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
My 20 year old daughter had tonsillectomy on March 15. First 2 days we gave her Percocet around the clock because it hurts to swallow even water! She was only taking frozen treats like popsicles and iced slushes. Today on day 4, she has only taken Percocet first thing in the morning for moderate to severe pain and then regular Tylenol the rest of the day. She has more appetite today and can eat soft bread and cut up sausage. Thanks to this site I’ve kept her throat hydrated by pushing her to drink iced water and then we bought a humidifier which helped the dryness in the air.
Im on day 6 and my scabs are coming off. Its become very painful and at times, I cannot move a certain way or they start to feel like they are tearing. Any advice please? I am 16 years old and just wondering how long would it take me to get to 100%. I’m mostly on my own and people here are sadly little help. I want to get better but drinking has become so painful that i start to spit the liquids out. I sneezed earlier and i believe that tore a still raw scab off. Please, any advice?
Michael- I hope you feeling a little better.
Are you taking the meds as your doc prescribed? Liquids are very important- Popsicles were my main food source during the worst of the recovery. Also, I developed a real liking to Flan- In the same cups as Jello, but far tastier and great texture on the throat.
I think everyone dealing with the recovery needs someone to check up on them. Hang tough- Your young and you should recover well if you follow the advice and shared experiences from others here in this forum.
Hi Everyone,
I am a 34 year old female. I had my tonsils removed on 13/03/13. I am lucky that my sister has come to look after me and my household. I have three children and couldn’t function without her. At this point I am still not able to eat a lot. I drink protein shakes (non dairy) and lots of frozen treats, scrambled eggs and applesauce. I drink tons of ice water. I am still having pain, but it is always worse at night, I think from not keeping my throat hydrated. I also figured that I would be an exception and would be somewhat recovered by now…….wrong. I have to take meds every 4 hours or am in tears. I have to set my alarm at night for this or the pain is unbearable. I know that the healing process takes time, and even after everything I read, I still thought I would be an exception. I am in excellent physical health. My advice….follow your doctors orders to a tee. Don’t push yourself too far too fast, make sure you have help, make sure you drink tons, take meds on time and count on the full 10 days for recovery. It is naive to think you are an exception such as I did. Good luck!!
Good Morning! I’m 35 years old, last Friday, I went to see my pcp becz of severe sore throat. She felt my jaw, looked in my ear and throat and had her assistant swab on throat. She said I’m negative for strep but have a really bad tonsillitis. She had her assistant give me a penicllin injection on my booty and she also said that she will back it up w/ 7 days of penicillin orally. Im on day 4 and I still feel horrible! I told my hubby the same thing as comment above, I had a c-section, hemorhoidectomy, ingrown toenail sx but this pain tops it off! I cannot sleep well, I have to take vicodin which lasts for only 3hrs. When I swallow it feels like im swallowing 100 needles! I was going to go straight to the hospital yest but just called the on call Dr and he said to take Motrin 800mg for inflamation and he said the wait in ER is 3hrs, I said okay I would try it on top of the pencillin pills I wss still taking, vicodin q4hrs, alleve q6hrs, chloraseptic spray, salompas patches, white flower chinese oil (like vicks) and warm water w/ salt gargles. I took the Motrin which helped last night but then wore off so I couldn’t slerp, I drank 1 of my grandmas sleeping pills and still could not relax, the pain is extreme! Now, im debating if I should ho to my Dr again today or go straight to ER, will they advise me to do tonsillectomy? And should I do it? Help me! Crying tears of pain!
You may have an abscess. You need to go to an ENT. My son had this and it was so painful! He was hospitalized and given IV antibiotics and morphine. His cleared but if it didn’t he would have needed to have it drained. If a tonsillectomy is needed, it would likely be after the current infection is over.
I had mine out on the 14th march now on day 5 and im 16 and looking through comments you have to eat and drink as normal otherwise the muscle becomes tight although i have had pain the more your eating it doesnt hurt as much im meant to take 20 tablets a day 2 codine 1 ibuprfen 2 paracetomal amd i only take about 10 maybe less of that and im no good with pain you just have to deal with it
Hi… So its been about 4 weeks since i had my op. All is goin well. There’s still some pain every now and then. I was just wondering if anyone else has exerienced a tates problem? like everything tastes bland….
To everyone else who is still in recovery… hang in there it can only get better 🙂
I am 46 had surgery 16 days ago, and still nothing tastes right. My tongue is kinda numb and yet hyper sensitive, guess it just takes time.