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
Day 4 (5 including op day) Pain was still a 3-4. It is starting to creep up faster and stronger when my pain meds start to wear off though. So i called my ENT today requesting a solid pill script instead of the liquid i am taking, which isnt letting me sleep longer than 3 consecutive hours, starting to burn my throat and causing a lot of phlegm. I have been taking 15ml of Lortab every 4 hours, on the hour, I usually start to watch the clock and hurt about hour 3. In 15ml there is 7.5mg hydrocodone and 500mg acetaminophen. So i was at a total loss when i got to the pharmacy and discovered that what they prescribed for a solid pill was a 5mg hydrocodone 500mg acetaminophen Vicodin…. this makes no sense! Instructions are to take 1-2 pills every 4-6 hours… I have taken vicodin many times in my lifetime and it is WEAK. Basicly to recieve any added pain relief over the Lortab i was already taking I have to take 2 pills every 4 hours, and am now ingesting 6,000 mg or acetaminophen every 24 hours! This will KILL any healthy liver. And only an increase of 2.5 mg of hydrocodone… i dont know if maybe Vicodin is strong for most people of what, but even taking the two pills my pain is worst after 2 hours than with the Lortab. I am going to go into the office tomorrow and have a sleep deprived breakdown and demand that they prescribe me something stronger with less acetaminophen.
Good for you for recognizing that there is a safe limit to how much tylenol you can take in one day!! I have been taking oxycodone 5mg, 1-2 tabs every 4 hours, and taking OTC acetaminophen in addition. I discussed this with my provider before surgery because I like having more control over the amount of Tylenol I am taking (plus the oxy tabs are smaller than the combos, aka easier to swallow). Today is post-op day 6 (day 7 including surgery day), and I had to go in for an urgent appointment due to repeated bleeding. The last day has been so insufferable that I asked to increase my dose to 2-3 tablets every 4 hours to get me through this part, which my doctor agreed to; possibly because I was having a miniature anxiety attack and looked so incredibly miserable.
Do you think you’ve built up a tolerance to Vicodin or it’s too weak for this surgery in general? I only had Vicodin once when i got my wisdom teeth pulled, it worked nicely then so i hope it’ll work well for me but I guess I’ll just have to wait an see.
Hope your pain gets better… hang in there!
Day 3 (4 including op day) Pain picked up a little bit, little bit of pain in my ears, still only a 3 or 4 on the scale. Eating mostly Freds brand soups, put in the blender and add a little bit of water to make it runnier. Then the soft insides of french bread dipped in the soup, goes down pretty easy and is very filling. Im up and about, not feeling bad at all. Staying hydrated, gatorade and water. I take a lot of time gently gargling with cool water after i eat, lots of crap gets stuck back there. Leaving it sitting on the scabs cant be good. The Lortab is starting to loose its effectiveness. I will call my ENT on Monday and ask for a solid pill prescription. He said as soon as I am feeling comfortable that i can swallow a pill to let them know so they can start me on pills. Also wrapping an ice pack around my neck whenever possible. Still feeling pretty lucky, this hasnt been bad at all.
Glad to hear you’re doing well! Curious to hear how the pills work out in comparison to the liquid.
This gives me great hope!! I go in tomorrow and all of these “horror” stories have me so anxious!!
I’ve been living with an ice pack around my neck since my surgery on June 12. I highly recommend it!
My mom found this “ThermiPaq” (I think ThermaCare makes it?) that is a soft sleeve that you can insert this clay pack into (either warm or cold) and it has an elastic to wrap it around wherever you need it. I’ve found that the clay pack doesn’t actually stay cold very well, so I’ve started just filling ziplocks with ice cubes and stuffing them in there and keeping that wrapped around my neck. It has helped so much!
So here’s what’s frustrating me the most. I had my tonsils out monday. Since it was first thing in the morning (8:30) I considered that day one, which means I’m on about day 6 right now. What’s annoying me is that… I actually don’t feel any pain.
Yea, the first day was alright, the first night was awful. Day 2 was the worst of the pain so far. Day 3 dulled a bit, as did day 4, day 5 my pain was maybe a 1 on the pain scale and now on day 6 I feel no pain, my appetite is back, I feel like my normal self.
Why does this annoy me? Because I still can’t GO back to the normal. I can’t eat like normal, get up like normal, or do anything normal because my scabs haven’t fallen off. I’ve yet to experience this terrible pain everyone describes around this time, and in fact, feel totally fine! But I can’t do anything until these darn scabs come off. I’m so frustrated!! And no one seems to have had a similar experience 🙁 Am I just bouncing back quick? How long til you think the scabs come off?
Forgot to add, I am 24, so no, I shouldn’t necessarily be bouncing back this quickly.
People in the UK are told to eat toast to help get the scabs off.
I’m 25, and today is day 2. The only real pain was right after surgery, and when I try to eat and drink. The Norcos have been helping tremendously and I even went to the movie theater last night (op day). I’ve been up and about so far.
What are you taking for pain meds?? I am so very jealous. I feel like sometimes my pain is well controlled and other times I just want to cry…
That’s the crazy thing! I haven’t been taking the percocet the doctor gave me. The first two days it was making me throw up so I refused to take any more of it. I’ve had nothing but extra strength tylenol this entire recovery. I’m now on day 11 and have had no severe pain since day 3. Scabs are still there; very frustrating! I’ve lost 25 pounds since last week because they’re preventing me from eating.
I am 43 and am 2 days post op…and mine is better…I don’t have hardly any pain, am talking and have been since surgery on the 26th. Drinking, eating..even buttery toast with cottage cheese…and worked from home today for about 6 hours….so if scabs fall off early I would love to know too.
Thank you on the scab issue. I gargled with warm salt water this evening & I spit a piece of one out which burned for about 20 seconds. Maybe from the salt. I still have a few left. I thought when a small piece came out was a relief. It will be wonderful when they all fall off. What a relief it will be. Tomorrow is day 11 for me. I thought my pain tolerance was higher but a few days were a bit more than I wanted to bear but have managed to make this far, Hopefully it gets better from here.
About the scabs….mine are coming off nicely and I haven’t choked on any or spit any out. Apparently I am swallowing them either with food or drinks. It hasn’t been a problem for me!
I noticed you didn’t post in day 10… are you pretty much back to normal now?