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.
This is Day 6 post-op and I need to figure out how to get this MUCUS out of the back of my throat! I am afraid to gargle with salt water because the doc doesn’t want my scabs to fall off prematurely (to give the new skin time to get established). I am in pretty bad shape today – not as terrible as yesterday – but still really struggling. My ears, my throat, the sinus headaches (I had sinus surgery. as well), the nausea, the dizziness, the general EXHAUSTION. UGH! If anyone has tips for removing this nasty mucus that does NOT involved gargling salt water, please let me know! Thank you so much…and thank you for this amazing site, Greg.
Hey Stacie. All I can say is that the more you can swallow, the better. Water or whatever. Just keep using that throat and keeping it as moist as possible. Hang in there!!
…and I wish you peace and comfort.
@Stacie. I found that sprite with crushed ice helped and the carbonation actually felt pretty good going down. I am 11 days post op and drink sprite in the morning to help with the mucus. Little sips is the key to have it not hurt going down, and lots of ice. Other than that water, water, water. Stay hydrated!! Hope this helps you. Feel better soon.
hi everyone
i’m a 30 year old male and i’m on my 6th day post-op and i can tell it has been the worse so far…the pain in my ears and throat after i swallow anything is just unbearable and i can just lie down in fetal position with a pillow over my head and hum gently until the pain goes away (2-3 minutes)…needless to say the cocktail of pain meds i’ve been prescribed only help a little bit for a couple hours after i take them and then the next 3-4 hours until i take them again are just excruciating…
i’m so frustrated with the lack of food. sleep and drink it’s getting my mood right down…my wife has lost patience with me and keeps telling me “oh i’ve been through childbirth so i’m sure it can’t be that bad” but she just doesn’t understand…and i’ve been finding myself reading through forums and blogs like this one so at least i can relate to other people’s pain (yeah i know it sounds weird) and can think ahead and actually make myself believe that this will be over in a week or so (fingers crossed!!)
like everyone else the first couple days were ok(ish) i could even eat normal food like pasta or boiled eggs and potatoes and stuff like this…but the last couple days i could just manage some pancakes and miso soup which is sooooo frustrating because i’m just so hungry!!
i also started having lukewarm teas (cinnamon yogi tea is the only joy in my life these days) and boiled apples with agave syrup so at least i get some calories in me…i don’t know if the scabs are coming off or what because the back of my throat has been whitish since the op so i’m really not sure at what stage of recovery i am…but i have to think positive and believe that it will get better because it has been really horrible to cope with and i have been through horrific injuries like multiple fracture arm and leg at the same time which put me in plasters for 4 months but i don’t recall it being so nasty as this tonsillectomy recovery…
a big warm hug to everyone that is going through this…i feel your pain!!!
if you have any advice for feeling any better at this 6-7 day stage it would be more than welcome
godspeed !!
Hang in there Roddy- Honestly, I think anything you can do to take your mind off the pain would be helpful- a short walk, a warm bath, an intense movie…after several days of pain, sleep deprivation, poor diet, and pain meds, the mind can turn on you. Try to focus on how your body is healing and how this is temporary and a portal to better things. Bless you
Hi Roddy,
I’m on day 8, and my best advice is to rest as much as possible, and just think of your recovery in baby steps. It’s tough I know….frustrating to just lay in bed day after day, but I got stir crazy and went to the store on day 6 and was up and about most of that day, which didn’t do me well as I bled on day 7, so doing too much too soon can have adverse effects on your healing. As for you wife, can you have her read some of the posts by others here on the message boards so she has a better understanding of what you are going through, and that you are not alone? I am very fortunate in that my husband is here taking care of me, and although I’m sure it’s been tough on him, he is not complaining and is really supportive. I don’t know what I would have done without him. I sure hope you start feeling better soon, and stay positive! 🙂
ok guys u r all freaking me out. I have been unwell for 21days and have been told i have a major infection of my adenoid, middle ear, sinus and tonsil crypt and that after this third set of antibiotics has taken effect i will have to have my tonsils and adenoids removed amd my ear drum repair as well as something done about a deviated septum. I have given birth four times, but i m slightly panicked about this operation and the ensuing pain to follow. So any advice for pre op preparation would b great. Roddy, stay strong. It is unfair for anyone to comment on ur pain. I hope it all improves soon. Blessings
hey everyone
thank you all for your support. it is today day 9 post-op and i think im starting to turn the corner in terms of pain (wooo hoooo!!) im still very sore in the back of the throat and any food or liquid still hurts to go down so i haven’t started eating properly as i wanted (i’m still very hungry!!) but i started cutting down on pain meds and have been more cheerful about the whole thing and started to think about the positive things this will bring. i actually showed my wife a few posts from this site from fellow women and it left her puzzled to read that a few of you say that this is a different kind of pain from giving birth and in many ways worse!
Sylvia i know exactly what you mean!! yesterday, spurred by the emotion of being a little better i ventured out of the house after nearly 10 days for a couple of hours to see some friends and have some tea and caught a slight cold because of the freezing winds!! … needless to say it hurts when i sneeze!! but i’m very upbeat about it, and have the whole weekend to recover and rest because next tuesday i’ll be back to work.
i hope i’m not jinxing this up, but i think the worse is now behind me and i can start focusing on keeping my throat moist to avoid the sharp pain when i drink something and bring my energy levels back up.
thank you all for sharing your experience and Greg for setting this forum up it’s been really helpful.
speedy recovery everyone!
R
Roddy,
You sound a lot better today! I bet it was nice to get out of the house for a bit, but sorry to hear of the cold. One piece of advice I was given was to stay home because after surgery we are susceptible to infections, but I’ve had to to go out….twice for doctor appointments, and once to go to the store and pharmacy. Take it easy and rest, and let you wife take care of you. 🙂 Hopefully you are over the worst now!
At the age of 32 I just had my tonsils out two weeks ago today. As a nurse I was very familiar with the entire process and of the recovery and I have to say that with diligence and organization, I was able to recovery quickly and with average pain. The most extreme pain that I experienced was always in the AM just as I was waking up but the pain was no more intense than a really bad sore throat. Less than a broken toe even! But like I said, I was very diligent. For those of you digging around the site for coping tips here is what worked for me:
First, buy and run a cool mist humidifer all the time and espeacially when you are sleeping. If your bedroom doesn’t have a fog in it, you aren’t making it moist enough for your mouth. Use towels on the floor to protect your carpet and swap them out as they get moist. I bought a Vicks Ultra Quite one with a 1.2 gallon capacity. Its great! Also I bought the sno-cone maker contraption from Hamilton Beach and a sellection of syrup flavors. Jello, ice chips and sno cones were all I ate the first three days after surgery and I was very hydrated and happy. My doctor precribed me liquid Vicodin every 3-4 hours and a numbing 4% solution of liquid lidocaine to swish and swallow every 1-2 hours plus an antibiotic twice a day. Heres the secret to the pain management for me, I set a little digital timer to go off every 3 hours to take my Vicodin and another little digital timer to go off every 90 minutes to swish some lidocaine in my mouth. That meant every 90 minutes weither I was asleep or not I got up and medicated. But also every 90 minutes when I would medicate I would also drink a full glass of water. This helped me stay outragiously hydrated but also helped keep constipation from the antibiotics at bay and it helped curb any nausia from the Vicodin. So every 90 minutes I would pee, drink more water, and take either just the lidocaine or the lidocaine and the Vicodin depending on which 90 minute set I was on. Durring the day, I would exchange the glass of water for a bowl of jello or a sno-cone or a glass of watered down electrolyte drink. Also, and this was very effective, I would use soft gell frozen packs and apply them to the sides of my jaw, neck, and ears. I actually slept like this (with a beanie on my head and a heating blanket for warmth!) and when I would rise for another doseing, I would swap out the ice pack for a different one in the freezer. Keep in mind that chemical pain management is only one part of your arsenal in pain management. Ice packs releave inflammation and are quite effective in reducing swelling and pain to the traumtized tissue left from surgery. So use the ice as well as the medicines! Keep in mind also that without alot of water and electrolytes, your body will have a harder time and slower time recovering. By the end of the third day I was eating cold pudding snacks (calcium) and room temperature broths (protein and salt). I can’t recomend the humdifier, icepacks and timer system enough. I truely believe that with a little planning (and mass amounts of jello making before the big day) everyone can experience the very least amount of pain possible for such a sensitive proceedure. Be brave! And know that when it is all over, it truely is ALL over!
I appreciated reading about your experience. I, too, am a nurse. I am 51 years old and will be having my tonsillectomy on 8-6-13 for chronic tonsillitis, tonsil stones & halitosis. Reading the comments on this site has been very helpful as I cope by researching. In my job, I talk a lot. (I know this sounds funny.). However, I rely on my voice tremendously. I am requesting 2 weeks off yet, I don’t know how well I’ll be talking with ease and minimal pain by then.
I would love to hear from you & others re: how long it took for their voices to fully recover with minimal-moderate pain (that is manageable without opiates).
I’m considering getting this procedure done in 2 weeks. Based on what I’ve read below, it seems that barring any crazy complications, as long as one stays truly hydrated and stocks up on ice packs, hot water bottles, popsicles, children’s liquid medication, honey, lozenges and tummy medicine (and keeps the doc’s number handy for anti nausea medication prescription if needed), and allocates 2 weeks off from work, it’s as bearable as it’s going to be. It hurts like hell but for about 1/2 of the people responding pretty much think it’s worth it for the long term relief. I’m getting the tonsils removed as a way to address recurring strep. My concern is I have a perforation in my ear and reading about all these ear aches is a bit unnerving. Also, 2 weeks off is a long time in terms of days off of work. 🙁 That’s a lot of time off I’d rather save up for vacation!
Hello, 42 here, um for the most part—yes you sound like your ready….you missed the weak death threat/ the many, I cannot take it anymores, the pain is killing me posts—the self doubt and I wanna go backers…..don’t take this lightly. This is the worst surgery I have every done while still saying it’s worth it to me. Reading does not cut it..skip 90 percent of your meals for one week…also you can drink 1 1/2 gallons of water a day( approximate average from what I’ve seen). You get no spices or choice for your meals…and 4 hrs sleep broken up 5 ways…oh and you get to whisper…that’s the start…also 2 weeks is a little low…so think hard and long…cause we will still be here…good luck on your surgery.
I suffered for years with tonsil stones and sore throats all the time. I had my tonsils removed 32 days ago. I’m 28 years old….I’m a wife and a mother to a very active little 4 year old boy.
I’m so happy I had mine removed, however it hurt like hell!! I still have a sore throat due to massive scar tissue that has built up over time. My ENT recommended me to eat ASAP. He said using those muscles helped the healing faster. Good luck!
Hi,
I am a 34 year old female in the UK and have been suffering with continuous bouts of tonsillitis since Dec 2010.
After 2 years of being on/off antibiotics and experiencing their lovely side effects (thrush, diarrhoea etc), having more days off work than a Hollywood actor and constant paranoia when around anybody with so much as a sniffle, I decided enough is enough! These bad boys are no longer doing their job, they’re just making me miserable! Out they come!
The worst thing I did was to look up the after effects and recovery on the Internet and this website (amongst others)! I’m sorry but it’s true. I know a lot of people find comfort and support through this kind of thing but all I found was fear and dread, to the point where I thought perhaps constant tonsillitis was not so bad after all!
Like Greg says on the opening page, most people who write about their experience on the internet are usually those suffering and needing to find they’re not alone. I think that for every 1 person who has a bad recovery, there are 50 people happily watching DVDs, eating normally on day 2 and enjoying the rest! (This is a completely made up figure by the way! I’m just trying to give you an idea!)
Anyway, I am certainly one of the silent 50 and I want to reassure you that it really isn’t that bad!!
I had my surgery on Wednesday 16th Jan to remove my humungous tonsils! I didn’t buy any ice packs, humidifiers, lozenges or anything in preparation! The op was straight forward, lasting about 20 minutes. I came round to a dry throat (and a man crying in agony next to me, but I digress!) it was nothing a sip of water couldn’t fix. I tried to eat the dinner provided for me, I was certainly hungry but only managed about 10 peas and a teaspoon of mash potato!
A few hours later, I felt very swollen to the point where my tongue seemed to be blocking the air way. A quick steroid shot sorted that out within 10 minutes and within 20 minutes, I had polished off a 4 pack of breakfast biscuits! Yep, dry, crunchy biscuits! They tasted good and went down a treat with a few sips of water!
That night, I slept very well but I was fearing waking up with a dry sore throat as I had read on here. I was paranoid that I wouldn’t wake up to sip water or take my pain killers. I didn’t wake up. I slept through the night. I woke up with a slightly dry throat which was gone one cup of English tea later!!
It is now Friday 18th Jan and I am waiting for the pain to kick in, I mean seriously!! I have eaten crunchy breakfast cereals and tonight I had a chicken pie with sprouts, broccoli and parsnips. I have eaten a packet of crisps (potato chips), drank hot tea, cold water, just whatever I have felt like eating or drinking.
Ok, so it takes me a little longer to move the food around and chew and swallow. But the pain is NOTHING like I had imagined after reading people’s experiences on here.
Of course, we are all different. We react and recover differently but please do not be put off by what you read on here. The worst thing about the op is how it looks! URGH! My mouth looks a mess but that is one thing I did learn on here….that messy look is absolutely normal!!
From what I have read on here too, it seems you are advised to eat soft food in the US. Apple sauce seems to feature quite a lot!! In the UK, we are told to eat as normally as possible. The harder foods will help kick start the cleansing process and make the mouth/throat work as they should. It also helps to push down some of the gunky build-up which will help your throat heal. I nearly cried when the nurse told me I would be eating toast after my op. Funny thing is, that’s the first thing I ate when I got home, I was craving it!
Sorry I’ve gone on a bit. If your tonsils are making friends with bacteria rather than fighting them off, go for it! Visit your doctor and talk through your options. If surgery is advisable, go for it! Don’t be put off by other people’s bad experiences. I don’t want to belittle people’s genuine pain, I just want to get a positive experience on here too!
It’s a couple of weeks of recovery, book time off work, watch some movies and relax while your body heals. You’ll be fine!!
Thank you for this post!! Glad you are well!
Thank you for this. I have mine tomorrow and I am terrified with all the pain stories I have read. Just want it to be done but it’s good to see the positive posts.
I am 31 yrs old. I have an appointment to have my tonsils out on 1/21/13 due to a continued strep throat infection that no antibiotic will touch. Not to mention sleep apnea and countless ear infections. 36 ear infections in 2012 to be exact. 7 rounds of strep throat.
The not being able to eat thing will not be a big change for me, as I have not been able to eat normally for right around a month now.
I am really having second thoughts about this whole thing.
How do I deal with the second thoughts and the worry?
One word: Prepare. The more time you spend preparing, the better you’ll feel going into it. Here is a page I’ve written that might help:
https://tonsillectomyrecovery.com/preparing-for-tonsillectomy/
Try using mental imagery to “walk through” the day of surgery in your mind. Add as much detail as possible. It really helps. best of luck to you. We’ll be here for you!
How do i add my own story?
So my surgery is in about two hours..have read everything on this sight and I hope I am prepared. I am 34 years old and have been suffuring from chronic strep since I was 18.. I am praying that my recovery will go off without any of the complications.. I have five kids that need me sooner then later.
As an 18 year old, this surgery was NOT fun! So I can’t imagine how it would be for anyone older. I’m currently on Day 14 and am so happy to finally be back on my feet!
As for the surgery, I would be lying if I said it was anywhere near smooth recovery. The worst days for me were the 3-7. I had most of my pain in my jaw & ears, which was extreme and almost put my over the edge. I found the first few days, cold things such as Popsicles and ice chips were the only pain relief I could get. Remember to drink lots of water. I made the mistake of letting my throat get dry, avoid that at all costs if you can.
I had a smooth recovery, no bleeding or anything. I would say during those five days I would rather have broke a couple bones than be out through that. But if you’ve had tonsil problems it’s not any sort of pain you’re not used to. Pay no mind to the horror stories, it’s horrible, but nothing that can’t be bared with.
All in all, it took me about 12 days to feel back to doing anything, but the surgery isn’t anything to have major anxiety about, even though I cried a lot. Good luck!
So I made it thru surgery, coming out of the anesthisa is the worst for me… i hope i never have to go under again. The anethisa dr was kind enough to give me anti nausea medication before. The nurses gave me two smashes up perxocet in some jello and it was bitter but it helped.. unfortuantly it got me sick and I threw up twice when i got home. My dr called in some anti nausea meds and i have been ok ever since…so far so good but i am preparing myself for the worst. Thankfully I ran into this site before, so i was prepared with my humdifer and bioten mouthwash, and cepacol is a god send. I find breaking down my Loratab works better then waiting every six hours.. I even have ear plugs and drops ready to go if that dreaded ear pain come along.. I have not had any mucous but I have a netipot just in case.. I think the biggest thing is being preparded for the worst and hoping for the best.. I will let you know how it goes.. Hope everyone is feeling better