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 am 38yrs old and had posted on day 2 and am now on day19. I must have been lucky since I had no bad pain. I had strep worse. I had a little swelling the first day but the was gone by next morning. I just always was sipping on ice water and followed everyones advice and took my meds every 4hrs as prescribed, even set alarm clock for night time doses and also set clock for every two hrs during the night for a drink. i would take a few swollows and go back to sleep. I slept on one extra pillow and that was the only sleeping changes. It was a breeze for me and thought I would share a positive outcome. I am not saying no pain but uncomfortable at worst. One day at a time.I still have a little bruising type soreness when i yawn now but doc said that was normal. Lortab made me itch some and i had a little nausea but about 4oz. cold milk with about 2 table spoons of baby flaked cereral (it got the oatmeal with fruit) mixed in before each dose took that feeling away. thanks everyone for all the tips. it really made a difference.
I’m 3 1/2 mos post op. I had ear pain from days 5-10 that rivaled the throat pain. When it stops it seems to stop suddenly. Usually by the 10-14 day mark. The ear and throat nerves are very close to eachother so the ear pain is referred pain. It seems to get worse, for some, after the scabs are gone and fresh, new skin is exposed. Hang in there, it does go away. Heat on the ears seems to help best.
I’ve had ear pain since the anesthesia wore off 🙁 I read some articles that said it would last 7-12 days and some that it could last 14 days or in the worse, be permanent. I can handle throat pain, after all I’ve had that for that last 10 years but I had my first bilateral ear infection a month before the surgery and it was horrible!!
I’m on day 8, and I still have ear pain. It’s not bad enough to wake me up, but it is pretty bad. I had my follow up appointment yesterday and the ENT said my ears were fine, but didn’t tell me when they would stop hurting. Good luck :-/
How long has referred ear pain lasted for others that theirs out around 07/19 or before? I’m 12 days out and I’m having pretty significant ear pain when eating and during the night (enough to wake me up). I’m desperately hoping for the day when I’ll wake up because I’m done sleeping instead of being woken up by pain 🙁