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 there
Good luck Sweet. Hope the op went well and you’re in full recovery mode. The anesthetic did make me feel very sick afterwards, and i was physically sick once. But felt better straight after. I’m now on day 11 and not much has changed. Scabs still attached and waiting for them to fall off. Not much more pain, except when i tried to sleep without my head elevated. Not a good idea! Ice lollies are my new best friends.
Thanks! Yes my op went well. Felt good after anesthesia. Had three popsicles so far. Glad to hear your recovery is still going well! 🙂
My name is Kendra and I’m 20 years old. I had my tonsils removed on July 8th, 2013. The first day (the day of surgery) I felt just fine. On a scale 1 – 10 (10 being horrible, unbearable pain and 1 being no pain) I was at a 3 – 4. Nothing that I couldn’t handle. The rest of that day I felt great. Ate some mac ‘n cheese, drank plenty of liquids, and relaxed… life was pretty good. The next 2 days I felt on top of the world. I was taking my pain medication every 4 hours, drinking liquids, ate yogurt, mashed potatoes, popsicles, etc… day 4 is when the pain started to stroll on in. I woke up around 2 AM that morning in excruciating pain. My ears were in so much pain, my stomach ached, my mouth was so dry and I felt like I had to throw up… let’s just say my pain sky rocketed to a 7 – 8 on the pain scale. On day 6 I was living in hell. My throat was so sore so the point that I couldn’t swallow. My pain medication made me constipated so I haven’t had a bowel movement in 6 days. My family hated to see me in so much pain. My mom gave me an enema, suppository, prune juice, stool softeners, anything and everything just so I can have a bowel movement. It helped a little bit, but I was so backed up that the pain was unbearable. Finally, we went to the ER where I was given another enema. Instant relief came over me once I had a bowel movement. I was given a liquid stool softener to help me have regular bowel movements again. Let’s just say that was the last day that I took my narcotics. I switched to extra strength Tylenol which seemed to control the pain. The next day my stomach was still so sore (probably from everything that my intestines went through the day before). I was wearing a “diaper” for the day because of my loose bowel movements from the stool softeners… let’s just say I lost my dignity that day. I have never felt so sick, embarrassed and gross in my life. I took a shower that day when I felt blood gushing from my mouth (as if things couldn’t get worse?! Couldn’t I just have a BREAK?!) Luckily, the bleeding came to a stop. We called the doctor and he said to gargle cold, ice water to stop the bleeding. It tastes SO bad, but the bleeding did stop. Now I’m at day 9 and I’m alright. Hanging in there. My throat right now is more scratchy and dry than anything (probably because the scabs are starting to peel off) I’ve lost about 7 pounds (keep in mind I’m only 5 feet tall and pretty petite to begin with, so this was a lot for me) + I feel so weak. I cannot wait for the day when I can bite into a juicy, thick burger! Don’t let this story scare you all though, everyone recovers differently. You’ll definitely have days that are up and down! Good luck everyone that’s recovering! 🙂
I had my tonsils out last Monday 8th July 2013. Like so many others i was freaked out by some peoples comments on here and other sites. But i have to say so far the pain and discomfort have not been that bad. I took a lot of tips from here and prepared myself for the worst. Cool mist humidifier has been on every night while sleeping. Been drinking plenty of water, and trying to resume a normal diet as quickly as possible. Foods i’ve been eating: Toast, Jelly (jello), mash potato with broccoli mashed in, dusted cod, ice lollies, weetabix (mashed up with soya milk). Scabs all formed, just waiting for them to come off. Getting some pain and discomfort the last few night during the night. But nothing the pain killers can’t handle. I’ve basically just taken the pain killers, when in pain. Which has done the trick for me. I think the most important thing is like i’ve said, prepare for the worse, and it might not be as bad as you think. But most of all you know that the pain will go at some point very soon after op, and you’ll be free to live your life tonsil problem free. You just need to get through it. Good luck
Thank you for the positive story. My tonsillectomy is this Thursday so it’s encouraging to read. I hope I have a positive story as well and will make sure to write it on this site. We need to get more positive stories out there so it’s not so scary 🙂 I also used this site to get very prepared. I’m hoping all these tips will put me in the positive side of things. Thanks!
Good luck Sweet! I am fully recovered and enjoying the benefits of having no tonsils or adenoids! My recovery went very well considering what is was and what could have happened. I attribute that to this website and being fully prepared with just about everything I might possibly need! Just remember–water, water, water, Ice around your neck all the time, humidifier running, sleep sitting up, and stay on top of your pain meds. You’ll do fine!!
Thank you 🙂 I’m now 2 weeks out and happy to say it went very well. I had my follow-up appointment yesterday and my surgeon said I’m 95% healed. So glad we both made it out on the positive side, yay for coblation!
No kidding! It seems to definitely be the way to go!!!
I am 11 days post tonsillectomy and bilateral turbinate reduction in my nose. I researched this website and others before my surgery and made sure I was prepared. Several things that I feel helped in my recovery are taking my pain medication (Hycet) every 4 hours for about the first week, plus supplementing with Tylenol occasionally. Be careful you don’t exceed the 4,000 mg limit for Tylenol so keep track of how many doses you take. Drinking water every hour or two for the first 4-5 days also was very effective at controlling pain. I kept 16.9 oz water bottles next to my bed and drank one full bottle every time my hour alarm went off. I used a humidifier in my room when I slept. I also bought My Purmist and used it at least 4 times a day on the low setting to help keep throat moist. Heating pad to ears as often as needed. Ice/cold pack to neck as often as needed the first few days. I also would take Aloe vera gel 1 oz at least 4 times a day and honey one tablespoon 4 times a day for their healing properties. Soft foods as long as needed (I would say at least 2 weeks to avoid increasing pain). Chewing gum helps with ear pain. Chewing/sucking on ice chips to decrease swelling in throat and to soothe it or slurpees/chopped up Popsicles. I found jello and mashed potatoes and eggs easiest to eat. Avoid milk products. I found they increased mucus/saliva in my mouth and it made it difficult to clear by swallowing. Hope this helps! It wasn’t as bad for me as I feared based on what I read. Being prepared definitely helped! And don’t try to stop the pain meds too soon. I was able to start spreading out my doses to 5, then 6, then 8 hours, then to as needed at about a week. Now on day 11, I just have mild throat and ear pain and its tolerable so I haven’t taken any pain mess today, only used heating pad on my ear. Now I’m just dealing with a yucky taste in my mouth and food not tasting good.
For the Tylenol limit, make sure you are recording the Tylenol in the narcotic pain medication for each dose you take in addition to the over the counter Tylenol doses you take to avoid going over the 4,000 mg and damaging your liver. Or just avoid it all together and drink more water!