Tonsillectomy Scabs- How and when do they fall off?
Regardless of the tonsillectomy method used, some sort of scab is going to form over the the area from which your tonsils have been cut, coblated, and/or cauterized.
It’s normal. It is normal. People often become obsessed with the appearance of the tonsil beds as they recover from tonsillectomy. Almost like a recently lost tooth, it can be hard to resist the temptation to explore the new landscape. This too is normal. I strongly advise against molesting the area with foreign objects. Those scabs will fall off on their own. Touching, poking, or scraping on them increases the risk of hemorrhage and you don’t want that.
Many Otoraryngologists, or ear, nose and throat, (ENT) specialists recommend eating a somewhat rough diet, (think dry toast), to keep the affected area clear of excessive tonsillectomy scab build-up. This advice is most often given in the United Kingdom and Australia. Most ENT’s in the United States advise a soft diet.
Which ever route you take, there will likely be formation of tissue that covers the tonsil beds. I recommend following the advice I give in other pages of this site; keep the throat moist, avoid sharp foods, stay hydrated, take pain medications on schedule, sleep upright if possible, and leave those tonsillectomy scabs alone. They will normally begin to slough of at about day seven or eight of your recovery.
What Happens When Tonsillectomy Scabs Fall Off
You may feel a sharp pain occasionally as the tonsillectomy scabs fall off. This is common. This is normal. There is a slight increase in risk of bleeding while tonsillectomy scabs fall off. If you do have some bleeding, try gargling with ice cold water. This will usually stop the bleeding. If this doesn’t work, and bleeding becomes profuse, call 911 or get to a hospital immediately. Don’t panic. In there relatively rare cases, health care professionals have great success at stopping the bleed.
Daily Photos of Throat After Tonsillectomy. Caution: Scabs
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Nothing tastes like it should. I’m at one week as of this morning since surgery. I go in for a follow up tomorrow and I believe I now have thrush. Like the pain from tearing out tissue that’s been in there for 44 years wasn’t enough. Thrush is common after a tonsillectomy because of the environment and I’m on antibiotics. I’m going to eat a big juicy steak when I’m back to normal.
This is a greAt blog, I think I hAve thrush and I have not seen this anywhere else so thank you for this.
Hey I had my tonsils out on 20th April for the past 3 days I have had a foul taste in my mouth it is actually making me not want to eat any food it is that disgusting is this normal
I just got mine taken out last Tuesday, so I am on day 6 and when i tried to eat jello, it tasted HORRIBLE. i’m currently drinking an ice cold sprite, feels weird on the throat, but no pain. just sip on it. It tastes sooo good!
I’m day 3 and just now able to eat mashed potatoes but it’s difficult cause I can smell my breath. Does it get better? I’ve been up all night from pain killers keeping me up but I’m able to drink today compared to the first 2 days
I am 13 and got my tonsil out 6 days ago. I am on day six and today and yesterday were probably the worst days but let’s start from day one.I woke up from the surgery crying but my throat did not hurt. Day one was probably the best day the drugs were still active that they gave me at the hospital. The only bad part about day one is that your jaw will hurt from them holding open your mouth. The first night is also the easiest so far. The second day I got my narcodics which were $150. The rest of that day was pretty fun the drugs helped and I drank a freeze from taco bell and got tropical smoothie. Day three I woke up in the worst pain at three in the morning this pain was stinging and burning and I cried and even after drinking hot cold and room temp water neither of them worked and I did not want to bug my mom to get me tylenol three with codine the drugs they gave me so I payed their and watched youtube on my phone until finally I went to bed. When I woke up the pain was not that bad until about noon when I asked really told my grandma to go get me tropical smoothie. It really helped. That night I actually grew the balls to go shopping with my mom and Imwas fine but the only bad part is that you can only take the drugs every four hours and they share off in two so you take the pills which where off in one so you have a hour of hell. Day four my sister had a dance competition and this was friday so I payed at home all day until we had to pick her up from school to bring her. I mostly slept all day but set a alarm so Icould wake up to take the drugs. We also picked up my friend from school and brought her to the dance competition and at the competition Insat in the lunch room of the school and drank a smoothie and almost fell asleep. We then brought my friend home and I went home and went to bed. Day five I was home alone I I kept coughing up brown dried up blood and my mouth tasted like a sewer. But the pain mess helped. Day six I woke up and ran to take my pain meds because of the stinging I then went back to bed then got up a hour or so later and my mom went to meijeir and we stopped and got a gyro from arby’s and i actually ate it the coughing still kept up. And my pills ran out but I finnaly pooped which i had not sense the morning of surgery and it was really water with chunks. As of right now typing this ,y throat hurts a little and I am laying on the couch. Some things to let you know is that peeing can be hard so if you can’t pee jumping up and down several times helps me and I stopped pain meds for half a day and peeed fine and normal and pooping is hard do take milk with manesia it helps and the next morning your ass will be a volcano. Good luck and I hope you feel better and don’t feel like hell.
Well I must be the dumbest one of all. I am a 44 year old male truckdriver first of all. I’ve been driving for 20+ years. I’ve noticed in the past 6-8 months I’ve not been sleeping very well and very tired during the day. So I raised my hand and was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. CPAP was my next step. It didn’t really seem to help much. So then I was referred to an ENT. He looked and said those need to come out. I should have walked away. I had surgery last Monday 04/17/17. I am going on day 7. I’ve never been in so much pain in my life. I’ve forced myself to eat near regular food. I had Penn Station the next day. Some meals included pork roast, and sausage. I’ve eaten twice in 5 days. Mac and Cheese is about all I can stand. Applesauce was tolerable at first but not anymore. Anything acidic is a no no. My water has to be room temp and it is still like swallowing lava. All my meds have been in pill form. By the looks of it, my scabs are almost gone. I’ve been on antibiotics from day one but I think I’ve gotten an infection anyway. An ice pack on my neck keeps me from loosing my mind. I did very little research before hand. I had shoulder surgery about three years ago and that was a walk in the park compared to this. I’ve tried to stay hydrated but when you have to choose drinking lava verses a dull pain…you can guess. I’ve read a few stories on here but I didn’t see any at my age. I know it will get better or I’ll die. Either way I’ll have relief. It would be nice if I had my mom around. I lost her 11 years ago to cancer. Good luck and try to let this be your last resort.
I am a 41 yo female who is 7 days ahead of you (surgery was on 4/10/17). I couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve said, but I pushed the water and it really did help. I was really surprised at how easily I got dehydrated which made things even worse. Outshine makes these fruit and veggie pops that were about all I could eat for a week and a half, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep up with the meds and drink water like crazy. The throat ice packs really helped me from losing it too. I’ve had 3 kids in the last 7 years, one with no epidural, and I’d do that a thousand times over before the tonsillectomy again. Yes, it’s scary, but it does get better. Good luck to you!
Hi guys day 10 major part of my stabbing came off today. Not painful but I am.now ridiculously nauseated. Is this normal? Anyone else have this issue
Also noteworthy is I had a up3 at the sametime