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
I’m on my day six after tonsillectomy. I have had it fairly easy compared to the stories of other people. I think it is because I keep drinking water constantly. Little sips through out the whole day. I also have been eating a lot honey. It seems to sooth my throat really well. I also try to eat different kind of foods to get all the nutrients for a healthy recovery. I just blend and puree my foods and I make sure I don’t eat them too hot. I have also made sure that I have taken the meds; codeine with parasetamol every 4 hours and ibuprofen 3 times a day.
If you want to read more about my recovery from tonsillectomy, visit my blog:
Take care everyone!
Hi guys…My name is Mel, I’m a 28 year old female and I reside in Johannesburg, South Africa. I had my surgery early Friday morning, 15th of Feb. I accidentally found this site, whilst doing research on post op recovery in the many days leading up to my surgery. I must be honest, most of what I read terrified me. I’m on day 5 and I have to say I must have a really good ENT surgeon, coz i haven’t experienced as much pain as I initially thought I would, the worst was like a really bad sore throat and my ears hurt every now then.
I drink a lot of ice water, and mainly eat brown bread toast and mashed potatoes, and a soup every now and then. I also chew gum, that also seems to help. I hadn’t had a bowel movement since the surgery, so my bother whose a nurse suggested I try prunes (fresh, dried or even juice) and I have to say it really does the job, i feel soooo much better.
I think compared to most I’m having so far a really good recovery ( touch wood)… hang in there everyone it can only get better…speedy recovery 🙂
Hello Everyone!! I am currently on day 6 of post-op!! Im hoping that I can start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I was beginning to think that I was the only one struggling with recovery. But I am glad to see that Im not.
Day 1: I immediately had trouble with the pain medication they started me on and it took the doctors 5 different medications to find something that wouldnt upset my stomach. They ended up giving me Loritab Elixir and let’s just say that without it I would be in some godly amount of pain. I am taking it every 4 hours. I am also taking a muscle relaxer for the jaw pain. Day 1 I was able to eat jello and soup broth. Water has definitely been my best friend. And also so have ice chips.
Day 2: I was released in the afternoon and drove home. I ended up in the emergency room that night due to bleeding. The doctor in the emergency room told me to keep an eye on the bleeding and that it would most likely get worse around day 10 or 11. The doctor in the emergency room was the one who prescribed me the muscle relaxer. He said that they would come in handy later on in recovery. And let’s just say that they help with sleeping and they also help with the jaw pain. The ER doctor also told me that my tonsillectomy was done wonderfully and that it looked like my tonsils were peeled away. He said that I should have minor scabs and that hopefully recovery should be a little easier on me.
Day 3: I was able to eat jello, pudding, applesauce, and popsicles. Ice chips have continued to be my go to along with cold water. I have also been using ice packs off and on. Jaw pain was unbelievable (thank god for the muscle relaxers). Still taking Loritab elixir every 4 hours (not taking complete dosage). Sleep schedule is completely off. I seem to sleep better during the day than at night.
Day4-5: These days are similar to day 3. I did attempt to eat mashed potatoes which didnt go so well. I believe its because of the consistency. I have continued to stay away from ice cream and yogurt and practically anything else that is related to dairy. Pudding is a little hard for me due to phelgm. Pain is also worse.
Day 6: Ear pain started today and all I can say is that I hope it doesnt last throughout the rest of recovery. Today I attempted to eat spaghetti O’s because of how hungry I am. It was a slow process and definitely worth it. I heated it up just a little so that it wasnt completely cold. I am still taking my medication every 4 hours and also still taking my muscle relaxer (but only at night before bed). Swallowing seems to be a little more difficult. And I am still struggling with pain. Im hoping that eventually it will get easier.
Its nice to be able to read what everyone has posted about recovery. I feel like the pain will never end and neither will the energy that I am lacking. I also feel like I have way too much time on my hands so I feel like Im going crazy! I go this thursday for my follow up for surgery so I am hoping to get good news from the doctor. Im also pretty sure that by then I will have to ask him for more pain medication. I am very reliant on the pain medication right now to help with the pain. Im not sure if there is anything else that I can take that will help with the pain.
Too bad your ENT Surgeon didn’t offer you the Thermal Welding Tonsillectomy technology. You would have recovered about 50% faster. Hope you feel better soon.
I am 25 years old. I had my surgery on feb. 6. Here’s my take on all this.
Day 1
My surgery day was awful. The lady pricked me so many times to get the iv that when the needle was in they put me to sleep. I woke up asking immediately if I could use the bathroom so I could go home. I refused any more meds because I knew they would keep me longer. I couldn’t eat anything but ice chips but that didnt last because I immediately puked the min I got in the car.
Day 2-3
I couldn’t eat, sleep, drink. I tried and would end up vomiting. I actually couldn’t even swallow my meds. I would choke because I couldn’t control which pipe was open… I ended up going back to the hospital due to dehydration. They were able to give me meds that made all the pain go away and I was able to eat some soft fries on the way home.
Day 4-7
Only thing I can eat is Popsicles, a applesauce if lucky and ice shavings. I was taking the meds on the second I could.
Day 8-11
I am starting to finally feel how really hungry I am. I am massively tired from not getting more than 30-45 min of sleep at a time I slow down how often I took my meds. No offense but the meds didn’t do anything for me but ease the tension on my jaw. I couldn’t open my mouth very wide I could barely get my toothbrush in. I didn’t know if this was due to tmj or what.
Day 12
I was determined to eat. Maybe it’s because it was fish Friday and I was sick of missing out on food. I ate slow and my family watched me eat every bite like I was in pain. It was sooooooo worth it though.
Day 13-14
Food is my friend. I feel great. Just have a sore throat which lets face it I was use to these. I sneezed for the first time
Trial and error.
-I would def suggest when at the hospital to ask for the pans to take with you. I had one in case I puked in the car and let’s just say it came in hand. I kept it next to me the entire time with a pad from the hospital in case I missed the bucket.
-I had a cool mist thing but to be honest – I don’t know if its necessary. It ran 24/7 but I couldn’t tell the difference between being next to it and when I was out of the room. I was in pain no matter what and my throat was killing me no matter what.
– a blender to make ice shavings. I couldn’t chew or suck on ice so I had the blender chop it up
– applesauce. I had the snack pack ones but I guess the jar would be less wasteful
-Popsicles -remember you can’t have red items because you need to know if your bleeding.
-ice cream – I couldn’t have this till day 7 or later cause sherbet burned and I couldn’t have more than a tablespoon.
-ice packs
-heating pad was my best friend. It soothed my jaw and was super helpful in helping me fall asleep. It made the ear pain less noticeable for me
-showers & baths made me feel normal for however long I was able to hold myself in there. The moisture was amazing.
-a clean bedding place
-Things I couldn’t stand – Gatorade (burned), jello (consistency was wrong and hard for me to swallow), pudding (made me really flemmy but I did have it after day 7 cause I needed diff food), soda (burned), milk (gross)
The last comment I have is I don’t like the entire process for this procedure. I personally feel it should not be outpatient with all the risks involved and you should be required to stay at least more than an hour after you wake. The pain is just under played. I also dislike that after reading the comments of others that everyone receives different medications which could be why everyone has such different results or levels of pain- making me know that most doctors dont realize how much this sucks. Yes I understand some may have different meds for allergies or anti inflammatory because of infections.
All in all I know this will be so much better for me in the future. Especially not having to deal with tonsils tones any more 🙂
I wish you all luck. I hope you all heal quickly! It will get better
That date is wrong sorry.
I’m going to ask a noob question … what does one do with the ice packs and heating pad? Heating pad, like a waterbottle? Would that work? Sorry… I have my op next week, and they’re actually making me stay overnight (maybe Namibian doctors are more wary of the outcome :P) anyhow, I’m slowly but surely losing my mind over the entire process… For example, why do I have to be naked during the procedure?! – hospital gowns that are open in the back? yay me! And another lame ass question, but am I going to need a freakin cathoter?
As you can see, I honestly don’t know what to expect with regards to the hospital part. Luckily I’ve been part of this site for a while now, and somewhat know what to expect during the recoop stage… still have many MANY unanswered questions looming around in my brain, and that may be why i’m so freaked.
Makes me wonder if it’s better to think the worst, so that if it’s not too bad i’ll be happy,… or think positive, and hopefully everything will go babybum smooth …. Oi!
Hay Tam! 😀
Ice packs can be put on your neck to help with throat pain. The ice helps because the pain is from inflammation. The heat pack, whether it a hot waterbottle or you could even fill a tube sock with rice and microwave that to use, is generally used to help with referred ear/jaw pain.
As for naked, they’ll have you take off everything but your underwear and put on a hospital gown that, yes, opens in the back. But a catheter isn’t needed because it’s not a terribly long procedure, you’re not going to be immobile from it, and it’s not a surgery in your abdomen. The reason that you can’t wear your street clothes is just because the surgery is a sterile procedure and by having you wear the gown you’re not bringing any germs in off the street. Also, once you’re in there and put under, they put heart monitor nodes on your chest and they have to be able to correctly place those.
If you want, you can email me (arya1027@gmail.com) about questions you have, especially about the procedure itself. From both being observer and now patient in a few operations, I’ve gotten the basic info down about them. 🙂
Ah Amber, you’re still here I see 🙂 Which is great for me, as you are rather insightful…. and I hope you don’t rue the day that you gave me your email address, as I can be pretty whiny from time to time ahaha.
I’m glad I won’t need a cathoter! PHEW!!! that honestly made me nervous…. If you can’t tell, first time operation here…. so, I honestly do not know what to expect AT all! nerve wrecking! i’m trying to be positive though.
Do you know what really is frustrating though? When nobody seems to understand or grasp what is probably going to happen. Most people just think, bitch please its just your tonsils… meanwhile, back at the ranch, i’m not going to be doing much of the 3 things i enjoy doing the most – talking, eating, and sleeping. woe-is-me. And then, they’re like, ‘think positive, if you think yourself sick, you will be sick’. Bollocks. I went through tonsillitis… and I can only imagine that the recoop procedure will be worse…. because, thanks to everybody’s insights, it really does seem like it – which is fine… in the words of Gloria Geynor – I will survive.
Ooh, and what reaaaaally is making me nervous as well, is that I have to travel 4 hours to Windhoek, ok, you may not know per say where that is (google maps? ahaha) … so what i’m actually worried about is the travelling back after I get released from hospital? Is it better to sit in the chair, or lie on the back seat? and will I make the journey?!
As for the heating pads and ice packs…. Thank you both lol… Ace, Pregnancy test? Really? To remove your tonsils??
I’m 27 as well, and I know it’s the kind of procedure that gets ripened with age.
I’m rambling. My apologies.
It will get worse.
The whining will get worse.
Just a warning to you all 🙂 haha.
I had to remove everything but my socks. I asked and they said its a sterile thing. I woke up with things attached to my chest so they could monitor my heart. If I had on regular clothing they would of had a hard time attaching their little stickers to me.
There was no cathador for me. I am a female they had me go to the bathroom before for a pregnancy test. Normally they won’t allow you to leave after until you go to the bathroom.
Ill be honest I didn’t freak out until I put on the gown. They made things happen quickly from there though. They had me lay in the bed, checked my blood pressure, put in my iv, brought in my fam., talked to the ent, they gave me the sleepy stuff said bye to fam, was wheeled to the room, asked to switch beds, woke up in a new room. It was over before I knew it.
I used the ice packs strictly for the jaw. I can handle the throat issues, the jaw is just a horrible pain. I started to ice it then switched on and off with heat pads. I have an electric heating pad. I also for 1 day had used one of those sinus packs you can microwave.
I wish I was able to stay overnight. Goodluck