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 agree with Haley…Day 10 was a good day….
Peter
Hayley, yes, the narcotic pain meds are notorious for constipation. Your doctor should have told you to start taking a stool softener every day, right after surgery. I had to cut way back on my Percocet by around day 6 or so because I had not had any ‘action’ in that dept and I was pretty uncomfortable.
Two things that are very effective, especially when combined: generic Colace (I got Walgreen’s brand but any major drug store will have their own brand). This is a stool softener but NOT a laxative. If you are really bound up, the quickest and best thing to use, which IS a laxative, is MiraLax. My doctor calls it ‘the bomb’ because it will usually produce results even if something else hasn’t. It’s kind of expensive but it’s worth it to get the relief. I drank prune juice every day and it still did not help me. But taking 2 Colace a day and one dose of MiraLax a day finally resolved the constipation.
That said, I did end up reducing my Percocet dose to about only twice a day (morning when pain was worst and at night before bed) and using Tylenol and Ibuprofen during the day. I could not take the constipation, and reducing the amount of doses I took each day really helped. I did that from about days 6-12 and then I stopped Percocet altogether and just went to ibuprofen only as needed.
I hope these tips help. I would go out or have someone else go buy those items for you as they really do help with being bound up. Good luck!
Susan, you’re a brave and upbeat woman! You mentioned that you had your tonsil(s) out for cancer – were they just suspecting it? Are you okay or was this to remove a tumor? I really hope you continue on with a smooth healing path and that you feel healed up very soon!
Phyllis, I’ve seen your posts and I feel terrible you’ve had to go through all of that on top of the surgery! I hope now that you and your husband got the ‘shot’ and had a proper diagnosis that you are feeling much better. How lousy to have to get so sick on top of a surgery like this. I’m hoping that you both feel much better very soon. Take care!! I’m 4 months post op and the healing continues at least for a month after surgery. Sometimes even longer (in small ways we don’t notice). God bless!
Hayley – hang in there! I am 4 months post-op. I was in pain after surgery from the get-go but it did get worse from days 5-9 or so. This is very common. That’s when the ear pain started for me and my jaw ached, etc. It is kind of predictable for a lot of people (not all) to experience this upswing in pain during that time period. I know it feels discouraging, I really do. But it IS time limited and you will probably feel a lot better after day 10. Warm heating pad/packs help with the ear pain and chewing gum also helps with it.
Can you call your doctor and see if you can take more of your lortab or take it slightly more frequently (maybe every 3 instead of 4 hours)? I had the same experience. The Percocet just barely took the edge off and it wore off not to far into dosing. I ended up taking a little more than prescribed and that helped but you should ask your doctor first.
During the worst times of pain I drank Slimfast shakes and Ensure shakes. I also made baby food oatmeal cereal as you can make it so fast just adding some warm water and it’s very easy to swallow. Despite how bad the swallowing feels, keep drinking as much as you can and eating anything you can get down. It will help slough off the debris from the surgery and really will help you with recovery.
I know it’s a lonely feeling. You just keep wishing every day was better and when it actually gets worse it can be discouraging. This is a very short lived period of time in the scope of things and you WILL feel better soon – I promise. Have you used ice packs around your neck area? That helps as well. I used packages of corn and just held them to my neck off/on during the day.
Also, some people find that when the pain worsens that warm liquids feel better than cold. Just experiment and see what you can tolerate and what feels best. Hang in there! 🙂
Thanks Beth. I really appreciate the good advice. I just got my meds refilled today and the Dr. is going to call and check in with me later and I will talk to him about upping the dose or taking it more frequently. I am really looking forward to a goods night rest. Did any of the pain medication give you constipation? That is another problem I fear I am having and what to take to deal or swallow rather to help. Prune baby food?
I am 25 years old and work for a pulmonologist and I am 7 days post op and I am so miserable. The day of surgery and first few days after were fine but days 5-7 now have been terrible. I am a mom of two small children and feel useless because the pain is so excruciating. The liquid lortab maybe helps an hour or two and then I am back to square one: burning, aching jaw, and my ears are killing me. I went from eating eggs, broth, rice, and purred veggies the first days after surgery to nothing at all. When will I feel relief? I feel lonely and depressed. I know it’s not forever but I honestly feel I underestimated this surgical recovery.