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, I am scheduled for my tonsillectomy next week. I am 51 and has enlarged tonsils which tend to block my airway which makes it uncomfortable for me to breath effectively. Or talk for an extended period especially during meetings and when making presentations. I also have sleep apnea and am currently using a CPAP machine during sleep. But I seldom get sore throat or any other infections mentioned in lot of the comments in this forum. I had seen 3 ENTs and they all recommended that I consider this procedure. I had put this off for the past 15 years due to my fear of going into surgery and the pain that follows. All three ENTs indicated that this procedure will be very painful during recovery especially for an adult. Only after my 12-year old daughter had her tonsillectomy three weeks ago was I brave enough to proceed. The ENT used the coblation method, I was told,. Apparently, she recovered very well without any major pain or problem. She was able to consume a bowl of porridge two hours after the procedure and did not have any problem taking any foods thereafter until she fully recovered. But she did mention that day 4 was a bit painful but she managed to handle it well by putting ice packs around her neck for a few hours. The suggestions on this forum have been very helpful in her recovery as I followed a lot of the advice here. I have been reading and re-reading comments here since last week in preparation for the surgery. The hospital required that I undergo a complete cardio assessment (i.e. ECG, echocardiogram, blood test, etc.) before the procedure as I am on BP medication and also due to my age. I have passed that assessment and am now preparing for my admission to the ward next Monday.
My big complaint was alway ear pain that the doctor said always there was nothing wrong with my ears. After talking the the ENT the nerve for your tonsils run along side your eustation tubes. After the surgery the doctor said that my right tonsil was extreamely infected down deep that was never seen by a GP. Do you have any ear problems?
stay hydrated, is the key. I noticed most people that had major issues weren’t getting the liquids down.
You’ll do great preparation is key.
I am a very healthy 59 year old female that enjoys life. Lately I have experienced some health issues which lead me to this site, finally. I have looked for days & found horror stories from ’06 to 09. I do see here there are more positive feedback than I have read. Hopefully I will feel better about my option to go forward with the surgery on June 5TH 2013. I am scared & nervous but I believe I have a great surgeon & will take care of this problem so that I can breath better once I get over the first week I understand which it is very painful especially for older adults. I don’t know if having diabetes adds to my problems. Please any thoughts or advice would greatly be appreciated.
I just had my tonsillectomy performed the morning of May 3, 2013. I feel surprisingly good, I was able to talk right after surgery and haven’t had any major issues yet. I spent a lot of time as a kid and adult complaining of a sore throat and mainly my right ear hurting but when my GP went looking said there was nothing wrong. I was always sick, I was always sneezing and coughing and just in general felt blah. Because of the sneezing and general allergy symptoms I was sent to the allergist who found nothing and said I had NARES (Non allergic Rhinitis) which I thought was just a brush off. So back to the GP. I Asked for a referral to an ENT and it was like walk talk to someone that has been riding around in my body with me. He was very direct on what I could do or not do to solve the problems and I went with surgery. Well here I am 3 days post op and so far so good, Only thing I ever had that led me to my tonsils was the right tonsil I kept getting what I lovingly referred to as tonsil balls and that was blown off as not a big deal by any other doctor prior to the ENT.
I had two additional surgeries on my nose but need to look up the specifics again –darn medical terms. So far it has been wonderful breathing even with all the surgery drainage. my throat today feels like I have strings of paper hanging in it which is really weird but livable.
Recommendations ~~ stay hydrated is key!! I was mixing jello and ice cream together. The ice cream coated my throat really well but to much caused issues so I added the jello. I found adding Popsicle works also.
don’t miss you medication- I was trying to be tough and go an extra hour that was the wrong idea my ears hurt so bad it took about 8 hours to get that back under control.
anyways.., I’m rambling. I am curious what the next few days will bring I have been warned that days 3-5 are the worst.
Here is a question for everyone– I have to tilt my head way back to swallow or it goes right out my nose. Anyone else have this issue?
Swallowing is still a pain in the butt. As long as I look at the ceiling before swallowing I do ok.
its almost 5 days out and I’m still feeling good. Yesterday I over did it and had sore ears and neck so spent today laying around mostly. I did some mom duties so i’m not totally useless.
I still take my meds regularly if I don’t the ear pain starts. Its just pressure like being in a plane.
From the tubinectomy and septem reconstuction of my nose I have a lot of leakage its really difficult the tell where the issues come from. It is absolutely wonderful to breathe. I can’t wait to do normal things like biking and chasing my boys without gasping for air.
i’m still not really eating and don’t have much desire to. Chicken broth with a few soggy crackers today was a highlight. Ice cream, jello, malto-o-meal are my basics. Wonder what the great diet plan will bring in the end.
This site has been great keeps everything in prospective so I don’t panic. Its good knowing in advance what to expect from someone other than doctors notes.
Day 7… went to the doctors and all is looking great. Still lots of swelling in throat, the defered pain in the ears I can go about 5 hours before it awakes me from sleep.
the doctor cleaned everything out of my nose and I thought I could breathe before…wow!!
I am starting to look forward to going to the gym and chaseing to kids around at the park. I always had trouble before not because I was out of shape but my inability to get air when exercising. I feel so much like a new person.
I believe at this point the cpap will be gone perminatly, the alergist was right and there isn’t any allergies (wish he would have sent me to the ENT), NARES is not a good diagnosis keep looking if you have the same issues, my constant sneezing has all but stopped (woo-hoo), I have been carrying an asthema inhaler for years which even with all the issues from surgery I have had zero problems and now think the asthema was a misdiagnosis.
I hope all of this helps someone out there. Its a hell of a surgery but so far I have seen very little as a bad side effect. I have to learn to swallow a little different which I am told will get better in a few weeks and the ear pain sucks but if you stay on your meds and keep hydrated this can be kept under control.
Update- My surgery was April 25th. Up to this point everything was going very good besides the typical pain that goes along with this surgery. At 10 pm last night I started to bleed and it wouldn’t stop. I went to my closest ER and they were unsure what to do with me and they let me sit there and bleed until amost 5am at which point I was transferred via ambulance to another hospital. They were ready and waiting and within 35 mins I was in the OR. They re-cauterized some areas and so far I’m doing good :-). Should be an easy recovery from this point on. Hang in there everyone. If this happens try to stay calm. The current hospital said they see this happen quite often. They get patients in with it every couple days. So if it happens, I suggest get to a good hospital that your surgeon recommends, stay calm and understand you’re not the only one this has happened to. Take care everyone!
Just saw a post asking someone if they had either electrocautery or coblation procedure for their tonsillectomy. Are either of these what is referred to as “laser”? Just curious. Are there other tonsillectomy methods besides the old fashioned “clip’m out” that I had in the 60’s and the “laser” I am hearing of today? Guess I could Google it….!
According to my surgeon laser has a lot of risks, is expensive and his words “so 1985”.
Electrocautery is cutting them out. Coblation is dissolving the tissue without the high heat levels of electro. Laser is not often used in the United States, I think it’s more common in Europe.