gargling with difflam liquid really helped to keep on top of the pain in between medications.
No getting away from it, the first 7-8 days are very painful but does suddenly start to improve- am now convalescing, have only a scratchy throat now and continue to improve every day
Good luck if you are about to have it done , it really is manageable!
Thank you SO much for sharing this!! I’m 46 and scheduled to have mine out in a couple of days. I’m super nervous, but reading about your experience helped me feel better!