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
Hello everybody!
Today is day 9 of my recovery process and my mood and condition are getting better by the day. I won’t lie to you, this hasn’t been a walk in the park. Before my tonsillectomy,I knew some of the pain I might go through and even my doctor told about this unpleasant recovery process,but honestly nobody is prepared for this kind of torture. Day 1,2 and 3 are OK,although it does hurt,but you just don’t know what strikes next…on my day 4 I started to bleed a little and went to the E.R. where they would kept me overnight. I admit that this was just a minor bleeding and I panicked…but no harm done. I came home the next day and my scabs started to fell off…so my four days of unbearable pain journey could begin. Wow there were some moments when I was planning to drill a hole through my brain,because it was just too much pain,which didn’t stop. I couldn’t sleep and even if I did manage to shut my eyes,it was only for about one hour straight,because pain in my throat began to get worse and worse. At some point, I thought this would never end and your mind plays tricks on you,you have to be strong.
REMEMBER:
1.Drink drink and drink. You have to be stubborn. I know that sometimes every sip of water or tea hurt like someone has just stuffed a bunch of needles down my throat, but I would say the key to my recovery was liquid.
2. Try to stay mentally as strong as you can be. I know it’s easier said than done,but all in all it’s only you and the pain. You can have a positive environment and support but by the end of the day it’s you,who has to be the strongest. Don’t give up.
3. Try to eat. I know this is even harder than drinking,but it also helps a lot with getting rid of those nasty scabs + food helps you with some crucial vitamins.
4. Keep yourself busy. If you will just sit or lie on your bed and do nothing,then your mental state will get the best of you. Watch interesting movies,shows,listen to music ,try to read a book,maybe draw or something like that. The more you think of pain,the sooner it will come.
5. Take care of your hygiene. Take a quick shower and brush your teeth. Oral hygiene is crucial,because if you don’t take care of your teeth,there is a big chance of getting an infection or mouth ulcers.
To end my story…I have to say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Today,on my ninth day of recovery, I feel A LOT better than previous days,althought yesterday was the first day when my mood was actually OK and there is also a smaller amount of pain every day so that makes me very happy. I’m taking my painkillers every 15-16 hours now,which is a huge success and I know it will only get better untill my 100% recovery.
To all those who are at the beginning of their recovery process or are waiting for the operation – HANG IN THERE AND STAY STRONG! You are not alone in this,we know what are you going through….BUT it will get better,just don’t give up…never give up.
Thanks for sharing your story. Just curious as to what pain meds your doctor had you on and what method of tonsillectomy you got (coblation or electrocautery)? Thanks!
I had electrocautery. I haven’t mention before that I’m from Slovenia,so I have painkillers (pills) from our largest national pharmaceutical company.
Thanks for your response. Hope you feel back to normal soon!
BktSaga. Glad to hear your surgery was successful. After reading one horror story about the 28 year old that had so much trouble & returning to the ER I became scare all over again. But after reading your so far success story and the fact that you could breathe immediately after waking sounds wonderful. I only wish I was going the 16TH now instead of the 5TH of June. But I do have another minor surgery I am going through next Monday. I hope to hear more good outcomes verses horror ones. I expect some pain but hopefully not bleeding to the point of returning to the hospital to start all over again.. I am expecting my granddaughters in July and I want to be ready for 4 teenagers. I was told I would have a bad sore throat for 7-10 days then should be fine in 3 weeks but completely healed by 2-3 months. Hopefully I will be able to report good progress here. This site has been a God sent for me. Before I found it I was watching and reading horror stories and wanted to cancel out. But the breathing is getting worse. Just knowing I may breathe better after surgery is hopefully worth it. Right now I average about 3-4 hors sleep a night. It is starting to take a toll on me now. I hope I can last another 3 weeks. I get a bit of relief by sitting up to sleep. It is getting a bit difficult to function during the day
lately. Please keep me update on your progress so I will hopefully do as well as you. Thank you for the info & my name is Robyn. Have a good evening. Not sure of the time zone there. I am from VA.
Hi Robyn, My name is Rahim. It is 10:30am here on Wednesday and my ENT had just finished checking up on me. He said I was healing well and there was no bleeding so far. He mentioned that with the coblator, the wound he made was very superficial so that’s why I did not experience any pain. I believe if your ENT uses the same technique, you should not have much problem as well. So far the pain killer that I am on (Arcoxia- 120mg) has maintained the pain well. I plan to take the next dose in about 1 hour (which will be nearing the 23 hr mark since the last time I took it at 1pm yesterday). Over here, it is standard practice for tonsillectomy patients to stay 1 or 2 nights at the hospital. I will be discharged today and will come again for review in 1 week. So far I feel as if I had not done the surgery at all which is dangerous since I may be tempted to consume hard foods and maybe cause bleeding. I pray that your surgery in June will go as well as mine, so that all your breathing problems will be resolved. Regards.
Good evening. Just a short note thank you for the helpful information. I was admitted to the hospital this morning for many tests. I will respond as soon as I get home, hopefully tomorrow . I am glad to hear you are still doing so well. Encouraging for me. Good night.
Hello BktSaga. I wanted to wish you luck tomorrow. Being you are closer to my age when you get a chance to comment on your progress it would be helpful for my upcoming surgery. I was suppose to have had it on the 16TH of May but I am having another procedure done on the 20TH. So I am going for surgery on June 5TH which you should be more than half way on your way to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. I don’t know if you were having trouble breathing as I do but if it helps trimming the uvula then I can’t wait . I am trying to get mentally ready now. It may take me a couple of weeks to get there but I am looking forward to getting a good nights sleep & breathing better again. It’s been quite a while. Again, good luck. I will say a prayer for your speedy recovery.
Hello Rbabycks. I successfully underwent the surgery yesterday morning. Was wheeled into the Operating Theater at about 8:30 a.m. There was a slight delay due to the OT being used for an emergency C-Section. Saw that the lady had triplets (lucky for her). Had to wait for another 30 minutes before they prepared me for anesthesia. I do not have a high degree of tolerance for pain but I am not afraid of having needles poked into me. So when the anesthetist inserted the IV needle, I was very relaxed. He asked me my age, height and weight and started to punch the data into the machine, before I knew it I was out. When I woke up I was in the recovery room, feeling a bit groggy. A nurse asked whether I was in pain. Since I did not feel any pain at ALL, I told her NO and she left me there while I tried to wake up. I only felt like there was something at the back of my throat but there was NO pain at all. My ENT used the coblation method because when I was lying on the operating table I saw the ArthroCare ENT Coblator® II Surgery System next to the table. I believe this is the latest model of the device. I had bilateral tonsillectomy and trimming of the uvula all using the coblator. Immediately after waking up I realized that I could breath much better. I sat up on my bed and asked the nurse for a glass of cold water. I drank the water by sipping it little by little even though I did’nt have to since I was not in any pain at all. Talk about painless tonsillectomy. Later the anesthetist came to check on me and told me that he gave me a non-narcotic painkiller (does not cause drowsyness) just before they moved me to the recovery room. That’s why there was no pain. Later, I was given some soft food to eat and I had no problem consuming them – rice and chicken porridge and soup and ice cream. I ate the porridge and soup but not the ice cream since there were a lot of comments on this forum not to take dairy products. After food, at about 1 pm, I was given my first dose of medication. I was given Arcoxia for pain, Benadryl to prevent cough and Difflam Gargle to gargle – also for pain relief. Arcoxia is one of the most potent painkillers available and is manufactured by Merck. You only to take it once a day. So no need to set alarms every few hours to take painkillers. Unfortunately, this drug is not allowed by the FDA to be sold in the US. I am in living in Malaysia, so most ENTs here will prescribe this pill for tonsilectomy patients. Dinner was at 6 pm. – same food, same menu and I ate them except the ice cream. After dinner, I was given the antibiotic Zinnat in pill form. All my meds are in pill forms and I did’nt have problem taking them. I also stick with popsicles and cold water continuously every few minutes so as not to dry out the throat. Before I went to sleep, I brushed my teeth ever carefully not to touch the back of part and gargle with Difflam again. I slept from 11:00pm until 4:00am and woke up refreshed with still no pain so decided to update this forum. I hope this situation will continue for the days to come. Will update further as I go along in the recovery process.
I’m getting the coblation method too, I hope my recovery goes like yours, you seem to be handling it well. I wish the US allowed that stronger pain medication, I hope the liquid Vicodin that I get will be enough.
Hello Sweet_Nothing. I am now in my 5th/6th day of recovery (as of Sunday – May 19th) and would like to record that I did feel some discomfort in the early mornings. I would wake up after 2 or 3 hours of sleep with a throbbing pain in my throat. But after taking an over the counter paracetemol (Panadol), the pain went away and I was able to continue my sleep. As has been mentioned on this forum, keeping the throat wet is crucial. During the day, I was able to function normally including driving my kids to school, etc. It is only in the early mornings when I felt the pain. Not to worry about the strong painkiller (Arcoxia). I am no longer on it as the paracetemol is sufficient for me although I only take it as and when needed. I pray and hope that you will also do well in your recovery. This is definitely a worthwhile procedure to go through for better health.
I have exactly the same problem as yours. I am a 51 yr old male and will be undergoing my tonsillectomy and shaving of the uvula on May 14th. Have been reading these and other forums on the internet for preparation and right now I am mentally prepared to do the surgery. Will update this forum once I have gone through it next week.
Hello bree. I have a Vita Mix. I am use to making protein shakes once or twice a week but with soy milk but understand that milk products can cause a lot on mucus. I plan to use water & ice cubes. I’m just looking forward to getting this done & over. Last night was a bad night. I was lucky if I got 4 hours sleep woke up as tired as I was when I went to bed. Was suppose to have the surgery on the 16TH of May but have a colonoscopy on the 20TH which has to be done every 3 years as I am high risk for colon cancer. Both of my parents past with it plus my mother have breast cancer as well. Hopefully after this surgery this will be it for a while. It’s hell getting old & having to work twice as hard to keep everything lifted or tucked . :-). Thanks again. Have a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.