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
Thank you Amber for your response. I will give it a try and see if it gives me some relief.
Icepacks and gum…can not stress how much this helped plus my anti-nausesa meds…. without those ot would have been way worse…also i got ear plugs and that kept my ear pain to a minimum.
I’m a 37 year old male and I had my tonsils taken out on January 10th at 9:15am. I have to admit that this was one of the scariest experiences I have ever gone through because I have never had general anesthesia and I did not know what to expect. I have been dealing with tonsil stones and chronic infections my entire life, but they have been getting much worse the last few years and I was having to clean my tonsils about every two weeks. Finally, I decided enough with this and I went through with the procedure.
When I checked in at 8:15 am on the 10th, my heart was beating through my chest because of how nervous I was. The doctor told me that don’t worry, soon I would have some medicine that would make me feel much better. So I walked into the room and placed myself upon the table and the first thing the doctor said was “Is the music ok.” I was thinking that I don’t care about the music, I’m thinking about other things..haha. So he put the iv into my arm and started giving me medicine and the ceiling started to kind of melt and I felt really good. That was the last thing I remember. I woke up at 10:15 am and finally those nasty tonsils were out.
Now the real fun begins. The first day or two was really not that bad. I actually stopped all pain medicine after one day because I’m kind of weird when it comes to putting stuff into my body. I think that pain is ok and it will help you heal faster. Trust me, I did feel pain each and everyday. I’m like everyone else in that I was feeling better each day after and then for some reason around days 6-7, I started feeling worse again. I guess it’s because nerves are working again and scabs might be falling off. I have been drinking a lot of water, probably about 120 ounces a day. I started eating some solid foods after day one. Macaroni and cheese at night. Day 2, I was continuing with macaroni and cheese and chicken Pad Thai at Thai restaurants with no spice on it.
The one thing I can say about all of this is the jaw pain and tongue pain has been intense. I started having problems opening my mouth wide enough to eat around day 6. I’m going on day 9 now and this is starting to get better. I’m continuing to make recovery each day and I am happy that those disgusting tonsils are out. No more dealing with tonsil stones!
The one thing I hope does not happen is bleeding. So far I have not experienced a problem with this. I check my throat everyday and it’s just white and no blood.
I hope all of you going through this procedure recover ok and I wish you the best!
This is going on my 3rd day of recovery and I am miserable!!!! I can’t even sleep thanks to this horrific pain and my uvula is swollen and makes me gasp for air! I’m literally in tears and it takes ALOT of pain for me to cry over! I just want to give up at this point. It seems hopeless…Lortab doesn’t do anything!!! He prescribed Prednisone to reduce swelling. Has anyone had any luck with this medication? Should I just take it?? I never heard anything good about taking a steroid, but at this point, I am willing to try it!
Hey Laura. I wasn’t prescribed Prednisone with my post-op meds, but I was given some via IV before (I think so, anyways. I was kinda doped up the whole time I was back there), and I didn’t have too terribly much problems with swelling. As for steroids in general, though, really they’re not as horrible as you think. You’re probably thinking mostly of the illegal type. The steroids really aren’t very uncommon for being prescribed for a variety of things from bronchitis to throat infections. Your doctor wouldn’t have given it to you if it wasn’t relatively safe; they love their license too much for that. Take it and if you’re still having problems in 2-3 days, then call your doctor.
If they perscribed it then the risk vs. benefits was decided and they believe this is best for you. There are a lot of side effects but you wont be on it long enough for real problems. I’d take it. The swelling will go down and you may feel better. Day 3 is a rough one. Remember in four days you’re going to be almost finished. Push through, take the meds, drink your water. Remember opiates make you depressed as hell too, so just try to hang on. It’ll be better soon.
Hey dear, I just got my tonsils removed on Wednesday, Jan 16th and they prescribed me to Hydrocodone which was liquid form and I developed hives from it. I started taking one tablet of Oxycodon every 4 hours and I feel a lot better. Ask your doctor about that. I’m on day three and I’m not looking forward to it getting worse, but it will be worth it in the end. Hope you have a speedy recovery!! note: make sure to take the oxy with food as hard as it is to eat, otherwise you will feel nauseated and weak.
Quick question.. Did you all find it nessisary to take pain meds in the middle of the night? It’s almost 12am here and I haven’t taken anything since 6pm. Pain meds make me feel sick and my pain is actually tolerable if I breath through my mouth with my humidifier on (weird, I know). So I was going to wait until morning (6am ish) to take it, but what do you guys think? Thanks so much for everyone’s input so far! This forum is a lifesaver!
I found the pain was waking me up in night and through the night so I had to take them. Nothing prepared me but the same as you this forum is bril. Just having input from you all is the best.
Thanks for responding. I took some just to be on the safe side. I haven’t been in too much pain at all, but I’d rather not go there if I can help it. 🙂
I am on day three post op. Having trouble with Roxicet. Gave me a slight rash and red face. Husband called doc this morning. We are going to try Tylenol w/ Codeine . Hopefully I can tolerate. Last night I was afraid to take Roxicet for fear of vomittng. Also my face and neck are still.swollen. Feel horrible.