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
I wondered if the scabs would come out or swallow them? I’m sure if I swallowed them in food probably wouldn’t be noticeable. I have heard that some have gotten choked on them. I also do not particularly want to vomit.
I wish I had felt good enough on day 8 & 9 to have read some of the great info for getting rid of the scabs. I am on my 10TH day today. I saw my DR post op last Wednesday which was the 7TH day. I had flu like symptoms which he said was normal, He said we were right where we should be & that I would start feeling better in the next 3-4 days. The best sleep was last night for a change. 4-5 hours at a time. My husband finally got his first night of sleep in 10 days, actually 8 days. The pain really didn’t start until the night of day 4. Had surgery Wednesday June 5 & today is June 15. I had problems with the strong pain meds & constipation. Had to take laxatives which didn’t work at first for a couple of days then all at once. Trying to come down off the pain pills has been a little rough. I may try extra strength Tylenol at night to help the throat pain. The burning when swallowing. I am afraid of bread because of choking but have lost 8 lbs. so eating a jelly doughnut now and again. I like muffins. Didn’t think of that until I just was able or felt well enough to get back on today after the last 2 days. If I could get rid of the last scabs on the right side. The ones on the left came off Monday but it’s been rough trying to get the right side to come off. I think after reading I stopped drinking as much when it started burning bad when I should have drank anyway. Even though it does hurt to swallow knowing the scabs will fall off quicker will be worth it. It feels like a large ball of mucus at the very edge of my throat but if I try to cough it up it burns & I understand to much coughing could cause to clot & I have come this far to start over. I must admit after eating more & forcing the foods the scab that is stuck doesn’t seem to be as bothersome as it does if it dries out. Thank you for the reply from day one to day 10 & on helped. Hopefully the rest of the scabs will come off soon & then the healing & back to normal in the next couple of weeks. My next DR appt. is June 19 which he said I would start noticing an improvement. I must admit the cool mist humidifier & the cold neck wrap has been my best friend other than my hubby that has been through it with me from beginning til now.
I see people are mostly posting on this page, i have several posts on the “Adult Tonsillectomy” and “Tonsil Stones” tabs. Day 1 after my op and i feel great. Stayed on top of my pain meds by setting my alarm, 15 mg Lortab about every 4-5 hours, even was able to stretch it out to 5 1/2 hours last nigh. Didnt have much trouble sleeping because of pain or discomfort, opioid pain meds actually have a energizing effect on me, and made it a little harder to sleep. My pain waking up after 3 hours since my last dose it still a 1. The thing that has me MOST excited, no morning breath! After i dont know how many years, my breath finally reflects my oral hygiene. If you havent dealt with stones you have NO IDEA what a relief this is!!! WOOOHOOOOOOO!
Well it’s about 6:45pm, post-op day 1 (day 2 is probably how everyone else is counting). Today isn’t going quite as well as yesterday. I have stopped talking due to pain, I can manage a whisper at best, and have mostly been asleep in bed. I was able to take only 5mg oxycodone + 500mg acetaminophen until yesterday evening, when I increased to 10mg oxy + 500mg APAP. Today I have been on 10mg oxy + 650mg APAP (2 of the normal strength tabs, rather than 1 extra strength), which mostly left me a zombie, but with good pain control.
(**Note: for those of you who may not know, the maximum amount of acetaminophen you should take within 24 hours is 4000mg; you start to run the risk of liver toxicity if you take significantly more, or are taking more for an extended period of time. That is why I have switched to taking 2 regular strength tabs every 4 hours, rather than 2 of the extra strength. 650mg APAP q4h puts you at 3900mg/24hr, just under max daily dose.**)
Then I decided to count how many oxycodone I have and discovered I will run out on Sunday if I continue taking 2 every 4 hours… there will be no doctors to write a new prescription that day, and so I thought I would try just taking 5mg oxy + 650mg APAP. Bad idea. I took another half tab of oxycodone in hopes to get me through until my next dose in about 1hr 15min. I haven’t decided whether I want to stick with a conservation strategy and take 7.5mg oxy next dose, or go for comfort and take the full 10mg, then have to attempt to procure a new Rx before the weekend… I would say my current pain (with the reduced dose) is about a 4 out of 10. I want to rate it higher, but I know that I’m probably just being a baby and that come tomorrow I’ll think today’s pain is more like a 2. I have also tried keeping an ice pack around my throat on and off throughout the day. I can’t quite tell if it helps or not, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
As far as food is concerned, I’ve still been trying to drink ice water, eat popsicles, and refrigerated pudding. I tried some apple sauce today, which went down fine but left my saliva feeling a bit thicker. Same problem with one of those superfood juices (the green kind), although I think apple sauce & superfood drinks are more nutritious than pudding, so it’s probably ultimately beneficial. I have some of the clear Ensure drinks as well for a better nutritional supplement.
Overall, I would say day 2 is fairly smooth sailing. Not comfortable by any means, but I’m sure I’ve had worse cases of tonsilitis than this before, and the pain is manageable if you take the right amount of medication (although it will most likely knock you out). I’m hoping the rest of the evening continues approximately like this, as I’m sure tomorrow will likely bring the opposite of relief.
I think the coblation method is what has kept it this good for this long. I have to say (knock on wood) the ear pain hasn’t been too bad. They have popped and even throbbed a bit, but nothing like what other people have said. Also, I haven’t had any bleeding or vomiting. So I do have a lot to be thankful for. I am pretty pain tolerant, plus have had some really bad cases of strep, so I think this all helped me/prepared me for what I have been going through. I would say that last night and this morning my pain level was probably an 8. It is a little better at the moment. I guess I also need to say that I wasn’t given a lot of pain pills so I have been trying to use them as sparingly as possible. I’ve only been doing one every four hours and the bottle said I could do 1-2 every 4-6 hours. So if I took 2 the pain may be better. But the office didn’t act like they wanted to give out more too easily, so I’ve been trying to make them last. Today I started supplementing with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. That has helped a lot! I think the main problem is that by day 7 you are so tired and hungry and just plain sick of it. Then the scabs start healing and pulling and you get a little more pain and you just break down! My advice to you is to keep a constant ice pack on your neck, sit next to a humidifier, drink lots of water, and take pain pills on time. These four things have helped me tremendously!! I hate to complain, because I could be doing so much worse. But as far as my situation, these last few days are definitely the worst so far. I am ready for it to be over! Good luck with your surgery! I’ll be checking to see how you do during your recovery!
Thanks for keeping us updated and for answering my questions along the way 🙂 I’m more hopeful now than before. Hope you are back to normal now and feeling good. Cheers to a new (healthier) chapter in life!