What are the Best Foods to Eat After Tonsillectomy?
The tonsillectomy diet can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the nutrition derived from solid foods is essential for out overall health and recovery from tonsillectomy surgery. The very act of swallowing also helps the throat recover. On the other hand, pushing foods past the raw and tender area of the tonsil beds after they’ve been cut and in many cases cauterized, can cause excruciating pain and, even bleeding. We need to go slow.
Liquids: The best friend of any tonsillectomy diet
Liquids. Let’s start here. Since you’ll be drinking at least 8 ounces per hour during tonsillectomy recovery. Put some thought into what you want. Sport drinks are good. They provide electrolytes and needed calories. Since most of the calories are from sugar, you’ll want to try some other drinks too. Avoid anything acidic, caffeinated, dairy, or thick for the first week. I was amazed by how many things I drank went down like battery acid or left a troublesome film on my throat. (tonsil bed) Water is always good, but it’s hard to stay interested in it. I also enjoyed chicken and beef broths. Don’t heat them beyond, “fairly warm.” Hot has an inflammatory effect on tonsil area tissue.
Gelatin was the first thing I was given to begin eating after tonsillectomy and I thought I’d gone to heaven. It tasted wonderful and, for some reason, I found it easier to swallow than water. It’s cool, soothing, and counts as hydration. Hands down, Jell-O, Jelly, or gelatin is my top pick for foods for a tonsillectomy recovery. For the first five days I didn’t venture too far beyond the liquids and gelatin. It’s contrary to what your mother might advise but, like sleep, a normally healthy endeavor can result in an hour of searing pain. I tried mashed potatoes on day two and had tears in my eyes. For about a day after that, I stopped eating . I don’t recommend this. Maintaining a good diet is important for several reasons. Nutrition, activation of muscles in the affected area, and feeling of well being are all benefits of a smart plan. Also keep in mind that most prescription pain killers can cause nausea, especially on an empty stomach. It’s important to get some kind of food down before taking pain medicine, even if it’s just a liquid food like Ensure.
Try to add as many calories to your day as you can. As your throat allows, try some foods like oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, (NOT al dente. cook it!), ramen noodles, mashed potatoes, gravy, or cous cous. Oatmeal was, without question, my breakthrough food as I began eating after tonsillectomy. I’m still eating it almost daily, probably because of the good feeling that it gave me in my second week.
When I was recovering, I used to daydream about eating steak. It seemed so unattainable. I couldn’t even handle mashed potatoes. When could I ever enjoy a nice juicy Steak?? I told myself, once I got through this, I would reward myself with a delicious slab of beef. To this day, I love my steak. I’ve put together a collection of items that I think would be helpful, if not essential, to making tonsillectomy recovery a little more pleasant, including items for your tonsillectomy diet. Check out theGeneral Store. -Greg Tooke My short bio
I’m on day 7 of my recovery and I can say I’d rather go through childbirth again than have to deal with this pain! It hurts to drink, eat, or swallow. I attempted to eat yogurt this morning and my throat felt like it was on fire! I’ve tried warm soup to freeze pops and nothing helps. I also have an abundance of saliva sitting at the top of my throat. Oh did I mention I also had a thyroidectomy done the same day. I’ve only experienced a swollen & stiff neck from that recovery. Will I ever start to feel better? I want to eat and drink but it hurts so bad!!
I had my tonsillectomy 2 years ago and from day 1 I was on solid foods I had toast and a roast dinner the first night! From then on I ate normal food crisps, kebabs, anything and you know what? I was fine pain was minimal never had the backlog of scabs building up and this was the advice from my surgeon and nurses in the UK so I don’t believe liquids is the cornerstone of a tonsillectomy diet.
Hi I’m Mark, 24 years old. I had tonsillectomy on September 17 2013 and I am on my 6th day since the operation. I can really say that this is the worst pain I ever encountered. Swallowing is really hard plus getting rid of the phlegm/saliva every morning can be very disturbing. Going on the the 7th day, I am already craving for real food. My doctor only prescribed me to take an icecream diet. But, who cares if you wanna try mushy mash potatoes or some cooled overcooked noodles. It is actually all about controlling the pain and keeping yourself hydrated. Meaning, cold water is a must for a smooth recovery.
For those who are about to undergo tonsillectomy and are searching how others are coping, I really can say that reading all of the experiences of others create fear. But for me, there is just a sense of victory after I overcame the surgery. I keep diverting my attention so as I will not focus on the pain. Also, it helps if you calm yourself.
No pain, no gain. I am optimistic that I can soon get a good night sleep without having to experience recurring tonsilitis.
Good luck. And keep that big juicy burger in mind as motivation for your complete recovery. 🙂
Day 1-3 just ice water and popsicles, day 4/5 moved up to applesauce and pudding and plenty of ice water. Had a scrambled egg for dinner on the 5th. Some room temperature soups like chicken and stars. Mac and Cheese on day 6/7 not hot, cooled down. Noodle soups and bouillon. There was a turning point around day 8-9 where I no longer wanted cold things other than the popsicles. I wanted warm liquids, bouillon soups and noodle soups and warm tea with honey. On Day 15 I had a fig bar and some vegan chicken and it was great. I still have some swelling and pain on the left side but the right side appears mostly healed.
I had my tonsils out August 23, 2010. The first 7 or 8 days were not bad at all. But I couldn’t taste anything. Nothing at all. I had more surgeries than just a tonsillectomy though. I also had a nasal turbinate reduction, septum straightening, and a soft pallet reduction (including removal of the uvula). Not sure if all that also had an impact on my ability to taste. I couldn’t smell anything either. Day 9 a scab came loose and I gagged it up which was the worst experience of my life. Immediately the pain set in. It was severe pain whenever I’d drink or try to eat. I had 4 scabs I think that came up that way over the course of a few days and each time the pain was severe when trying to eat. It took a few weeks for the pain to fully go away and a little longer for my sense of taste and smell to return. I ended up with thrush though. I think it was because I was on IV steroids in the hospital, plus antibiotics, plus I was drinking nothing but sugar pop. So all that caused thrush. Those horrible lozenges my GP prescribed hurt my tongue and roof of my mouth so bad! I could only do a few days of the 14 days and I finally had to stop due to the severe pain from THAT! But luckily it cured the thrush in that short amount of time so I didn’t have to try anything else for it.
I do remember that the only food I could eat was very cooked macaroni and cheese once the first scab fell off. Before then I really didn’t have much of a problem eating normal foods. No I couldn’t eat sharp pointy things like chips but I don’t recall having much of a problem otherwise.
My surgeon prescribed tylenol 3 at first and that did not touch the pain so he then prescribed percocet I think (or was it vicodin?). That helped a lot. I had itching from it as I always have in the past but I think I may have also taken benedryl for it. I’m not allergic to those meds though. It just helped the itching. My pain meds were pills and not liquid. It did hurt some to take the pills but it wasn’t severe. Oh and my surgeon prescribed that numbing mouthwash/gargle stuff. I can’t recall but I think it actually burned to use it. I didn’t use much of the large bottle. I’m not sure why since it’s been so long since my surgery. Either it had a bad taste, bad texture or something, though I’m not sure I could taste it since I couldn’t taste anything… *shrugs* But I did live on mac & cheese for quite a while. I couldn’t even handle scrambled eggs after the scabs started falling off.
My tonsils were electro-cauterized. I had to remove my piercing jewelry. I had some in my ears and my nose ring. To this day I have not gotten re-pierced. I miss them though. I wish you all going through this the best of luck and a lack of pain!
Oh I got my tonsils removed (and the soft pallet reduced) due to sleep apnea, which fixed it! I guess I’m one of the 40% that the surgery was successful for. 😀