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.
I just had a tonsillectomy today. I was told day 1 wasn’t going to be as painful but IT IS VERY PAINFUL. I was told to stay hydrated but it hurts so much to swallow. It even hurts to talk! I’m trying to drink. So far I’ve downed 2 water bottles in the 7 hours I’ve been home, but then I vomitted & I think all my efforts went to waste 🙁 My surgeon said day 3 and 4 will be the worse but I can’t imagine anything worse that this 🙁 any hints on how to manage the pain?
I am on day 21 post op.I felt the same way. Most everything I read before my surgery said days 1-3 would not be that bad but I was miserable from the beginning. I think partly because I was instructed to get such an incredible amount of liquid down. I did have some bleeding on day 7. We had to call the doctor but got it under control by alternating gargling hydrogen peroxide with ice and ice water for 10 minutes. I am not sure how much blood that I actually lost (due to swallowing some as well). I am just really surprised at my lack of energy and still have some throat discomfort. I feel like something is stuck in the back of my throat. It actually feels like when i would have have my tonsillitis and a petruding tonsil stone. It seems like everyone else seems almost back to normal by day 21?
52 yr old; 3 weeks post-op from cancer scare and had a right side neck dissection for lymph node AND bilateral tonsillectomy due to right tonsil being overly large and not reducing with strong course of antibiotics. Good news is, no cancer. Tonsil removal went pretty darned good. Surgeon put in stitches to help with pain control and seemed to work well. Of course, had the regular pain on swallowing and everyone around me was pushing me to EAT, EAT, EAT even though it was ice cream, popsicles, etc. I have never really eaten that stuff – too sweet, so I seemed to survive off of a pudding here and there, and water, flavored ice cones. Didn’t really try to eat until day 5 and mastered mashed cauliflower (was AWESOME!). Brushed my teeth as normal starting day 3, just being careful as I got towards back of mouth.
Now, at 3 weeks post-op, stitches are starting to come out (THANK GOD!), but I find I am having trouble swallowing the tiniest of pills (I take thyroid meds) and it feels like it is getting ‘stuck’ as I try to swallow it down. Advil Liqui-Gels are a nightmare and feel the same thing. I am hoping this goes away with time, the neck dissection was fairly deep and intense so I imagine there’s still some swelling on the inside maybe. The lymph node was next to my trachea, so this could be why I have that ‘feeling,’
All in all, tonsil part of it went much smoother than expected. A cool mist humidifier was a GOD SEND in keeping throat moist. If it dries out, you’re going to have some massive pain (I found that out when I forgot to refill it one night before bed and it went dry thru the night). The next morning, I was almost in tears it hurt so bad! Needless to say, it hasn’t run dry since!
I am due to have surgery this Wednesday, 11/18 for the same reason. Thank you for sharing so I know what to expect.
My son is 21 he is Day 15 post op, he
Has gone through hell with pain, but is recovering well now. It’s amazing how quick you forget pain. He has lost nearly a stone in weight as eating was just impossible. He is complaining of everything tasting awful, even his favourite foods before taste revolting. I just wondered if anyone else had experienced this and how long it lasted.
Hi Linda,
I have found that my ‘taste’ is off as well. I have coffee running through my veins instead of blood, but since having tonsils out – brewed coffee makes me gag! I’ve been drinking the same stuff for over 30 years, so I know taste buds are out of whack. Today, I made a pineapple coconut cake and said to my family I thought there was no flavor, pretty bland. My 24 yr old son said it had HUGE ‘pina colada’ type flavor (which is my favorite!!) and I couldn’t take it. I am hoping this is a temporary thing also. Eating an orange is useless, can’t taste it. Ketchup tastes the same…so it seems to be some things and not all things.
I read earlier this morning about the tasting awful problem. It’s caused from low sink. I drank a Pedialyte and my taste started comokng back a little.
I’m 6days post op and I would have to agree. No food that I’ve attempted to eat has tasted remotely tolerable. All foods have tasted just awful which doesn’t help the fact that I’m hungry.
Hi Linda, I am on day 6 post op and I made one of my most favorite cheesy rice dishes because it’s soft and I knew I could handle it going down. I was so excited to eat something other than mashed potatoes, jello and ice cream! But it tasted like dirt. ? This might be a normal side effect and I think it will return to normal when everything starts really healing.
Hi everyone – 25 year old female, 3 weeks post surgery and finally feeling like myself again. I’ve been on this site reviewing these stories since the week leading up to my surgery and I still did not feel like I was prepared for the misery ha! The pain was one thing but all the other issues that I experienced were what really made me miserable (getting sick from meds, choking on the scabs, the numbness and pain on my tongue, not being able to talk normally, the side effects of the oxycodone, etc). Days 5-7 were the worst for me in terms of pain, these were the days that I didn’t eat much except some apple sauce and pudding. I relied heavily on an icepack around my neck and tried sticking to a 45 degree angle position to relieve the discomfort. I would definitely recommend the ice pack I think that was one of my favorite recovery “tools”. Day 8 I woke up feeling really good and got myself to go into the office..later that night I hemorrhaged and ended up spending the next 48 hours in the hospital. I went into the ER because of the scary amount of blood I coughed up in the middle of the night and they ended up bringing me back into the operating room to re-cauterize the area that had clotted. My advice….even if you’re feeling good on day 8, you likely aren’t ready to go back to all normal activities!!! I’m not sure if getting out of the house and going into work was what actually caused my bleeding episode, but I do think I could have used a couple more days of rest. My incident reset my recovery clock back but only by a few days. Pain was not nearly as severe as the initial surgery, so that was a positive. Today my only real discomfort is with swallowing food. Bits and pieces get stuck in my new “pockets” which is sort of annoying and I’m needing to chase each bite of food with some water to get it to go down all the way but this improves a little more each day too, so don’t worry if you’re going through this stuff still on day 20! My main reason for contributing to the forum was to say…even though there are moments when it does not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel….YOU WILL FEEL BETTER and the PAIN/DISCOMFORT IS ONLY TEMPORARY. try to remind yourself of that. Also, question for anyone who was using the liquid oxycodone for pain relief, did you find yourselves going through any sort of withdrawal after you stopped? I was on the pain meds for longer than I had expected/wanted because of my second operation, maybe that is why I felt like I was experiencing some symptoms that align with withdrawal?… just curious!
Hi Jenna…Sorry you were so sick with the meds, etc. – that sucks! I also was using Liquid Oxy pure and diluted with acetominiphin – but I knew that I would be totally blitzed taking it so tried to use it only before bed, but would if I needed to throughout the day. Talking was funky because my brain was all oxy’d hahahahaa. I did do too much the next day too – they sent me home the night I had the surgery and the next day, I need to go get potatoes, and stuff I probably didn’t need….but I went anyways. A 1 hour shopping trip resulted in HUGE pain, feeling like I ran the marathon and I slept for almost 14 hours at one stretch….I was pooped. So, don’t do too much, when your body says “Jenna. I think we’ve done enough today”, listen to that voice….and find a place to rest, home – park bench, etc.
These last 2 days (Sat and Sun) have been more painful and troublesome for me….I’m chalking that up to healing I hope. I din’t take Oxy now until the pain is unbearable, but will try an ambien first to see if that will at least knock the crap out of me so I don’t need the oxy. Here’s hoping. Wish you the best….this isn’t easy for any of us to go through.
Hi everyone!
I’m 47 and 2 days post op. I have a weird thing happening that I wanted to ask about. Whenever I swallow anything; liquid or something a little more solid like broccoli in soup, some of it gets stuck in what feels like a bowl or a hole. I have to swallow twice to get everything to go down. Is this normal?
Thanks!
Hi Lori- Yes that’s very common. For me it almost felt like I was making a tight seal when I swallowed. Unfortunately it takes a little while for all those tissues to hear and firm back up.
Hi Lori and Greg, Yes, I am still dealing with the feeling of something getting stuck in a random pocket too. Seems one day its better, others it’s not. I’ve tried contortioning my head in different positions and it doesn’t seem to help. I crush my thyroid meds now and take with water, but watch….some meds cannot be crushed. Hope things get better.