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
haven’t posted in 2 months.
tonsillectomy was December 3rd.
I was curious as to if anyone else has my issue.
anytime I get sick now I get an earache which turns into a tooth ache for 1side of my mouth.
pain killers don’t touch it. ;/
No idea really, but right after the surgery that isn’t uncommon and it’s due the swelling pushing on a nerve causing cluster pain. But you had your surgery over 2 months ago? Maybe go back to see the doctor and ask?
The first five days were horrible for me. I couldn’t breathe through my nose so I had to breathe through my mouth which caused it to dry out. I would wake up in the morning with the worst pain and an extreme dry throat. Sometimes I even get a really sharp pain in my throat. The Amoxicillin made me extremely nauseous and made me throw up once so I stopped taking that and the pain medicine liquid Tylenol with codeine also made me nauseous so I was prescribed liquid Vicodin instead. On the sixth night I started swallowing a lot and I realized my throat was bleeding. I did throw up a lot of blood and clots which was the scariest thing I’ve experienced. When I got to the hospital it stopped and the doctors made me feel better. Today, the seventh day, I was able to start speaking, quietly though. This is also the first day I was able to eat anything and keep it down thanks to the nausea medicine Zofran. I could only eat a scrambled egg though. This has been a terrible experience. I did not think it would be this bad so I’m a little upset that it turned out worse than I thought. The doctors didn’t quite prepare me for all this. Hopefully this will all be over soon.
There is an error in this…. what I meant to say was Sometimes I even get a really sharp pain in my ears* ….. not throat. My apologies
Sam, sounds like you’ve been through a lot with the bleeding and hospital stay….hopefully your over the worst now! Hang in there…I know it hurts to eat and hard to keep it down, but I think the sooner you can get back to solids the better you’ll start feeling.
Thank you! I’m feeling really good today! My throat is almost healed! I had my first normal dinner tonight so things are looking good.
That’s great Sam! Keep it up! 🙂
Day 10, still have trouble swallowing but I don’t need the pain meds anymore so thats a good sign, eating solids is still painful as well but it’s not horrible as long as I follow it up with water pretty quickly after. Other than that I feel really good, just really sick of sitting at home waiting to recover. Can’t talk properly yet haha and coughing/yawning is still painful. When oh when is this going to go away 🙁
James, I’m on day 10 too, and sounds like about in the same place in terms of recovery. I feel pretty good overall, just hurts when swallowing, and I’m pretty much off of the pain meds. I’m just taking one right before bed to help me sleep. I’m also avoiding yawning, coughing, and sneezing….and I also am talking funny. My hubby is concerned ill talk the way forever, but I don’t think so….I think over time my voice will be pretty normal again. I hope anyway! 🙂
I am on day 2. This is the worst pain I have ever felt. I can not keep any soft foods down. The medication is worthless.. It just takes the edge off my jaw pain. The little dangly ball in my throat is so swollen and large that I am constantly gagging. I can not sleep without opening my mouth and that just drys out everything. I can not wait for this entire experience to be over.
Tracey, hang in there….days 2 and 3 were my worst days….especially at night in the morning. I have been having the same issue where my mouth falls open at night when I sleep and then my throat dries out, which then wakes me up in terrible pain. I wake up about every hour to two hours and have to drink water and it feels like I have glass in my throat. I run a good humidifier pointed right at my face all night which helps a lot. So if you don’t have one yet, get one, as it keeps you hydrated. My jaw, ear and neck pain started to subside at day 6 so you have more painful days ahead but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Get some soft ice packs that you can keep re-freezing as they help a lot with the jaw pain. It’s been a week now since my surgery and I feel tons better overall, so give yourself time to rest and hopefully you’ll be feeling better in a few days.
Tracy, best advice I can give you into give up a normal night/day sleep cycle. A coupe of us got through the first few days by living on 3-4 hour cycles. Take your pills, stay awake for as long as you can of the 4 hour window before the drugs wear off, then sleep the last hour until its time for pills again. It’ll hurt by then regardless of whether you’re awake or just waking up. Do this until the ‘oh Jesus Christ I can’t take this’ level of contstant pain becomes ‘oh my god it hurts’.
Don’t be shy about asking your doctor for stronger pills too. My hospital kicked me out its nothing but paracetamol. I asked my GP for more, she gave me codeine. Wasn’t enough, I asked fr more, she gave me tramadol. Stuff knocked me out cold, t was amazing.
Hi everyone,
Had my tonsils removed Tuesday (February 5th). I am having difficulty sleeping. I was prescribed Apo-oxycodone, two pills every 4 hours. I find swallowing them very challenging and wonder if they are keeping me up. When I don’t take them I seem able to sleep. I have been able to ave some Popsicles, apple sauce and apple juice cut with water. Even flat ginger ale is too intense for me. I have also been able to tolerate pudding. I can live with the ain, just wish I could sleep more. -Ally
Tracey,
Yuck, hang in there. You can do this, I know it is miserable right now!
I agree with Ben, definitely call your doc for stronger pain medication and possibly something for the swelling (sometimes they will give you a steroid to keep it down). My narcotic did nothing at first. Then my doctor prescribed a stronger narcotic and that really, really helped. I’m on Day 10, and I still sleep only three hours at a time and need to stay on my medication schedule for the pain. Today though is the first day I haven’t been in excruciating pain. I might even be able to decrease my meds tomorrow.
This is a very long and frustrating recovery process. Do you have a humidifier? It might help with the sleeping. Ice packs, too, have been wonderful for me. That might help your swelling, too. Good luck!
Hang in there… it will get better!
Thank you for the responses. I am now on day 4. I spent yesterday in the hospital. The hospital visit was amazing. I would highly suggest it to anyone who is in massive pain and can’t get anything down. Not only was I able to replenish my fluids through the IV they gave me pain medication while laying there so I was able to feel amazing for a good 2 hours. I left the hospital being able to swallow, eat and keep things down. I was actually smiling.I don’t know if it’s because my ENT is arrogant and doesn’t understand the pain from this procedure but I was not given any help. He said to prescribe me stronger pain meds would mean I would have to swallow a pill and I can’t swallow. I had to actually call my family doctor to prescribe me nauseous medication to keep food down. I am still suffering from ear pain, swallowing is a huge chore, and I have yet to get more than 30 minutes of sleep at a time. I am now taking my medication down to the minute of when I can take it.
**I have a routine that helps me relax (I have TMJ) if anyone is searching for something unique. I take a hot shower and then lay down with a warm heating pad on my cheek.
Day 4 of recovery for me and really turned the corner last night. Throat is still mildly sore, down to half dose of painkillers and feeling good. Sleeping fine and back to eating cereals, pasta and some other soft (but not liquid foods). Woo!
Awesome Andy! Congrats on feeling good and eating some normal food again. 🙂