Adult Tonsillectomy Recovery Time – a Poll
Tonsillectomy recovery time is unique to each individual- sure. We know that recovery time for adults is longer, and maybe harder, than tonsillectomy recovery time for children. I remember my own son bouncing back in less than a week! My own experience taught me that ten days off from a job that required lots of talking was a bit light. I generally advise two weeks. As I’ve said, most employers will let you come back early. That’s easier than asking for more time after the fact. I’ve read the accounts of thousands of tonsillectomy patients- most of them adults. I’ve learned that the time required varies. I wonder though, how many tonsillectomy patients never really post about their experience. Are you one of those quiet ones lying in the weeds? I’d like to get a better feel for the average adult tonsillectomy recovery time. Please take a moment and share your own experience in recovering from tonsillectomy surgery. You can help us all!
So let me put this out as an informal survey for people who have been through it, to help those planning a tonsillectomy. (It’s also one of the most commonly researched questions by adults considering tonsillectomy.) It’s my hope that we can amass a good sampling of experiences to help guide would-be adult tonsillectomy patients as they plan their family, work, and other obligations,
What is the average recovery time for tonsillectomy in adults? Read my Summary: Tonsillectomy Recovery Time Summary
So, what is it? What is your recommended adult tonsillectomy recovery time?
Join the discussion
-Greg My short bio
Before you schedule an appointment to have your tonsils removed, do a little research.
Plan for at least 2 weeks. I had a pretty smooth recovery until day 8, when i started coughing up blood because the wound had broken open. It was a scary moment, but i drank as much ice water as i could for like 20 minutes and eventually it stopped.
For me it was about 10 days before I felt up to doing much of anything and another week before I felt ready to get back into my regular routine.
I would plan on at least 2 weeks.
Short answer: 3 weeks/20 days.
Play by play follows:
I had a Tonsil/Adenoidectomy. I was sick with strep alternating weeks and other bugs some of the off weeks for 15 weeks. I was sick, often with a fever, about 10 out of 15 weeks before the surgery.
Total recovery took me about a month, which was long. I had surgery Dec. 22nd and started to feel totally human (and went hiking every day!) around the 12th of January. The interim was not bad.
The first 2 days were easy, other than the swollen uvula that kept gagging me. If your doc offers to trim it, LET them. Almost no pain, but very tired.
Days 2-4 were tedium and hunger. Finally I convinced my caretakers to let me have soft-cooked eggs (with onion powder and salt). I ate about a dozen eggs a day for 3-4 days, along with some dreyers all-fruit bars(avoid the green/lime? ones). This time I spent mostly bored and opiated up watching bad movies on my brother’s netflix account. Scabs started coming off around day 5. I felt great on days 2,-4 and didn’t understand what all the pain meds were for.
Days 5-9 were a bit rough. I got the ear pain and it hurt. It was never much worse than strep, but it felt endless. Around day 8 or 9, I made myself mashed potatoes with lots of butter and salt, and wound up drinking quite a bit on New Years eve. I felt pretty well actually, by this point.
Days 10-13 I felt incrementally better each day. Around day 15, I had my follow-up and had to walk to/from bus stops to reach my doctor. It took about 3 hours round trip and totally exhausted me. He said I was healing slower than expected but was healing properly and looked good. He told me I wouldn’t be fully recovered for another week at least. Around this time, my girlfriend dumped me (long time coming) and that didn’t help with the recovery speed. I could have gone back to school or work at this point, but would have been somewhat miserable. I also had no energy at this point.
By day 16, I felt pretty well and was back on my feet, cooking normal food. I still felt tired and pretty much stopped the pain meds all together. I never used the full doses (yay for liquid!) except from days 3-8.
Day 21(January 12th) I was cleared as fully functional and started hiking. Between the initial lack of eating and the hiking, I lost about 15 lbs.
Oh yes…. I am 54 years old. Only had tonsels out. nothing else. Surgery was 1 1/2 years ago. In case your doctor forgets to tell you, DON’T USE A STAW! Until healed you can do damage. I only took heavy pain killers the first two days. After that Tylenol did the trick.
I had it done 2 1/2 years ago when I was 26. It’s all a little blurry since it was so long ago, but I would put recovery at about a week before I really felt like getting out of bed and 2 weeks before I felt almost normal. Like Rache, I threw up a few times because I tried to walk around a bit before I was eating solid food. I think my blood sugar was too low to be doing actual activity. Eating some oatmeal or cream of wheat helped.