After tonsillectomy surgery, patients have plenty of unpleasant side effects to deal with. Swelling of the uvula, tongue, and throat are usually the first hurdle adults have to deal with post tonsillectomy. Swallowing and breathing can be difficult. This isn’t too surprising, especially considering all that the throat has been through. Icing and gargling with ice water can help reduce this swelling, as can a steroidal treatment. The next problem after tonsillectomy, usually a day or so post-op, is pain in the throat area. Again, no big surprise. Icing is also a good way to treat, as are narcotic pain killers and/or over the counter pain medications. Topical analgesics like throat sprays can also offer some relief.
What surprises many is a phenomena occurring several days into their tonsillectomy recovery- ear pain.
Post Tonsillectomy Ear Pain – Cause and Treatment
Cause
Literally thousands of patients sharing their experiences on this website have commented that their ears hurt after tonsillectomy. Ear pain after tonsillectomy is probably the second or third most common side effect that patients experience- second only to pain and swelling. But why does this happen? There was no scalpel or hot knife near the ears, so why should they feel like they’re being stabbed? The cause of ear pain post tonsillectomy starts at the throat and radiates to the ears. This is called a referred pain. Take a look at the attached diagram and note the lingual nerve. It’s directly connected to the ears and throat.
Treatments and Home Remedies
This referred pain can be quite severe. Often prescribed pain medications do not seem to relieve the ear pain that many experience after tonsillectomy. In addition to the pain medicines patients are taking, there are two home remedies that usually can provide some relief. The first of which is chewing gum. In light of the unpleasant side effect of have sugary residue in and around the throat, most tonsillectomy patients prefer a sugar -free gum. A mint flavor can also feel cooling. Exactly why chewing gum relieves ear pain is hard to say. Certainly activating the muscles around the ears and jaw may help, but more likely, like yawning, gum chewing releases pressure from the ear area.
The second remedy for ear pain after tonsillectomy is applying a heating pad or warm compress to the affected area. Again, the reason for its effectiveness is not entirely clear but most patients describe a relaxing comfort from applying a wet, warm towel or electric heating pad to the affected area. To reduce inflammation, alternate between warm and cold compresses.
-Greg My short bio
Have you found a trick for taking the edge off of ear pain, especially after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy? Please share it in the comments section below. Thank you!
24y/o female, surgery 8/2/16 so glad to hear you all had the same thing I’m not experiencing. Today is day 7 for me. Around day 5 my pain started to worsen in my throat and eat pain started to arise. My doctor had warned me of this so I just kept keeping on. Decided I wanted to get out of the house for a bit and wound up throwing up in a movie theater bathroom. NOT FUN. Day 6, ear pain was severe and I vomited again! Day 7, ear pain is unbearable and untouched by pain meds. Decided to try a trick I learned from a flight attendant when I was young. Put wet paper towels in a mug, nuked it in the microwave for 45 seconds, and cupped it around my ear. Instant relief!!! Make sure there’s no water sloshing around in the cup before you place it around your ear otherwise you will burn yourself. Good luck, friends! This is one sucky post op!
Help my baby is 4 years old n only at night does the ear pain get extremely bad.he cries so much n I’m desperate for help. Did u put the cup over the ear?the ear being inside the cup?
20 y/o: tonsillectomy on 8/3/16. I’m going on day 6/7 post-op. I woke up from surgery feeling like I had a sore throat, I even remember saying, “I’ve had strep worst than this.” I was prescribed Tylenol & hydrocodone, and I’m suppose to take it ever four hours even though it makes me nauseous as crap but I started alternating it with ibprophen. Every two hours I take some type of medicine. I slept the first couple days and don’t remember much. Day 5 my scab opened up and I started bleeding just a little but I took some medicine and woke up and it scabbed over again. Today (day 6) has been pretty brutal. Every time I swallow my ears are on fire. I started keeping a cup next to me to spit in instead of swallowing. I think the worst part is that when I swallow I feel like my saliva is getting stuck in the back of my throat and I can feel it slide toward the front of my mouth. Definitely annoying. It’s almost like I need to swallow twice (which kills my ears). Best solution; having two ice packs, one in the freezer and one of your face. I have mesh-able cold compresses because when my brother and I got our wisdom teeth removed the oral surgeon gave us each one. I definitely recommend having this type of ice pad.
Good luck fellow tonsillectomy patients.
21 y/o: tonsillectomy on 7/26/16. 7 days post-op. First day wasn’t bad, just felt out of it. Days 2-5 I felt very naseous and tired, had a bad sore throat but being naseous was the worst part. Finally, end of day 5 going into say 6, I called my doctor and he said stop taking the antibiotics. I did and started feeling better! I was moving around a lot, eating more foods and even left the house to do an errand. I was getting ready to return to work! But 6 into 7 was possibly the worst night I’ve had. The ear pain is becoming unbearable. The throat pain I can deal with but nothing but tylonnel seems to help the ears and I’ve been using a heating pad. I can’t sleep for more than 2-3 hours before waking up. This needs to stop! Good luck to everyone in post-op, we can do this!
It’s quite comforting to know I’m not alone. Had my tonsils out on the 27th of July and I’m 19 years old. They told me it would be painful and take a lot of time to heal. What they didn’t tell me is that it would feel like my ears are going to blow out of the sides of my head. The drugs they have me on are a big pain relief, although the nausea from the drugs is just about unbearable. They make me very loopy and like I can’t do anything on my own. I’ve found it helpful to alternate between ibprofen extra strength and acetaminophen extra strength every 3 hours before the pain kicks in during the 4th hour. Nothing is helping the ears or the headaches and sleep seems like something I’m unfamiliar with.
Everyone talking about my bad breath isn’t helping any, I understand it’s unbearable. Now imagine tasting that 24/7 and being in pain. It’s not any fun and I really hope it all pays off in the end.
Any advice on what to do about the ears or breath is appreciated. Or advice in general.
i learned using baking soda water as a rinse gets rid of the taste as well as the bad breathe… I’m on day 7. And wishing I’d never done this.
Hi I’m Eli, 29 M in the military and I had my tonsils removed on 06 July 2016 and today is day 6. The first day sucked big time, I felt nauseous like I was about to puke all over but never did. I was able to keep calm and control it but felt weak the whole day. Could hardly swallow anything because it felt like I was swallowing glass, even with the drugs I was given which I can’t remember the name of. I do know that it was in liquid form and couldn’t take a crap for almost 3 days but it help with the pain. I ate a little creamed chicken soup and then later in the day started filling aches, pains, and dizziness so I let the warm water of the shower run on me and helped did help a little. Day 1-3 didn’t do much talking, which is hard for me because I can’t be paid to shut my face. Also I had a little uncomfortableness but could handle the throat pain. Day 4-6 is when my ears starting pulsing and feeling warm, my wife took my temperature near my ears and it was at 101.6 degrees. I put some ice packs near my ears and neck, and it helps trust me. Also I have been eating things like mashed potatoes, soups, jello, pudding, cream of wheat, ice cream, smoothies, and am working on eating French fries with ketchup. (Wait for the fries to cool off and eat with cold ketchup, chew a little and let it dissolve in your mouth and drink with a icee works amazingly!) I have definitely lost some weight but still look like crap. I have drank mostly water, clear Gatorade, and icee’s which help a lot. Ears have been the biggest problem for me, like I am on an air plane and my ears are about to pop. Also being as I don’t get to many sick days in the miltary I had to go back to work on day 5 and 6 which was left me feeling weak and having dizzy spells, so don’t go right back to work if you can help it. I would recommend to people the days before to drink lots of water to stay hydrated after the sugery and eat a big meal with lots of calories, because not drinking or eating anything after midnight sucks. The surgery leaves you weak and you need and the help you can get. Also have things ready before like ice packs and even a empty bottle to spit into during the day and at night, it better than drooling on your pillow and swallowing your spilt and being in pain. Hope everyone gets better post surgery and hopes this helps a little.
I was givin ibuprofen and Hycet. I’m still on them, because it has just been a week after my surgery. It seriously sucks. I hate it.