Tonsillectomy Recovery Time
After a lifetime of tonsillitis, it was time. I made the appointment. Was I scared? Yes. Was I prepared for tonsillectomy recovery? NO. Can you be? YES!
Planning for and recovering from a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy procedure, (often referred to as T & A Surgery), can be daunting experiences. The days leading up to your surgery can be frightening. If you haven’t read up yet, you can find information on tonsillectomy methods, risks, costs, adult tonsillectomy, sleep apnea, and numerous tips for tonsillectomy recovery on the other pages of this site. I’ve even added pictures of a post tonsillectomy throat by each day. Study, talk with your doctor and consult with your friends about the decision to undergo tonsillectomy and adenoid surgery. Explore the pages created here to aid in your journey.
If you should decide to have tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, let us help you through the entire process. Whether due to problems with sleep apnea, chronic tonsillitis and strep throat, tonsil stones, trouble swallowing, or a combination thereof, you can benefit from the experience of others. My own experience taught me that, as patients, we need to advocate for ourselves. Ear, nose, and throat doctors are, by and large, extremely talented individuals. However, very few of them have experienced an adult tonsillectomy, and the subsequent recovery. I have. Many others have too. We share our experiences here at the adult tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy recovery resource center. As you’ll read in the tonsillectomy recovery forum, everyone’s experience is unique. There are many factors that influence the level of pain you experience, as well as the length of time required during recovery. The method, and skill of your surgeon can have an affect, but there are also many things within your control that will reduce pain and recovery time. I’ve tried to include as many helpful tips as possible within the pages of this online resource. Tonsillectomy recovery can be pretty rough, especially if you are unlucky enough to be an adult! It takes longer for an adult to recover from most things. Tonsillectomy is no exception. There are many things you can do to make it go more smoothly. I’ve published numerous tips here on various pages. I encourage you to read up BEFORE you are in the throws of tonsillectomy recovery.
Talk with your doctor, friends, family, and work as you prepare. You are not alone in this. Like you and like me, many others are facing or have faced a tonsillectomy recovery. I created this forum for you. The community of adults or parents of patients will amaze you and warm your heart. I read these comments every day and every day I am humbled by everyone’s story and their compassion for others in the midst of recovery, or the anxiety that often precedes a tonsillectomy. Please join in. Hundreds of other people, perhaps in your same situation, have shared their wisdom, concerns, tips, and questions about tonsillectomy, as well as their tonsillectomy recovery.
-Greg My short bio
I’m 18 years old and i had my tonsils out on tuesday the 23rd of october ( 11 days ago). I stopped taking my pain killers yesterday( day 10) as the pain has completely gone. I have had a very pleasant experience in comparison to some of the harrowing stories i’ve heard on here. Ye sit was painful initially and it was very difficult to swallow. My ears would started hurting whenever i ate. But with the correct combination of medicines ( co-codamol and voltrol) i was able to eat hard foods everyday. My doctor assured me that this was key to my recovery. in the past soft foods and liquids have been recommended ice cream and the like. this has changed in the uk. Doctors now recommend salted crisps and toast foods that scrape the back of your throat. by day 6 i had seen significant pain improvements, i was nop longer waking up in the middle of the night in agony and the only time i felt pain aside from when i was eating was first thing in the morning. One of my tips for recovery i would say is propalis. My mum bought me soem and i gargled with it every day 3 times a day. I found this very helpful in clearing the back of my throat and obviously propalis in antibacterial so my throat was being cleaned.
I am a singer so i was very worried about the operation and what effect s it would have on my voice. I have since attempted singing, i have noticed singing is less effort and high and low notes are much clearer. People also say my speaking voice is clearer. I sound quite nasal at the moment but im hoping that is due to the swelling of my uvula and my slightly enlarged throat glands.
I’m 14 days “post-op”. I was on track to healing when on day 12 (Halloween), I decided to take a very small bite of my nieces’ slice of pizza. I chewed it to what I thought to being an “ok to swallow” point. But it wasn’t! That very small bite ripped open an incision in the back of throat and I began to hemorrhage. It was like a horror story. I have NEVER seen so much blood! I drove myself to “urgent care”, where they could nothing for me and was then rushed to the ER. For nearly 2 hours more I bled, until the on-call ENT surgeons could make it in. So now, the pain is back with great intensity, but not as bad as the first time around. Back to liquids and VERY soft foods, no more chances, and one more week off of work. *sigh*
Be careful of what you eat and stay on top of those meds! Vicodin is my “friend”.
Im a 21 ye old female and had my surgery on 10/26/12. The actual day of surgery wasn’t that bad. I woke up coughing but the pain wasn’t too bad. Everything was fine until the next morning. It was the worst pain! I’ve been drinking ice water like crazy and it seems to help. I haven’t had a BM in almost a week. My doctor did not tell me about the constipation that the pain medicine caused. The pain medicine he gave me work ok but don’t work for long. I probably get a good 30 minutes of relief and the pain starts again. My diet has been pretty much just apple sauce ice pops and Mac and cheese. It takes me a while to eat anything but I think I’ve been eating enough. I’m just worried that the white spots have not gone away at all! Is this normal? Tomorrow will make day 7 still no scabs.
Bad breath sufferers out there considering a tonsillectomy – I just wanted to say that I’m a 24 year old woman who had suffered from bad breath for as long as I remember up until 2 months ago.. my tonsillectomy cured me. Before the surgery, even immediately after brushing, I still had a bad taste in the back of my mouth/throat area. I brushed 3-4 times a day, went regularly for dental check ups and flossed every night but nothing helped. I couldn’t imagine getting through a day of work without chewing gum. The surgery wasn’t the most fun I’ve had, but I can say that without a doubt the week of discomfort has been worth the result. I would do it all again if I had to.
I am still self conscious about talking too close to people, just out of habit of living this way for many years. However, I don’t have the bad taste in my mouth, I don’t have tonsil stones (obviously), and my tongue stays pink all day. Thank god for my surgeon approving me this surgery. Good luck to you all.
I hate your docs approach. The body heals best when it is not in pain and gets plenty of rest.n suffering is not the answer. Opiates are safe so long as you take them as directed and stop when the doc tell you too. Tylenol will not do the trick. I do not want to scare you but you really need to speak to another doc perhaps the on call resident in er for stronger meds. Oxycodone was a tremendous help. I switched later to hydrocodone. I was also given dilaided if the pain became unbearable. Doc wanted me to be as comfortable as possible. Two weeks of opiates will not make you a drug addict. Make sure you take a min of two weeks off from work or school. Anything short of two weeks is not advised. The other big helper was prednisone. It helps reduce the insane swelling in tongue and uvula.