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
Ok so it’s the end of day two for me and I just looked in the mirror with a flashlight at my throat. Is it normal for it to be all white? It looks so disgusting and gross I almost wanted to puke cuz I thought this couldn’t be normal, but maybe it’s just the wound starting to heal itself? I’m not sure but it’s grossing me out. It doesn’t hurt too bad yet, although it sure looks like it should. Let me know whether you guys think it’s normal or not. And whether it will start looking worse than this even.
Totally normal, I got mine out Wednesday and worried about the same thing.
drink lots of water and take your meds and consistent hours and you will do just fine. Most medications you need to take with food. Thick soups like cream of chicken work rerally well with taking bitter medicine.
Sorry to hear that you are still in pain… you can try icing your throat with icepacks… it help keep the swelling down…also i had throat lozengers that numbed my throat.. those helped a lot. Chew gum, it keeps your throat muscles working and keeps your mouth and throat moist. Hopefully you have been using a humidifer. As far a food… jello, chicken broth, eggs…
Am 34yrs, and on day 10 post op. Iam miserable, my jaws and toungue still hurts, I can hardly speak or eat. I miss being up and about, think am getting depressed. What else should I do beside taking meds meds and meds to ease pain? What other food can I eat besides macaroni n white sauce? Am I ever going to recover? Help me!
Definitely don’t stop your pain medication, unless you have allergy etc. If you don’t however, you should definitely take them. You need to otherwise you won’t be able to eat anything. And practicing swallowing is vital to recovery. The throat muscles need to be encouraged. I’ve found, after taking my pain medication, chewing gum is generally really helpful. I personally had been against taking pain medication in the past saying it was to be used only when vital. After this surgery, and experiencing that amount of pain, I realised it was times vital and necessary for my recovery.
Also some meals that have been good for me are mashed potatoes (really really fine-no clumps) and watered down and purated chicken and corn soup. I usually mix these two together to help the mash go down- yum! 🙂
Hang in there, take it day by day and feel comforted by the fact that there are lots of us out there going through and surviving this pain. 🙂
I’ve been back at school since Monday. I had my tonsils out on December 26 (merry christmas). I was back up and running by day ten, and besides having a bit of a sore throat on 10-12 from eating whatever I wanted I’ve been 100%. I still have some “rough” areas, the tonsil beds are not totally flat yet, but the scabs and pain are completely gone. I eat and drink whatever I want. I have all my energy back, and I haven’t taken a pain med since day 9, and that was tylenol. I AM the slightest bit drier than I used to be, but it’s also the dead of winter here with NO moisture in the air. The worst thing I dealt with during my healing process was the side effects of opiates, and my two bleeds on day six. Now that I’m back in school I won’t be on here very often. Especially since I’m totally in the clear now, and completely healed, but I’ll keep a heads up and look in to see if anyone is asking about something I happened to experience or deal with. Hope everyone I was healing with is doing well! Good luck newbies! Just to reiterate what I’ve said before: It is hell. True. But it’s hell for about a week, and I’ve already kind of blocked out how miserable it was. You come back from it quick. I was miserable one day, and it was like the next day I was all sorted, felt fine, and was ready to go out and about. You get really depressed and anxious on opiates. Just remember it isn’t YOU, you’re not turning depressed, it’s going to go away a few days post opiates. Know that it’s your meds. Know the side effects. Ask for anti-nausea meds. Drink your water (you don’t drink you’re more likely to bleed, vomit, be hospitalized). Call a doctor any time you have a concern. DO NOT LEAN FORWARD. It encourages bleeds. Don’t over do it. Even when you feel okay to eat anything or do anything give it a few more days. My bleeds came when I got cocky, and thought I was all set THEN I was fine but I was scared to DEATH so I was a wound up mess not sleeping for two nights. Not worth it. Drink ice water, sleep, watch movies, grab meal replacement drinks and cold stuff to eat (diary can cause mucus issues) and just take it easy! Good luck/feel better all!
I’m 20 years old. I’ll be going in to get my tonsiles removed. I’m scared. I don’t deal with pain easily. How can I make my Recovery time go smoothly. I’m So messed up with fear I can’t even think straight.
A bunch of us just went through it and have tips and experience. You’re going to be miserable for a while, you need to prepare for that, but it is only temporary. You have to just get through it. And if you don’t do well with pain you’re NOT going to want to drink, but you have to. Being dehydrated actually increases the pain. You have to drink. Take your meds. Find stuff to watch. lay low. It hurts, it sucks, but it’s worth it in the end.