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How long does it take to recover after tonsillectomy?
Tonsillectomy recovery time is unique for each patient. The recovery timeline for children is much shorter than for adults, with seemingly less pain. My own eight year old son was back to his old self in less than a week after his tonsils taken out. This may have fanned the flames of my unreasonable expectations of my own recovery time as an adult. His was fairly typical of a child his age. Children’s bodies heal faster than adults’ do.
Tonsillectomy Recovery Time
What to expect after tonsil surgery
The timeline for recovery for an adult is a different story. Age matters. In fact, it appears that the older an adult is at the time of their tonsillectomy, the longer the recovery is, in general. Based on my own adult tonsillectomy recovery, and the stories of thousands of my readers, I’d put the average adult tonsillectomy recovery time at approximately 10.43 days. Yes, I’m that good!
Humor aside, ten days seems to be pretty typical. I added the .43 because so many people, myself included, thought they had it licked and went back to work around day ten, only to find they weren’t quite ready. As scabs slough off in second week of recovery, many adults experience a bit of a pain relapse, just as they thought they were almost recovered. This is a really tough period for many. They’ve spent almost two weeks with minimal sleep, minimal nourishment, minimal activity, and lots of pain medicine. It can be downright depressing for adults recovering in this second week.
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I do hear from many adults whose recovery times are closer to a week – perhaps due to my good advice, perhaps due to genetics. It’s hard to say why some adults’ recovery timelines are shorter, and their experiences less traumatic. There are also cases that drag out further. If you’re one of a small minority that requires re-cauterization for bleeding, or don’t take the proper precautions, (many of these are outlined here and in my book), your tonsillectomy recovery time may be as much as three or four weeks. I want to make an important point here- one that I cannot overemphasis: Stay hydrated! Keep drinking fluids! Dehydration is the worst enemy of the tonsillectomy patient.
My advice: ask your employer, your family, your friends, and the rest of the world to give you two weeks for your adult tonsillectomy. You may surprise them, hopefully for the better.
Recovery is unique to each individual- sure. We know that recovery time for adults is longer, and maybe harder, than 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!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. Check out the Tonsillectomy General Store.
-Greg Tooke My short bio
I’m 29 and this is day 5 post surgery. I know it will hurt like hell to drink but ice water and lots of sleep seem to do the trick. I wake up each morning about 2 am in pain but I simply take my medicine and hop in the shower. Seems to relax my body from the pain and I’m able to sleep. I found sleeping up right in a recliner or your bed is the best sleep position. Glad I got this done! Can’t wait to eat something! GOOD LUCK hope this helps.
Hey,
I am a 20 year old female from NZ and I had a tonsillectomy done 8 days ago! Like most people I did my research on this procedure but in all honesty nothing could prepare me for what it was going to be like. I have had my fare share of surgerys over the years e.g Rhinoplasty, shelf osteotomy, had my ears pinned back and so on and with all that came alot of pain! But this operation has to be by far the worst one yet.
Day 1: I had my surgury done at night so I was lucky to be able to stay in hospital over night and have a nurse look after me. I was quite sore in recovery and very nauseous but they soon made that go away.
Day 2: I woke up In alot of pain! Usually in NZ nurses would give you Morphine for the pain but I am unfortunately allergic to it so the next best thing is Tramadol… but recently due to a prior procedure we had found out I am also allergic to it! Unfortunately for me I didnt notify the nurse and he gave me Tramadol…. the nausea kicked in and so did the vomiting. This was soon corrected and I was discharged and on my way home.
Day 3 and 4: I was so tired and hungry, my throat was in so much pain and my jaw and tounge were very swollen( felt like I had been beaten up). I was taking a liquid paracetamol, liquid antibiotics, Codeine and Voltarin rapid every 8 hours for the swelling. Fair to say my stomach hated me, and regular vomiting was added to my list of pain, yay.
Day 5: was good throughout the day and things were looking up, I had stopped taking the liquid paracetamol as we figured out it has something in it that doesn’t agree with me and replaced it with Parafast. I had been drinking a cold gatorade all day to give me some energy and managed to eat a tostie. Night time was the worst time yet! I couldn’t sleep because Parafast has caffeine in it and I had been drinking gatorade which also has caffeine in it, because I was so energized none of my pain killers were working, I had a really dry throat because I refused to swallow my phlegm! Fair to say day 5 was the worst night by far! Meds have changed for a 3rd time now just on plain paracetamol, Voltarin every 8 hours and Codeine only at night.
Day 6: I have now woken to a foul taste in my mouth…ohh goodie the scabbing process! Means it is healing. I find chewing gum and sucking a strong lolly throughout the day takes the taste away completly ( no more gagging lol )
Day 7: Was a great day, had minimal pain as I constantly sipped away at my water bottle keeping my throat moist and stayed on top of my meds, even managed to leave the house for a few hours to get fresh air. I even managed to eat a cheeseburger! 🙂
Today is day 8: lastnight was hard, woke up a few times to severe pain but forced some water down and just sucked away at some soothing lozenges, they seem to help the pain alot!
From what I have read from everyone else’s posts, looks like it will just keep getting better from here on out. I have been taking a photo of the inside if my throat everyday so I can see the progress. It is still a white sort of color where the tonsils were but the majority of it has gone so I am guessing that is half the scabbing gone?…
My main advice is dont stop drinking water!! Try to stay away from energy drinks as they just keep you awake at night and take the pain meds every four hours!
Good luck to anyone wanting to go through this as it is far from pleasant!
Hey. I’m 20, and had some giant tonsils taken out today. I’m so incredibly sad and in pain. It’s so hard to get water down because it phlegms everytime I drink. My throat is also so itchy. They gave a Popsicle in recovery and it burned like anything so I’m prettified to eat. I’ll take any helpful tips. Please tell me this pain gets better.
Nicole
Try low sodium chicken broth! It has been my life saver because everything seems to burn. I’m on day 8 after a tonsillectomy and still in pain.
I was one that had this procedure after age 40. I found that keeping a cold pack on my neck when I had discomfort, really helped with swelling. Don’t eat normal foods too soon. You may think that you can, but keep it soft and not too hot. Cold feels good. Keep medicated. If you miss a dose, the pain can easily become unbearable. God bless and good luck. Bottom line is, I am glad I had the procedure.
I just scheduled a Tonsillectomy for June 14. I’m 27 years old and getting a little scared. I’m sure I’ll be back here after the procedure.
Hi Jon! You’re a young buck- You’ll be fine. 😉 Best of luck. We’ll be here for you.
Honestly isn’t as bad as you think. I”m day 5 into and other than extreme hungry today I haven’t wanted to eat because it hurts. Drink lots of ice water and don’t TALK! Be prepared to be out at least a week. Good luck