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
Hi All,
Had my tonsils out for tonsiliths last tuesday – so this is day 5.
I had stitches put in because along with lots of tonsil stones my surgeon said i had the beginnings of tonsillitis on the right as well. So she hoped the stitches would help me heal faster – at the moment it just constantly feels like i have something stuck in my throat.
Doing ok, but i wish id found this site earlier! I have a humidifier but haven’t been using it – it’ll be plugged in tonight.
My jaw started popping this morning and its driving me crazy. Every time i chew or swallow off it goes. I’m an osteopath student so i know i could help if i could treat the inside of my jaw, but i cant do that for a few days yet. Really frustrating, and its started to make the ear on that side ache as well.
Have been on endone and tramadol but ive only taken one of each today (originally they had me on 8 per day of each – i practically slept the first 3 days (i lost 4 kgs!)) Think i might be able to just rely on plain on panadol tomorrow.
My breath is awful no matter how often i brush my teeth – just gotta wait out the healing tissue i suppose.
Wanted to suggest cold melon and milk to anyone just coming out – the milk is softer than water so doesnt hurt as much to begin with, and the cold melon is really soft but not sickly sweet like the icy poles if your getting sick of them.
Looking forward to being all healed!
– Jess
Morning of day 2. Surprisingly good nights sleep (I had my tonsils out due to sleep apnea, not infections). Didn’t hurt at all when I woke up, but then I took a ship of water and holy monkey @?&@, does it hurt now. The pain threshold is lower than yesterday, peaking at say 7/10 but its a constant pain which is different than I had before. Need to get some needs and ice water before breakfast.
Couldn’t eat much solid food last night, ended up resorting to ice cream and ice water. Will try some toast this morning though as my consultant told me it was a must for scraping the throat clean in the morning.
Hey guys I’m back! I said I’d keep you posted so here goes.. I’m on day 3 post op and still fine. I have pain when i swallow of course but it’s definitely bearable, no worse than the last bout of tonsilitis i had. As for eating, I have toast for breakfast and then just mix it up throughout the day (jelly, custard, ham) obviously i have to chew everything a hundred times before i swallow. Had Fish ‘n Chips for dinner tonight which was fine too. I’m sleeping well, I sleep on four pillows stacked on top of each other, so i practically sleep sitting up and it’s actually really comfy. Haven’t had a bad sleep yet. But i still deliberately wake myself up throughout the night to drink water, and i think this stops it being so sore in the morning when i actually get up..? And during the day I drink about five litres. I’m waiting for the horrid, really painfull days to come, and i wish they’d hurry up because I’d rather get them over and done with than sit here waiting for them to come -_- tomorrow is day 4 which many of you have said is quite bad, so maybe the same will happen to me. I’ll post tomorrow and let you all know. In the meantime, stay strong fellow tonsilectomy patients!! 🙂 Soph xo
Hello! Thought I’d give an update to everyone. Just starting my day 9 and I’m feeling about 70% better. Looked at the tonsil beds this morning and only have 1-2 scabs remaining on the right side. Left side, I have none and the white scab is pretty translucent. I’d say within the next three days +/-, that that side should be practically normal if I keep going at this rate. Mind you, that’s the side that had the bleed a few days ago, so I’m still very careful, only liquids and very soft foods, no toast for me since then, although I’m thinking of having it again today.
As far as how I feel, I actually feel pretty good. Still some discomfort in my tonsil area obviously and I still talk like a 4 year old, but the constant drowsiness and overall feeling of pain has pretty much dissipated. The pain I feel now is very focused and when I look in the mirror it’s where those scabs are left. I’m pretty much off my medication at this point, only taking it before bed, though the night as needed and a small dose in the morning to get me going. Had no need for it during the day yesterday. I think I’m going to start taking just a regular Tylenol when I’m having slight pain now.
I’ve been eating fried eggs the last two days and let me tell ya, they never tasted so good in my life! Having some protein feels really good, and having some flavor (from the yoke and some salt) is beyond exciting at this point! Again, I’m still trying to take it easy for fear of another bleeding episode, so I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, but for all the pain and suffering I’ve experienced in the past 8 days, it’s really nice to have these little victories and to see how far things have come.
So to all of you starting out right now and for those who are on the dreaded days 3-6, there is hope! True, some of your circumstances differ from mine and you might not be where I am by day 9/10, but you WILL get here as long as you take care of yourselves. Trust me, I know the frustration and the fear that being well is out of your reach, but I’m here to tell you that things will get better! When you’re feeling low just post on the forum and someone is likely to respond and it always makes you feel better. 🙂
So today I’m moving and I’m just thankful that I’m feeling up to helping, even if its directing people where to put stuff and how to box things up. I’m not moving far, just 10 minutes away, back home with my family for a short time to save some $$. I was afraid I wouldn’t get to go and help at least a little so I’m happy I do.
I wish you all a speedy recovery! I’m not done here yet, but unless I get another bleed, it seems I’m on the “other side” (as I like to say). 🙂
Hello everyone. I am so glad I found this site. I am on day 9 after tonsillectomy, and your posts have been such an encouragement. I thought I would share and perhaps return the favor. Thank you Greg for starting this up. A little background… I am 51 and decided to do this after over 40 years of dealing with tonsil stones. I was not about to spend another 40 putting up with them! My surgery went really well. The ENT said that they were the worst adult tonsils he had ever removed!!! I have only taken pain med 2 times. I did not like the doped up feeling, and did not want to do anything that would make me irregular… if you know what I mean. I really think that has helped make my recovery easier. Sure, it is uncomfortable, but if you sip ice water and popcicles I have found it tolerable. I stocked up on old movies- Doris Day and Cary Grant, John Candy and Dan Ackroyd…. Humidifier is a must. I iced my neck for the first 3 days, and sleep sitting up for now. I have been enjoying Imagine brand soup… comes in a paper carton in the health food section. The sodium is really low. This is important because high sodium causes swelling, and swelling=pain. For me the worst was swallowing that awful pink amoxicillin!!! 1 more dose and I am done!!! I remember giving it to my kids when they were young and they would slurp it up and run off to play. Me?… I was at the sink swishing and making faces telling myself it has to stay down! Hang in there everyone… My mom told me that she had a rough time as a little girl having her tonsils removed…. the doctor, who had also removed her fathers when he was young, did the surgery in an upstairs bedroom using ether!!!! God bless!
Well I noticed my tongue and lower lip were hugely swollen, not allowing me to talk. I found out last night why. I was able to stick my tongue out far enough to realize what a crappy job they did on me during surgery. I guess trying to keep my mouth open and tongue out of the way they really chewed everything up. I have a long cut looking sore on the side of my tongue and no fewer than 6 round white sores on the under side of my tongue. Further under my tongue there’s another sore where the tissue is that hangs on to your tongue and a scrape that turned into a line of blood blisters. My lower lip has 1 round sore and a couple of places that look like it was pinched against my teeth. As if the pain from the surgery wasn’t enough…