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 everyone. I’m due to do a tonsillectomy on Friday March 1, 2013. I am a 30 y.o. Jamaican female. I was just browsing the net for more info on what to expect post-op. This site has been great so far in helping me to sum up what to expect. My ENT told me that the procedure would take approximately 1 hour; I have to stay overnight in the hospital for observation and to ensure there’s no excessive bleeding. He’s giving me 2 weeks off from work, and also told me that they will not allow me to go home until I demonstrate to them that I can tolerate eating and drinking. He seems pretty experienced, so I’m not too worried about the procedure. I’m mostly concerned about the post-op pain, but I think I have a pretty high threshold for pain since I’ve had to deal with tonsillitis for a while now, plus I also have SC Sickle Cell Anemia.
What I would really love to find out is if the procedure has helped any one with their breathing, sleeping, and snoring. Most days I wake up still feeling very tired, and several persons have told me that sometimes when I’m sleeping I sound like I’m fighting to breathe or stopped breathing. My tonsils are always large, but they actually don’t get sore or infected as often as they used to when I was younger. So I’m mostly doing the procedure with the hope of improving my breathing and quality of sleep. Oh, I developed tonsil stones for the first time last August too! I felt soo disgusted with myself, but i read up on it and felt a bit better. But I think that was also a major driving force on my decision.
From what I’ve read here, I definately need to do more grocery shopping. I probably need more jello. No diary, but I plan to use soy milk to make oatmeal (porridge). I’m gonna get potatoes to mash, canned tuna, sausages, anything else that can be mashed. Any other suggestions???
Oh, the Dr prescribed Augmentin (antibiotics), Prednisone (to help minimize swelling), Cataflam (painkiller), and panadol (I’m gonna use tylenol instead since I already have a bottle at home). Yup Yup, so that’s it. Feel free to give me your feedback. I’ll definately post my post-op experience….
Leesi, good luck! I am on day 10 of recovery and slept all last night breathing through my nose, no snoring!!! It was amazing. I’ve found in the last couple of days that I breathe better doing so many things that used to leave me out of breath! Recovery can be rough but try and stay positive, and post here when you can, we are here for you!!!
Good to know that at some point my breathing at night may get back to normal (better than normal), I’m 43 and on day 4. My uvula swelled so much that when I lay on my back it blocks my air passage, I’m sleeping on my side with my head propped up and snoring away. My tongue is also swollen with the sides sore.
Sorry, I am just seeing this post to reply. Do you have a hydrometer at your house? Running one all day really helped soothe my throat. And drinking ice cold water sips all day long. I also supplemented Tylenol with taking 1 pain pill; this reduces the swelling. When the pain becomes unbearable ( and it is too early to take the next pain pill) use a cold ice wrap around your neck. Amazing results. Take care. It will improve.
Thank you to those who posted their tonsillectomy experiences. Over the last few weeks I have read all the posts and have found them to be very helpful.
I am on Day 6 of recovery and can happily say the recovery was not as bad as I anticipated. I went into it preparing for the worst but hoping for the best, and I can say it was much smoother than what many have experienced. I used all the tips posted which including running a humidifier (round the clock), shaved ice, bed rest, lots of fluids and plenty of ice packs. I was sent home with liquid Vicodin and liquid antibiotics. I took the pain medication every 3 1/2 to 4 hrs, even throughout the night. Today I have cut back the dose since my pain has decreased.
I never felt the pain was unbearable, the meds were a big help. My husband took the week off to care for the kids and run the house which made my recovery so much easier. I stayed in bed and mainly watched television. I was able to run some errands today.
I’m 38, in good health, and had been dealing with those nasty tonsil stones (I’ve never had tonsillitis or throat issues besides the stones).
I wish the best to all those waiting for their procedure. Hopefully your experience will be similar or even better than mine!
I am a 44 year old female. I have been reading all of the posts on this site ever since getting my tonsils removed in October 2012.Thanks for this site Greg! I felt so alone until I found it! I am 144 days post op or 20 weeks and 4 days. I had my tonsils out because I had been having issues with an itchy and “deaf” left ear that was driving me nuts. My ENT believed it was all due to my very large tonsils, esp. my left one. I do not recall ever having tonsillitis or even many bouts of strep throat, but because they were large and I smoke, he felt I should have them out. I am glad that I had them out and checked for cancer (negative) but my ear is still itchy and blocked, it made no difference, and after 20 ½ weeks, my left side tonsil bed is still raw and both sides still have holes where the tonsils were. It also appears that on my right side, there is still a bit of tonsil tissue. I still cannot eat ice cream w/o discomfort, and when I breathe through my mouth, I feel a rush of air going into those holes. I also still feel like I have something stuck in my throat every time I swallow, similar to cotton. Believe me, it is nowhere near as painful as it was during the first few weeks, I’d say it took close to 3 weeks for me to be “somewhat normal” But after 20 ½ weeks, I thought I would feel 100% normal and I don’t. My recovery was rather rough, on day 5 I had to go into the “infusion clinic” and receive IV fluids, morphine, anti nausea meds and steroids. The Roxicet had been making me vomit, something you DON’T want to do a few days after surgery! I had become severely dehydrated and weak, I couldn’t even walk in, I needed a wheelchair. After 10 days I got Thrush…ouch! Very painful. Finally, after 3 weeks, I could begin to eat most foods (I lost 24 pounds, but I needed to anyway!) Most food today tastes normal, except I no longer enjoy ice cream (probably a good thing) and orange juice tastes sour. Cold drinks are not as nice as warm or hot. So I wondered if anyone else (esp. smokers) experienced this incredibly long wait for these issues to clear up? The holes, the rawness, the discomfort with cold and feeling of cotton stuck in the throat. I wonder if it’s time to call my ENT for another follow up. I haven’t seen him since 3 weeks post op. I’m too afraid to tell him my ear trouble is still there as the thought of more medical intervention makes my skin crawl! But when I look in the mirror at my throat, my left side is still bright red and angry looking, and is still a little sore, it just doesn’t seem right.
Hi Robin it sounds like we had a very similar experience! I’m 34 female and had my tonsils out just over three weeks ago. The whole experience was awful as I too ended up in hospital on day 6 for IV antibiotics and fluids which made me very sick. I am now feeling much better however I still have this ‘lump’ feeling in my throat and my food does not taste right. I think parts of my throat (the dangly bit in the middle!) is still very swollen too.
I wondered if anyone else had these experiences particularly with taste so long after the op?
I wasn’t given antibiotics either. Is that normal? My fiancé thinks it is because of the cauterization. Thought I might be the only one. What are the signs of an infection?
Signs of an infection can vary. If you have a fever higher than 101 I would be concerned. Are you very fatigued? And if the pain in the throat is truly unbearable that could mean its infected… or it could just be the usual pain everyone gets. Also, you will see a lot of white stuff in your throat. White stuff is normal even if you don’t have an infection, so it could be hard to tell. But if it looks more like puss and not just the mucusy scab then you might want to be concerned. Hope this helps
Thanks. No fever and no crazy amounts of fatigue. I’ve been napping every day and going to bed early…but I don’t feel that tired. I have the lovely white and green mixture in my throat…but I don’t that I have any unusual pain. I’m only taking ibuprofen because the roxicet made me too nauseous. I’m not pain free, but it is bearable.
Hello, I had my operation 2 days ago, and I have developed an infection. Is this normal? The pain is so bad, my jaw is in agony and the pain in my throat is that bad it feels like getting stabbed my knives. I’m 17 years old, and wondering if anyone else is going through/been through this?
Goodluck to everyone on this page!!
Hi Laura. I’m 16 years old and currently on day 7 post-op. An infection is definitely NOT NORMAL and not a good thing. Are you self-diagnosing this as an infection? Or did your doctor tell you that you had an infection? If you’re self-diagnosing yourself then you are probably incorrect because you should’ve been prescribed anti-biotics which prevents the development of an infection. If you’re assuming you have an infection because of the white, pus-like formations that is growing on where the tonsils once were, don’t worry. It is all part of the healing process. That is just how our body makes the scabs. Also, a slight fever is expected after the surgery. Anything higher than 101 should be reported to a doctor
Hi Brendan. I was discharged on Friday following my tonsillectomy and was given NO antibiotics! I went back to Accident & Emergency department on Saturday and I was told I had an infection! I was given a course of antibiotics but I have been struggling to swallow them so they have now given me the antibiotics in liquid form. I have now been prescribed stronger painkillers, Cocodamol, as Paracetamol and Ibruprofen were not strong enough for me as the pain has been so bad!
Even though tonsillitis makes life almost impossible, the recovery is very, very painful! I hope to continue to recover and my infection to get better in a few days.
Are you experiencing pain and discomfort, and if so, how are you coping?
Wow I can’t believe you weren’t given antibiotics to begin with. That’s crazy! I never developed an infection because my ENT prescribed the antibiotic and I picked it up from the pharmacy the day before my surgery. As far as drugs go, I am taking Amoxicilin/Clav for an antibiotic in liquid form. For pain medication, I have been taking Hydrocodone/Apap also in liquid form.
Days 1-4: The pain was terrible and I could barely sleep or swallow. For diet, I had smoothies with protein powder from a local smoothie chain called Robeks everyday. By Day 3, I wanted something more sustaining because the Pain meds would make me nauseous on an empty stomach. So day 3 I started eating Stouffers frozen Mac & Cheese. That stuff is good because its extremely soft and mushy. For relief, I had an ice collar on my neck at all times, I would eat shaved ice, drink ice water constantly, and use a humidifier to keep my throat moist.
Day 5-7: Shockingly, I actually found that I felt better these days then I did the first 4 days. Everyone says that they got worse, but for some reason I feel better. The pain is still there don’t get me wrong, but when I take the pain meds, it decreases the pain by a lot more then it did the first few days. The pain is a lot more manageable. I actually ate some very soft spaghetti yesterday believe it or not. I am currently on Day 7 as I type this.
But yeah, the pain is still bad don’t get me wrong. I’m not ready to go back to school yet… Hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. I am visiting my ENT tomorrow for our post-op appointment.
Brendan and Laura,
Not everyone is prescribed antibiotics. I think more people are not prescribed them than not. I wasn’t and I did not have any issues with an infection. Good luck with your infection. I hope it clears up soon. I garbled with hydrogen peroxide diluted in water. Check with your Dr. to see if that’s okay.
Sorry, I meant gargled. Spell check changed it.
Hi Brendan,
How are you getting on? I have been re admitted back into hospital to commence a course of IV antibiotics. I saw my consultant today and he advised me my throat was healing well. I still get quite scared though to eat and drink due to the pain, and I know I should to aid healing, but the pain is so intense. I am on day 7 post op tomorrow! How do you cope with the pain? Some days I feel like I cannot cope at all. I hope you continue to recover and that you are back to normal soon.
Hi Diede,
I will definitely ask my doctor when I next see him to see f I can get them and take that home! Thanks for the advice!
Happy recovery to everyone.