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
Feeling a little better… Saw my ENT and my throat is healing on course..went to Red Robin with my son and husband…yea sat there pretty grumpy considering I couldnt eat..I tried a few fries and the pain was so not worth it..finally ordered a milkshake and it was so cold it aggrivated my ears so my son ended up eating..I can not wait till I can eat real food again. I love spicy food, it is a constant in my life…especially craving some serano chiles with lemon and salt.. hope everyone is feeling ok
At day 15 and pretty much no pain acidic/spicy are still painful. Be really careful. Take a teeeeny bite the first time to check. I took a huge swallow of spaghettios and found that tomato sauce was still too acidic the hard way. My mom and dad went to a really good restaurant while I was in the deep end of it, and I was not pleased. lol
Day 15 here:
Well I was out all day today an hour from home for a hair cut (so needed) and my Post Op appointment with my ENT. It was his Nurse Practitioner which was fine with me. He’s kind of a jerk, so I didn’t care to see him. She said my tonsils beds look just like they should. She said coming out of the pain, and healing quickly was all down to the water. It is aaaall about the water, friends. I’m at less than .5 pain-wise now a days. That’s probably even excessive, I just can’t say I’m a full 0 as I have a teeny sore throat. I was completely pain free for a few days, but with eating a more normal diet with more acidic foods I’ve brought back a minuscule sore throat. She said if I didn’t mind it it wasn’t hindering my healing, so I could eat what I want as long as I’m not causing pain while eating. I’m not. I’d rather eat what I want and have a tiny sore throat for a couple more days than eat perfectly bland foods, and feel nothing. lol That tells you something. I’d rather have a bit of a sore throat than miss out on noms! She sad I’m past the bleeding risk point now, and nothing looked infected. They send your tonsils away for biopsy, and my pathology report was clean, so no malignancies or anything. They weren’t taken out for that, but they have to test any removed tissue. It was a quick appointment. Besides still having some scabbing *much thinned out* and the feeling you get when you’re going to get a cold. That’s the closest I can compare the pain to, that little tickle. All’s well here. I only ended up being really miserable about 6 days in the end. Off vicodin on day six, and off tylenol day 9. They were a hellish 6 days, but I know I’m lucky compared to some others. DRINK WATER. She told me flat out it will make or break it, and people just don’t seem to believe it. Water water water. I had a gallon a day no matter how bad it hurt. It was like drinking knives for the first few days, but necessary!
Glad your through the woods Melanie, we have another graduate 🙂 …though they did not test my tonsils, tried to give them to me as keepsakes…took some pictures and told em to trash em. Off Lortab day four and down to 2 doses of 400mg ibuprofen on day six . I still have a ways to go though — so good job.
Starting my second full day of recovery, and I think I’ve discovered a cool little trick to really make the pain seem almost non-existant for at least a short period of time. About 20 minutes or so after taking your pain meds, they should start to kick in. At this time, ice your throat for a solid 10 minutes until your throat is really numb. Then, just try some warm chicken broth and the icy-hot feeling will amaze you. The best part about this is the whole time that you’re feeling better (for me it was just over an hour), you can drink water with much less hassle so in the end it’s even better for you! Remember, any way that you can make yourself drink more water is helpful, so if anything you’re doing helps this, it’s a great thing!
I had to laugh about the canned meat… I had the brilliant idea of small diced potatoes with ground beef..Hubby made it and I was so excited, put a big spoonful in my mouth and holy hell I know now what the deepest levels of hell feel like..my husband had added garlic and onion..he felt so bad he was like i wanted it to taste good for you… if looks could kill he would have been dead.
I’m nearing day 4 of my surgery and have been struggling with this issue as well. I tried to sleep elevated but still had trouble breathing. What finally worked for me was sleeping on my side and very slightly elevated. And water, water, water!!!!!! Hope this helps.