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
So I’m now on day 7…no bleeding so far but the pain did spike a little bit. I’m actually taking Percocet every three hours now cuz if I wait four, i won’t be able to swallow it. Still can not eat anything filling. Applesauce, jello, Popsicles. It’s a bit harder to drink water too but lil sips are key. I would recommend u have someone to take care of you that is supportive. I’m at my moms house now with my bf but they both don’t really care to understand how painful this surgery is which is hard because your in a lot of pain, irritable from no sleep or food and loud noises hurt your ears. Probably one of the hardest parts about the surgery is that emotional stress. I am just praying by day 10 I will feel better. That’s when my Dr. told me ill start to feel the process ending so I really hope so. I’ve heard some say they felt amazing by day 10 and others say it took longer, so well see. Good luck to everyone!
Hello, new to the forum and just wanted to share my experience. Im 23 and had my tonsils out on Aug. 30…The reasons for this are tonsil stones which are DISGUSTING and a bad taste in my mouth from them. I tried everything to get rid of this. I had them every day and they were ruining my life making mecso self concious of having bad breath. I couldn’t even kiss my boyfriend ir talk closely with people. Dont buy anything that claims to help tonsil stones you’ll be wasting your money! The only option is to have your tonsils removed unless you want to suffer with the problem. So reading all the horror stories online I got so scared and cancelled my first surgery. Then rebooked of course for the next month. So here I am on day 6. First couple of days aren’t too bad. Definately tolerable. Ice water is bby your best friend and so is tge Percocet. Today is probably the hardest day but still tolerable. Whats gross is the horrible bad breath you have but that’s only supposed to last until the scabs fall off. Still cant talk well at all but just waiting for it alk to be over. 10 days of discomfort is worth it to me instead of a lifetime of tonsil srones. If you need the surgery, get it! Its not as horrible as people make it sound although everyone has a different experience. Maybe I’m a lil tougher cuz I just had a bby 6 months ago and im going through this and taking care of him at the same time…feel free to ask any questions I will keep an update on my progress
I’m at day 8, had a little blood this morning. sick of wondering when i can eat a burger, or go out my birthdays on Friday and i have a trip planned… when is this going to end? When can i go back to my normal job and normal life. When can i go out and grab a drink. the pain gets so bad in the mornings and through out the night that i had nights where i didn’t sleep at all. Still haven’t been able to eat anything. its all burns my throat. apple sauce and mashed potatoes hurt. only thing i can eat is egg drop soup. and i hate it at this point. does anyone have some suggestions or anything. I am fighting with my boyfriend because lack of sleep food and being in worse pain then a pregnancy makes me a nut job and makes me hate everything. I am down to 114 pounds now. i lost 12 pounds sense this started. Ahh someone help me. what will go down that will make me feel like im eating real food and not soup broth or a Popsicle.
Mashed Potatoes and Mac and Cheese. They don’t fill you up for too long, but at least it is like real food. I did bread and butter too. Little bites, but the butter tasted soooo good! By day 9 I couldn’t take it anymore and ate pizza! Took me forever to eat one piece but it was glorious!
The bread gets caught somewhere in my throat. I literally can say i barley ate anything in 8 days. i guess thats kinda good because i keep having a little blood from my left tonsil. My mother bought me the microwavable bob evans regular mashed potatoes and the pepper or whatever in it got stuck that was horrible. do you just over cook the noodles, or how do you do it. and thank you so much again for responding, youve been helping someone like me every step of the way. For my 21st birthday, do you think drinking white wine would be okay? it would be 2 weeks and 1 day after surgery?
Other things you could try are scrambled eggs or pancakes. I did both of those. On the Mac and Cheese, I used the Easy Mac microwave kind. It cooks fast and tasted good. Slid right down my throat! Make sure to let it cool off though. Too hot and it will hurt! I had alcoholic beverages at about 2 weeks. But it seems I had a little easier recovery than you are having! Being that it is your 21st birthday, I would try it and see. You’ll know after a sip or two! If you are still on pain meds then though, be careful not to drink too much and make sure someone else is your driver! Hope you get better quickly!!
I am 53 yrs old and having my tonsils out on tuesday…i have read all your comments and dont know what to expect…everyone is different…..what ive gotten from all this is drink plenty of fluids,sleep on lots of pillows,eat popsicles and you may or may not have lots of pain…..HELP!!!!!!!!!
Have a heating pad to cover your ears with because it may feel like you have ear infections from hell, make sure someones with you, try to keep up on medications LITTERALLY BY THE HOUR, if its been four hours take one, do not wait twenty minutes, you need to stay on top of the pain. Drink a lot of fluids,,,, 16 oz every hour or two, this is very important. try to wake up throughout the night to drink. im on day 7 and still waking every hour. set alarms for your meds.
Hope all goes well.
I have my surgery scheduled for the 23rd and the doctor told me “the surgery would hurt like hell” he made sure I was aware that I could have as much as I wanted to drink for fluids and gave me a list of foods to eat. we were planning a trip to see the grandkids. I was going to call them and tell them we weren’t coming. my husband sprang my birthday present on me early. (my birthday is the 25th of August) he bought an RV so we can still go on the trip after surgery and I would have a place to lay down. If You drink plenty of fluids the body heals a little faster then not drinking fluids. A little bit of blood is to be expected.
my husband is a Surgical Technologist and has worked with my surgeon so I keep referring to him if I have any questions. ask your doctor if you have questions before the surgery. after the surgery drink plenty of fluids!!! Ice cream or sherbert or sorbet can also help if you don’t want popsicles. when at the clinic or hospital when they offer you fluids, even if you don’t want them take it!!! the sooner you start with the fluids the better.
one day b4 surgery…feeling a little nervous. Thanks for all your comments!!!!! they really have helped!!!!! i went and bought myself a humidifier and lots of ice cream,popsicles,gatorade and water……will let everyone know after surgery…..
It’s a good idea not to eat the ice cream within the first 3 or so days. You’re already going to get the feeling of having mucus caught in your throat because of the surgery and scabs forming, and ice cream makes that worse. But after about the 2nd or 3rd day that mucus feeling should go away, and then ice cream will do just fine!
Good luck! Surgery day is a breeze, with all the nice medications, you won’t feel a thing!
had the surgery on 8/6….pain pretty bad….was given liquid loritab….tues and wednesday between sleeping,the pain and all the meds dont remember much except the pain…cant eat, drink or swallow…….thurs felt a little better….still having trouble drinking and swallowing…..wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone!!!!!!
day 5 and feeling much better…..pain minimal….earache in both ears now…….i can finally swallow…..not taking pain meds as much……hope this keeps up!!!!!!
I really wish I would have looked at these comments all before. I have a week till my 21st birthday and have a huge trip planned to go down the river in a tube. I got mine taken out on the 26th. its been 6 days. The doctor said I would be fine in a week. I have not been able to eat anything but a little bit of egg drop soup. I wake up every 3 hours in pain with a acid burning feeling in my throat and cant swallow, not to mention my ears… I had both feet reconstructed, how the hell is a tonsillectomy this bad…. how much longer till I recover….. This is getting pretty ridiculous… I am suppose to go back to work at the salon on Sat. I don’t think its possible…
Sounds like you need to drink more water. Don’t sleep for 3 hours straight. Wake up every hour and drink if you have to, that will help a lot. You should be able to get down Jello too. Getting some food in you, even Jello, will make you feel better. I just had my surgery 2 weeks ago today, and I was totally fine day 9. You will be able to do the tube down the river.
Also, put a heat pad on your ears.
Good luck! Keep drinking!
I feel like ive been drinking a lot but to be honest I never really did drink a lot of fluids throughout a day. Any other food suggestions besides jello? I had blood come out twice yesterday and it freaked me out. Haha, is there a goal of glasses of water i should be drinking a day? and a heating pad over ears, never heard of that but sounds interesting maybe i will try that!!
Thank you so much for the quick response I have been absolutely terrified from not knowing what to do!! I really do appreciate it!!!
Popsicles and mashed potatoes should work well too. I hope you told your doctor about the bleeding…there should not be any bleeding at any point. I would shoot for at least 1 bottle of water every 1-2 hours. Hang in there 🙂
I called and he wasn’t in the office, its minor bleeding and i know its not good but they told me to watch it or to go to ER. so ofcorse i decided to stay home. It stopped now, it comes when it wants to. its weird!
Is it weird that when I try to eat apple sauce my throat is on fire?
It didn’t burn my throat…but everybody is different.
What kind of a doctor would tell you that you would be fine in a week?! That’s crazy! You definitely need two–some need more that that!
I guess I should say that I was able to go do things at day 9 and 10. So you may feel fine for your trip. But you won’t be healed that fast! Your throat will still feel weird and maybe have scabs still.
Yeah I know its stupid he would have told me this. I don’t understand why he did!!! When will i stop being in this pain?! and when can i just eat a cheese burger again lol
Day 6 and 7 were the worst days for pain for me which was about an 8 out of 10. Then it started going the other way for me. So hopefully you are getting close! And on like day 8 or maybe 9, I was soooo hungry and just couldn’t take it anymore so I ate pizza with the family. I had to take itty-bitty bites and it hurt to swallow a little, but it was so worth it! I know it feels like it will be forever, but it will be here before you know it. And you will be healed and able to eat anything. I thought I would never get there, and I’ve been eating everything now for over a month! And it’s kind of hard to remember all the details about those long days! Very strange! Good luck and hope the next several days go fast for you!
thank you and me too!! I get to see my ass hole dr again cause of the bleeding…. terrified. lol.