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
Thanks Nicole. I am now on Day 3. I opted for regular pills and it has been working fine so far. Hopefully it will continue that way! So far my recovery has been going fine, hope you are doing well also!
Glad to hear it has been going well so far! I hope you continue to have a smooth recovery. Please keep us updated on your progress 🙂
HI there everyone~
I just got my tonsils out and adenoids on May 31, so I say that is Day 10, however my husband says that the day of surgery doesn’t count. My scabs have started to fall off and when they do it hurts, but today I threw up….yuck…it was like green slime…not sure what effect the adenoids have on any of my recovery, but I can truly say this is the most miserable experience I have had in my WHOLE life…..I’m 35 years old…older than some and not older than others…but may the pain sucks…I am doing reasonably well now, but sleep still sucks…because my ear hurts so badly when I first wake up…my throat hurts, too…but my right ear feels like it could burts…oh and in the middle of everything I got thrush..so I have these losenge things that are supposed to dissolve on my tongue…yeah in like 20-30 minutes…atleast they don’t taste bad….I am supposed to go back to work tomorrow….I really want to, I guess we will see what the rest of this day and tomorrow morning have to say about that! I guess the one benefit that I have had is that I have lost 15 lbs… at least…But I’d really like to be able to eat.
I had my tonsils removed around 8am (about 20 hours ago.) After I got home I laid down for about 3 hours until I didn’t feel so nauseated. I was prescribed prednisone to take for the first 4 days and liquid lortab for the pain. So far I have been feeling well except the pain when I swallow. I have been drinking powerade and water all day. I have eaten applesauce, chocolate pudding, and rainbow sherbet. I haven’t dared eat anything that isn’t cold today. I took lortab for the first time right before I went to bed. Getting to sleep was tough because I am used to sleeping face up with a pretty thin pillow. When I tried laying down face up I could inhale just fine, but It was almost impossible to exhale through my nose. If I turned my head to either side I could exhale better but it felt awkward. I ended up folding my pillow and sleeping on my side. I didn’t set an alarm to take more lortab in 4 hours, but I woke up about 4 hours later(around 330am) to use the restroom. I took some more lortab and am now waiting for that to hit me so I can fall asleep. I’ll try to update my progress over the next few weeks.
Today was similar to yesterday as far as painful swallowing. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast and macaroni and cheese for lunch and dinner. Lots of cold liquids throughout the day. I still can’t exhale through my nose while laying face up. I constantly have mucus that I can’t fully spit or cough out because of the paying.
*pain
To eliminate the mucus avoid milk and dairy products…ice cream and Mac and cheese will cause mucus to form.
Today I felt a little more pain in
Today I felt a little more pain in my throat. I have avoided dairy products and that has helped with the mucus. Thank you.
Day 4 and pain is still about the same when I swallow. I have began to feel a little pain in my right ear. Hopefully it does not get worse. I coughed up two chunks of what I am guessing are scabs. Still staying away from dairy and eating only soft foods.
I’m a female 41 and on day 9 of recovery (surgery May 29th). Days 1-8 were great. I came home first day of surgery and was responding to emails. I did vomit from the anesthesia but only once and it was shortly after I took meds to stop nausea so no more after that. Talked to my sister on the phone a few minutes. The first night I set my alarm for every 4 hrs for med and a separate timer for 15 min to drink water to moisten my throat. Worked well.
Day 2-7 ate a variety – oatmeal, cream of wheat, soft scrambled eggs, clam chowder, also had popsicles as well. Stayed away from the ice cream – I already knew it would increase mucus. I went to whole foods and bought their version of pudding and gelatin (non pork products). Taste great. I’ve been up driving for one reason or another every day – I really felt great. Yes some slight pain in the throat but the meds helped and I took it shortly before eating or after eating. Nodded or got sleeping about an hour into taking the meds so timed my activities around that. Skyped with my sister several times for short periods.
Problem – didn’t have a bowel movement until day 4 – and only after using an enema. Then not another one until day 8 – only after using an enema. I called the doctor and the nurse said reduce or eliminate the pain meds (lortab) since they cause constipation. My stomach feels bloated. So today I’ve only taken 1 tsp at 2:30 am and then 6:30 am. I also used a suppository to use the bathroom.
Having done that – I’ve only eaten a small thing of pudding today and been sipping cold water and chewing ice. The things in the back of my throat make me feel like throwing up. Had some slight bleeding today for the first time mostly after pushing to use the bathroom.
I just don’t feel well today at all. A little discomfort under right rib cage – not sure what that is. Little to no talking today.
It
Update to what I was feeling on Friday when I posted….I had a set back last night. I knew something wasn’t right and was just praying Lord I want to be well but if something is wrong and I need to go to ER show me. You know we can endure a lot of pain and discomfort as mothers. My stomach felt uncomfortable and my mouth had started bleeding on and off. I called the Dr they said to keep sucking ice and gargling lightly with cold water. At some point it just wouldnt stop and then I started vomiting blood. This was my sign…my daughter called the Dr back and told him we were headed to ER. He came and tried a quick procedure but I couldn’t stop vomiting blood long enough for him to get to it. Plus he saw a blood clot in my mouth that wasn’t passing thru….so down to the OR we went to do a repeat of surgery to cauterize the area to stop the bleeding and pump my stomach where the blood was going. Praise God everything went well! Unfortunately, I became partvof the 4% that experiences the bleeding.
I am now on day 18 post op and things are finally getting back to normal. I am completely off all painkillers now, throat is still slightly sore and my voice is not totally back to normal yet, it still sounds a lot higher to me. The only thing that still really hurts its yawning/sneezing! I am eating normally now, still trying to eat a lot of toast as i still have a few scabs to come off. Only experienced a couple of bleeding episodes, nothing major, just drank some cold water and it washed away. The majority of my scabs have disapeared, i never really felt them come off so assuming they got washed down with food and water. Soooo glad the horrible taste has gone!!!! It was painful, the first week felt like tonsillitus but the second week was a lot worse, i had bad ear ache and really struggled with sleeping. So glad i went through with it though, knowing i will never feel the pain of tonsillitus again makes it worth it !!!
I am glad your doing well. I am on day 9. I just want this to be over. My right side is raw because of the scab rubbing where the tonsil was. I was given Lidocaine to numb the area but it doesn’t seem to work. When I drink liquids it stings really bad. I just want relief.
I am on day 8. I am having the stinging raw feeling on the right side of my throat. Does it get any better? I am in so much pain! The most pain I have been in!