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
Hope everyone’s doing ok. Question: Would it be better if the newest comments were at the bottom, or is it better the way it is? Thanks, Greg
Keep it the way It Is. New posts on top makes sense.
Hey everyone. I’m 18 and had my tonsillectomy yesterday. I’m counting today as day 1 and I’m feeling fine apart from throat pain when I swallow, probably due to the painkillers. I’m doing things as normal, making toast for breakfast etc, it doesn’t hurt too badly at all. Last night I slept really well, I set my alarm for every 3 hours and when it would go off I’d drink some water and go back to sleep, so that when I woke up in the morning I felt fine apart from the usual swallowing pain. I did this because I’ve heard people saying the worst pain comes after they wake up in the morning..? So I’ve decided to keep drinking throughout the night, and so far it’s worked for night 1 at least.. although i know it is probably going to get a lot worse around day 3, 4, 5. Ahhwell, I chose to have this done I guess. I like reading everyone’s posts to see what everyone else is going through. Just curious though, were some of you people like this on day 1 after surgery? Thanks, Soph
Hi Soph, yes, it is normal to not feel too bad on day 1. If you can eat ok now, eat as much as you can.
The pain on day 1 wasn’t too bad for me, it was the constant nausea and vomiting that did me over straightway due to my swollen uvula.
The worst pain sets inbetwen days 4-7, so unfortunately you’ve got that to come so keep your painkillers and ice handy. Keep eating dry toast, especially when they all scab up with the white gunk. Nice strategy with the drinking as long as you’re getting enough sleep, keep sipping that water.
Hope it doesn’t go too bad for you, let us know how it goes. 🙂
Thanks for the reply, yeah a lot of people have said that it’ll get worse soon so im dreading the days to come.. the vomiting you had sounds nasty, luckily for me i vomited once straight after surgery and have been fine since. but i’ve also heard that swallowing blood can bring the nausea back. but i shall keep you all updated 🙂
Hi soph, welcome! I’m sure you’ve been reading back through the most recent posts to see what may be ahead. I think almost everyone would agree with me when I say that day 1 (first day after surgery) is the best day. I had like 5 visitors come by, I was up and walking around, I wasn’t able to eat whatever I wanted like toast or anything on day one, but overall I felt pretty good. Drinking water wasn’t a pain. This forum isn’t here to tell you exactly what will happen, because everyone is different and everyone’s body responds differently to different things, but if you’ve got an issue, there is likely someone on here who is going through or has gone through the same thing and can help reassure you that everything is going to be ok. There are a lot of people on here who’ve been very helpful for me (I’m on day 7) and you kinda learn some tips and tricks that help ease the pain a little.
My biggest advice is:
1. Drink lots and lots of water. Even if at some point it starts to taste funny because of the scabs. Drink. It helps the healing process go a lot quicker and a lot smoother.
2. If you don’t have one already, get a humidifier. This is one thing I don’t think I could live without. I did one day of no humidifier and I immediately noticed that it was more difficult to breath and the pain was more intense. They are not that expensive, have a parent go to Walgreens or target and pick up a cheap one, it doesn’t have to be name brand.
3. DON’T PUSH YOURSELF. Even if you start feeling pretty good one day, take it easy. Take the full two weeks to recover. This is very important I think, because if you look back at my posts from 1-2 days ago, I felt really good yesterday and probably pushed it too much and ended up bleeding a little, and now I’m ordered to stay in bed for 1-2 days again so it doesn’t reoccur. Just take this time to heal and recover fully, don’t get too cocky because I’d hate it if you regressed like I did.
If you have questions or concerns, don’t be shy or embarrassed to ask. Everyone here is so nice and comforting. I hope your recovery is speedy Soph! We are all here for you!
Hiya, thanks for the reply and tips! Regarding the humidifier, whereabouts in the world do you live? I’m in New Zealand and the air is naturally pretty humid here and i’ve never heard of any NZ tonsillectomy patient using one..? Also we don’t have target or walgreens in my country 😛 but ill look into it all the same. Funnily enough i was in the middle of a family holiday at the beach when i went home to get the operation done, and im going back there tomorrow for 10 days.. i guess id rather suffer on the beach in the sun than at home.. :/ hopefully it doesn’t set my recovery back, what do you think? Thanks again
I live in Washington state in the US. It’s wet here but very cold so the humidity factor is quite a bit different then New Zealand! Plus its winter here so its summer there right? I guess if you don’t need one then don’t get one! I’m sure natural humidity is better for you anyways
Sorry, that cut off half of my comment. 🙁
It’s pretty awesome that you get to recover at the beach! Sad though that you don’t have a Target store in your country. It’s the best! 🙂 the humidifier is really just to keep the air in the room moist so that your throat and scabs don’t dry out and they don’t fall off prematurely and cause bleeding. When that happens its very uncomfortable. As far as being on holiday and whether that would set you back, I wouldn’t think so. I was advised not to do any strenuous activities for a few weeks, so as long as your holiday is just relaxing at the beach and soaking up the sun, then I’m sure you should recover at the normal rate. Again, just don’t push it. Be aware of your limitations.
Enjoy your family holiday! Keep us posted about your recovery. 🙂 take care.
It’s 12:30ish am, just ended day 6. I had one of my scabs fall off tonight (a big chunk of it, not the whole thing), not sure if it was naturally or from some toast I had but anyways it started bleeding. Not crazy or anything but I kinda started to freak out. It eventually stopped but i Called my doc, he said if it didn’t stop or if it kept bleeding continuously that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. But if it stops then it should be ok. And check in with him tmrw. I am still kinda scared but don’t wanna go in unnessisarily. Has this happened to anyone? It’s only on the left side. But the right side feels like its gunna come off anytime now too.. Doc said I need to really take it easy for the next few days so that it doesn’t happen again. Just wanna know if anyone has had a similar experience with bleeding around day 5-7ish? And what did you do? Thanks. You guys are so helpful.
Kate don’t worry, that’s exactly what we’re here for. 🙂
This is a bloody horrible experience as an adult with each person suffering differently, so its good to help eachother through it.
And yes that’s probably normal. It was exactly on the morning of day 6 I bled for the first time. (heh, sounds weird).
I woke up feeling like I needed to puke, and did. Mainly bile but there was some blood in it. Realised there were trickles of fresh blood in my spit too, not much though. I just gargled with some ice cubes and water like my sheet said and it soon stopped. Likely just a scab had come off during the night and it was a bit raw underneath.
As the doc said, only worry If It doesn’t stop in a few minutes and its more than a trickle, if that happens then go to your nearest A&E.
I’ve just started day 8 and haven’t bled since btw. Don’t worry about it too much and don’t let it stop you from eating / sleeping.
We’ll get through it, *squeezes.
Hello Kate, I was worked over on the 4th. 🙂 — Read back and about 6 of us posted regularly. Many helpful tips. Some people were a bit over helpful. ( not excluding me on that one.) 🙂 . I was the one who stopped the Lortab Elixir on day 4. ( Due to excessive swelling of my tongue and a room melting on me. 🙂 . I also waited most of that day and switched to Ibuprofen. No problems with that. Yes, almost everyone bleeds, but you mostly can get it stopped with ice. It is bad that some couldn’t . Also people white is normal. Unfortunately, so is thrush apparently. 1st three days or so, peanut butter in small doses with a lot of water was my only solid food. Chicken broth, cream of chicken, pears and peaches in light syrup worked for me. Dentine Ice gum has a small numbing factor— helps. Notice people that The Lortab Elixir seems to have different ingredients in different parts of the world.( learned that here.) SO BE CAREFUL WITH IT…. Honey works then wait a bit and drink water. Warm tea did help with the mucus. Only spice I could have the 1st seven days was salt. ( good on soft scrambled eggs.) Drank a lot of juice even though it burned. ( You need it. ) Keep your humidifier full people . 🙂 Drink water like you have never tasted it before. ( Yes gets old quick.) I missed stuff— go back to the fourth and read—as you are awake anyway. :).. Stay calm—Be happy—tell bad jokes. Life is good now people—and will be here soon….And save your pennies for Charon—-there, bad joke…
P.S. This is Steve—- :)…..CMON TAM……..
Hey everyone, I made it through the night. Phew. But today is day 7 and after having such a good day (no meds, minimal pain) yesterday and then all the sudden half a scab falls off that night, I’m not gunna lie, I was really freaked out. Today I’m feeling sad and discouraged as my pain is back but it’s worse than before. The left side is now basically an open wound because the white is half gone and the right side feels like its about to do the same thing any time now, maybe it has, I can’t open wide enough now to even look. I’m back on pain meds but the pain comes back now full force an hour before I should be taking my next dose. Sigh… The bad news is that I’m supposed to be moving on Saturday and nothing is done and my doc says I need to stay in bed all day to make sure it doesn’t start bleeding again, so I guess we’ll see how the moving part goes. I think I’m going to call the doc this am to see if he wants to look at it. Just wanted to say thanks to Bob and Steve for your encouraging words last night when I really needed them. It’s good to know that what I’m going through is somewhat normal. And since I was terrified to fall asleep for hours last night worried I’d wake up on a pillow of my own blood, I did stay up and read back quite a bit and started to feel better and better. I get teary (because I’m an emotional wreck from my meds and this pain) just thinking about how nice everyone is on here and understanding. My family has no clue how I feel and it’s difficult to explain the kind of pain this is. It’s comforting to know other people understand and that we are all kinda “in this together”. Not sure i see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I’m sure ill get there soon enough. Again, all your encouraging words mean a lot to me right now. 🙂 thank you.
Heh thanks Kate. Glad it helps. 🙂
And yeah I know what you mean. Everyone else just sees It as s “sore throat”, but its NOTHING like that. We can help eachother cause we’re both actually going through it. 🙂
Really don’t worry about the bleeding, Its rare and if it happens you know what to do. I was asleep when that happened and it woke me up, even though it was only a trickle. I also haven’t bled since. 🙂
Yeah the pain will get a bit worse while they’re sore and that’s normal. I’ve found dosing up on meds and sucking a bit of ice before going to sleep helps. Worst is yawning in the morning before having painkillers, feels like someone tore my throat out!
aww at being an emotional wreck heh. *squeezes. I thought I was a young, fit 24 year old bloke, and it completely oblitterated me, I look like a wraith right now, I’ve only just started to move around off my settee, on day 8! So wobbly lol.
Don’t do anything streneous for a while, lay and get some rest.
I’d have to disagree with you there, Bob, on the yawning thing. Sneezing was much worse. I can’t remember what day it was, but I randomly had a sneeze hit hard before I could stop it. I about cried haha.
Kate, one thing that might help you before you lay down to sleep is building kind of a ramp with your pillows so your head stays propped up. This alone should help some with any drainage that might happen, and it might help keep your airway open. Also, eat some crushed ice right before bed and if you see any slight bleeding. By doing this, the ice will help constrict the blood vessels and stop any slight bleed.
As for getting teary, it’s nothing to be ashamed with. I started crying one night because I just wasn’t feeling good from all of this and randomly wanted my 105 pound Rottweiler to lay in bed with me. Which he eventually did, and barely left any of the bed for me. So see? Nothing to be ashamed of. 😉
So far I haven’t sneezed or anything, thank god, and barely yawned a time or two. I’ve been sleeping with two giant pillows kinda ramping me up so my head is elevated, I find that if I do that I wake up in less pain for some reason. Also sleeping on my back has been the best for me too. Thankfully my uvula wasn’t affected much by all this so it only swelled up very little if at all, and doesn’t affect my breathing if I sleep on my back. The blood is all gone now and I’m feeling much better than I was 12 hours ago. I already suffer from moderate anxiety so the whole experience last night just wasn’t fun. Took everything in my power not to cry cuz I just knew it would make it worse. I worried I had become lax on my water drinking, but I think I’m actually doing good. TMI but my pee is pretty much clear and i go often so I think I’m drinking enough. :p
As for being teary, yes it’s just been happening randomly for me. But I’m sure you feel as I do, Amber, that having your dog around is just nice. I have a 3lb “chiweenie” and she hasn’t left my side for more than 30 min at a time, and that’s only because my dad comes and takes her to go pee and play with her and feed her. She knows something is wrong and she just wants to cuddle with here mom. 🙂 makes you feel good to have that unconditional love, no matter how terrible your breath is! And they are such a comfort.
On a side note, I’ve been having the strangest dreams, but this afternoon I dreamt that I threw up and my throat started bleeding again. God, it really did traumatize me last night! Anyone else been having crazy tonsil dreams? Or just crazy dreams in general. Dang pain meds!
Oh god yes I can imagine what sneezing is like… fortunately I haven’t yet.
Haha aww at having the rottweiler in bed with you. XD
Oh anxiety makes things so much more fun! It had me freaking out every time I got a really weird taste or feel in my mouth. I’d start getting worried I was going to start bleeding or something. And I’m positive you’re fine on your water drinking. Haha you’re doing way better than me. If you look back and see my posts from after I had my surgery (Jan. 3), I pretty well stayed dehydrated and barely was able to force myself to drink anything. Not something I’d advise.
And you definitely have to love how pets can pick up on things like that. A couple days in, I’d go and lay down in the living room floor so I could watch some TV, and my puppy would go and lay right up against me. Though I’m thinking that might’ve had more to do with the fact that for some reason he loves my comforter.
I’ve been having weird dream myself the last bit, but I half think it’s just a coincidence haha. Getting shot with an arrow has nothing to do with tonsil issues.
Bob: I think I made a mistake allowing him up here. I have a water bed and he’s pretty much decided it’s his bed and I’m just allowed to sleep on it. If I try to pet him while he’s up here, he starts growling.
Does eating the toast really help?
Kristof, I found that before I had my bleed that if I had toast it would kinda clear away stuff in my tonsil beds. Plus it’s good at soaking up pain medication so you don’t feel as sick when you take it. Be careful though, don’t eat it too roughly and chew it thoroughly because it can hurt and I think, like mine, it pulled off one of my scabs prematurely and I had a slight bleed. But I was also eating sourdough at the time and that’s my favorite so I was a little less careful because of how starving I was and how delicious the bread was. 🙂 whoops! But give it a try and see how you do
Sorry guys, I feel like all I do on here is complain about how much pain I’m in. Today is day 6. I feel pretty good today, I think I’ve hit a turning point (knock on wood). I haven’t had to take medication since 7am and its now almost 3pm. Nighttime and morning are the worst but afternoon time is ok. I can feel and see my scabs starting to slough off and it is nasty. The smell and taste of this stuff is almost more unbearable than the pain. I’ve been forcing myself to eat toast to try and get the stuff just hanging there to go away, not sure if its working, but boy is it uncomfortable. I find that chewing gum is helpful to not taste it and also for slight ear pain. I still have to take my meds at night so I can get some rest, but hopefully I’ll come off that completely in the next few days. It just makes me sick and loopy and I don’t like that. Some people on here say its ok to take ibuprofen and some say its not ok.. I had to take some for a migraine I got on Sunday but I don’t want any bleeding to occur, and none has so far. What do you guys think? Thanks for everyone’s input.
Hi Kate. Don’t worry about it, that’s what this forum is for! 🙂
Plus we’re all in pain and grumping right along with you hehe.
Wow you’re healing fast if you’re feeling better by day 6! Hope it keeps up, just keep eating that toast!
I have no medical knowledge but I’d imagine just an ibruprofen or two, Is ok enough, just its inadvisable to take it consistently over a period of days because it can cause bleeding, internally too!
They presslcribed me ibruprofen for my swollen uvula, but gave me something called Lansoprazole in capsules to take once each morning. Apparently coats my internals with something that should protect against the ibruprofen.
Hi. In England they do allow ibuprofen which I was surprised about. Chewing gum is good for the ears but does anyone have a problem with the muscles in the back of the mouth/jaw? I’m full of cold and cannot breath through my mouth so I feel like my mouth is constantly open wide and it aches. I’m not sure if its because of the op or if I’m not relaxing my mouth properly.
BTW – I love this site. I did the stupid thing of researching recovery on the net before the op and it scared me to death. (I was naive in thinking it would be painful for a short period of time and the rest would be two weeks in bed!) anyway everyone’s support and experiences are invaluable
I’m not doing so well. My first surgery was on the 14th, it went great…No problems other than tons of pain. Then, blood clot formed and burst on the 21st. Just sitting in my chair, relaxing. Start to taste blood, go to the bathroom, open my mouth, and a fountain pours out. Second surgery, lost 1.5 liters of blood.
I’m depressed because this is day 10 and I feel worse than ever before. I simply can’t swallow, even with meds. I know it’s been rough, plus I had to have my stomach pumped which makes your sore.
I’m reading these posts that say “a-ok, I’m just fine, not that bad” and I’m in hell. Do this ever really end? I’m resting, drinking, taking meds but each day just gets worse. (I know, stop filling sorry for myself.)
Hang in there bro. Im suffering the same..this morning i woke to a burning agony i didnt think was possible..i just sat there and moaned waiting for the pain killers to kick in. Our doctors here in the UK advise us to eat toast and cornflakes etc to scrape away all the dead skin..i take it you use buprofen to reduce the swelling. Hope it eases soon.
Agony is part of the game. I’m on day 11 still have pain and stinging when i drink. The ear ache is gone though. I miss my chips so much, I’m tired of the soups and jello. Reading your comments guys has made me feel normal.