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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24 yr old male. T&A both removed, septoplasty and turbninate reduction done.
5 days post op
maybe I’m just lucky, or it hasn’t hit me yet, but 5 days in and hardly any pain, (knocking on wood)
Some initial adjustment pain, getting used to swallowing, inner ear discomfort as well as my nose being completely closed shut with scabs from my sinus surgery.
I spit up tiny bits of blood throughout the day, really more of annoyance then anything to worry about.
I drink over a gallon of water a day, diet has been ok, doctor adviced me to tough it out and stay consistent with a soft diet until my recovery is over, so I have been. Apple suace, jello, popsicle, ramen is actually really nice ( just a pinch of seasoning and brothe), had some refried beans today, felt fine. I’m gonna stop pushing My luck here.
I go for a walk around the block 2-3 times a day, I spend every other moment next to my humidifier, and gallon of water.
only 5 days down so I might be a bit preemptive here. But if nothing changes I will tell you the #1 key to my luck.
I spent 20-30 hours researching all the surgeons in my area and found mine after to have the best reviews, track record, and overall notoriety.
It’s easy to read and find out what to do for self care during your recovery, but if your gonna have a surgery of any kind, go get the best in the field.
Good luck to everyone, look forward to the future
Update day 12
Been an easy recovery honestly
Very minimal pain, except for my check up with my doctor where he looked at my sinuses and pulled out my stints and spacer, painful but quick.
Not a bad recovery at all, scabs 98% gone, eating most stuff fine, sharp still hurts, but acid doesn’t.
Still taking care of myself, medicine, water, walking, humidifier.
Tips, find a good surgeron, be serious about your recovery, pray for the pain not to be to bad, tough it out for 2-3 weeks, enjoy the rest of your life.
Peace and love to everyone
28 yr old female-I had mine removed on 7/10, so I’m on day 5. Doc gave me hydrocodone and a steroid to use just on days 4 and 6 (with no explanation???). Anyway…been needing the meds pretty regularly but able to eat st least yogurt everyday. Worried about running out…I don’t know if my scabs have come off yet (honestly I’m afraid to look in there and can’t open my mouth that wide yet) and I saw some people are taking ibuprofen?? I was told Tylenol only since ibuprofen thins blood and can make any bleeding worse, to avoid it “or else.” However Tylenol does nothing for me (never has…chronic pain sufferer here ftw). Is ibuprofen in moderation alright? (Of course my doc can’t be bothered on a weekend…). I have no weird health issues other than my current lack of tonsils. Also I’m terrified for the pain upcoming that I keep reading about! Thanks!
Hi all! 30 yr old male here. Doctors are Having my tonsils removed because of my sleep apnea and overly-aggressive strep throat I was prone to getting.
I Had my tonsils removed on the 5th of July. So I’m on day ten now.
The first few days were easy. Painful, but bearable with meds.
Come day 8: pain was too intolerable to eat anything. Which garnered a massive headache. But around 7 pm I went to lie down and almost immediately felt a rush of warm liquid in my throat that was filling my mouth very quickly. I sit up and lean over my cupped hands and out pours the blood. I run over to the sink in a panic and try to get some ice water down but the blood is coming out too fast for me to even swallow. I have my mother, who is taking watch over me during his time, call 911 and by the time the ambulance arrives (in about 5 minutes) I had lost more than 30 ounces of blood. I know this because I had a vomit bag from the ER I was bleeding into which happens to have measuring lines. By the time I got to the hospital it had topped off well over the final measure of 40oz. My hands and face were covered in blood and it looked like a vampire who just had a meal.
The bleeding ended up clotting and stopping on its own so they had me gargle with ice water, spit, and repeat for about 20 minutes until the on-call ENT doc arrived and applied numbing spray so she could recauterize with silver nitrate sticks. I gagged so hard I accidentally hit her face while trying to push her hand out of my mouth. (She handled it like a champ)
After observing me for a few hours I was sent packing with new pain meds and slightly positive outlook.
Less than 24 hrs later on day 9:
I had a smoothie in the morning and soy yogurt with applesauce in the afternoon as a vessel for my Percocets. When 6 o clock rolls around I feel the same sensation in my throat as I did the evening before and I knew immediately it was coming. And it did. So I reach for another bio bag immediately, open my mouth, and the nightmare begins again… I had my mother drive me to the ER this time as I felt a little more confident I wouldn’t bleed to death. The volume was half the amount from the previous night and clotted a lot faster, thankfully. I was still admitted to the ER to be safe.
They were going to perform another operation but decided not to since the bleeding stopped on its own. So they gave me an epinephrine mask treatment in an attempt to constrict the blood vessels and sent me home.
So here I am Day 10. Just praying to every god I can think of that I will not have to make another trip to the hospital or morgue.
And after reading over 150 different testimonies on here and other sites regarding this procedure, and seeing no accounts with anything even close to mine, I’m going to have to assume my doctor made a grave error during my procedure. So folks, make sure you have a really good doctor if you’re considering this surgery.
I’m not sure you’re a religious man or believe in god but I will be praying for you. I hope and pray that you make it through without anymore issues.
Wow Sean! What a story! Thanks for sharing. I wish you the best of health
Please keep the site updated, its important to all of us, hope it worked out
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and support.
Day 11 here, 2 days after my last ER visit.
I’ve been feeling very weak. Getting up to do anything is proving to be very difficult. The pain is very prominent where my wound came open, and it resonates deep into my ear canal any time I drink anything.
With that said, I’ve been drinking ice water non stop in an attempt to make sure my wound will stay closed and I think it’s been working.
Ive only been able to drink my meals still. Yesterday I had one and a half of those “Ensure” nutritional shakes, a small cup of soup, and a popsicle. Felt good to have something in my system, but the boost is short lived.
I haven’t been taking pain killers as the relief hasn’t even been close to worth the agony it takes to get them down.
I tasted blood again just now for the first time since Friday. I can feel the scabs in my throat, some coming off, some stuck.
Trying to keep a positive outlook is tough considering every time I’ve felt good I end up in the ER. So I’ll stay realistic about all possibilities and just hope for the best.
I’ll keep you all posted as the days go on.
Wishing you all the best.
Update: day 12
2am: I shoot up out of my sleep to the same sensation as before and sure enough. Blood again. Im already so familiar with this routine I’m practically dancing effortlessly all the way back to the ER. Thankfully the amount of blood this time was nothing compared to the previous visits.
So little in fact the on-call ENT doc didn’t need to come in. But I was given another epinephrine mask treatment to constrict the blood vessels once more. And after a few hours under close watch I was sent home with the words “I think you’ve made it through the worst”. As relieving as it was to hear those words from the doctor, I’m not going to hold my breath just yet.
Surprisingly enough, from what the eye can see, my throats looks like it’s healed almost completely. But it certainly feels the opposite of how it looks. Anyway, I’m praying the doctor is right. I can’t go much longer without eating solid foods.
I hope y’all are doing better than me.
Best.
Man, 99% positive you had a botched surgery/ bad doc. Good on you to make it through a experience like that, stuff of nightmares, enjoy the future.
Day 12 of recovery. Got off the pain medicine yesterday as it became manageable. All that managed yet to eat were loads of soy ice cream and blended puree veggie soups (room temperature) which actually is really quick and easy to swallow so nothing gets stuck in the scabs and cause more pain. Noticed some bleeding on one of the tonsils but seems to not to be major so hoping that will stop. Hoping it heals soon and thinking I’ll try solid foods next week.
30 yo female. Just had surgery on 7/7. Days 1-3 were definitely the hardest so far. Day 4 and 5 felt very manageable with alternating hydrocodone and ibuprofen, but then had a little blood in the evening on day 5. This freaked me out big team but luckily it stopped pretty quickly.
In looking at my throat it doesn’t look like my scabs are starting to come off at all which is depressing. I’ve eaten soft foods since day one, pushing through the pain to try to help. I’ve had soft bread and butter, jello, popsicles, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, applesauce, slushees with snow cone syrup, lots of soups and broths (warm feels so much better than cold), and tons of water.
1. What day of recovery did most of you see scabs coming off?
2. What helped with ^^ process to reduce chances of bleeding and pain?
3. On day 6 (today) my left side hurts pretty low into my throat, my left tooth and left side of tongue is tingly. Is it normal that one side heals differently or was this anyone’s experience with an infection?
4. How long were you guys constituted for?
Thanks and good luck to all. I’m totally hoping this was all worth it in the end but this recovery is worse than anything I’ve experienced. Keep in mind I had mono/strep at the same time, kidney stones, and a c section. Parts were way better than I predicted (waking up from surgery, being able to eat, sleeping, and I had no nausea issues). Parts have been way worse though (the level of pain- and I have very high pain tolerance, the referred pain in your ears, head, jaw, tongue and teeth, and the way medicine burns but missing a disengage is brutal)