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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I’m a little worried after reading all of these. I had my tonsils taken out on Oct. 6 and it’s day 6 post op now and I haven’t been able to consume more than 1 tea and 1 popsicle a day which I make myself have. No sipping water at this point the pain is so bad I’d rather die? So I have a tea and it’s better. One day I had two teas because it felt actually nice. The pain is so unbelievable I’ve lost certainly 10 pounds. I have not pooped nor will I take the stool softeners because that’s just more things going into my throat. I don’t think I have anything to poop out? I don’t feel bloated at the mean time. I did mix powder laxatives into tea one day but nothing came from it. My tongue is the worst it’s so swollen and it feels like it’s cut up on the sides and it rubs on the scabs when I open my mouth. I don’t know what to do I’m taking my medicine but it seems it should be every 3 not 4 hours because that last hour I am wiggling in bed in pain it wakes me up at night even. I haven’t slept more than 2 hours straight in a week. Isee posts that everyone by day 6 is eating pasta and eggs?!?! Is that less painful then pudding and popsicles because that’s already unbearable. I tried mashed potatoes that wasn’t happening either! Someone help me.
That’s crazy, I had mine taken out on the 6th as well and I haven’t felt like eating but I am able to eat very little amounts of bread and pasta for dinner. And my pain is still there but I’ve eased up on the pain meds a lot
Maybe speak to your ENT about it? I hope you get better soon!!
I just had my tonsils out and this happened to me.I didn’t eat for the FIRST 5 DAYS after my surgery.My mother, who was taking care of me, was worried and called my doctor and he said that it’s normal after a tonsillectomy.I have lost over 30 pounds in just two weeks.I haven’t ate a whole lot but I have slowly began eating at least one meal a day.I didn’t poop that much either, but I did pee a lot.I didn’t start eating a whole lot until maybe 12 days after my surgery.My doctor said that as long as your drink, you don’t have to eat a whole lot.So just DRINK a lot and you should be okay.Each recovery is different,so don’t be alarmed if someone didn’t have this problem.Hope I helped.If you don’t began eating on your 12 day, than check up with your ENT doctor.
I too am very rough I know I have to swallow the meds but brings tears to my eyes each time its like swallowing razor blades. I had mine done on the 12th October and im dreading the next few days.
Try a teaspoon of cold press coconut oil, it soothes on contact, doesn’t last long but helps with the break through pain I am no day 5 from, my uppp, tonsilectomy, and septoplasty. Give it a try it may work for you!
I had mine out also October 12th I find eating crushed ice first thing when I wake up helps soothe my throat and feels like it’s taking the swelling down. I crush up my 600mg Ibuprofen and put it in plain yogurt or applesauce. I haven’t taking my oxycodone since Sunday. I’m able to eat watered down chicken noodle soup minus the chicken , mashed potatoes minus salt and butter very bland. I’m experiencing ear pain but the ibuprofen takes care of it. Waiting for the scabs to fall off
I have found that if you block your ears as you swallow the pills it doesn’t hurt!! Crazy I know, but I am 7 days post and it’s the only way I can take them!!
Hi! I had my surgery Oct 13. I’m on day 6. I don’t eat much besides maybe a popsicle and some soup broth but that’s about it every day. I also have had some pudding. I get down as much water as I can but it hurts really bad. I haven’t lost any scabs yet. I have to take my pain meds often and I am with you on that, my mouth hurts like hell when it’s the last hour! I haven’t popped either and I’ve lost about 6 pounds. My mouth feels okay but my uvula feels swollen and I keep choking on either that or the scabs. I hate this and can’t wait to be feeling better
34/yr old F…Just got double -surgery last Monday (Oct.2nd) tonsillectomy and septoplasty (to correct deviated septum) I also had the adenoid removal, turbinate tissue reduction, and had a bone spur up in there that needed to be filed down/removed- whatever TF they do….I got some s**t goin on up in there, to say the least. I have been experiencing some things that aren’t fully explained by posts I’ve found on just tonsillectomies alone. Today is my Day 7 post-surgery. I have scabs and all the fun stuff; I still have my plastic stints in my nose, but throat pain is unreal, frickin’ unreal. My surgeon explained why my procedure would be worse in terms of pain because with the septoplasty alone causes dry/sore throat from mouth breathing, but together with the pain from tonsillectomy, I have been miserable for the last 5 days. The worse thing I’m experiencing at the moment and for the past 3 days especially, is coughing up excess phlegm and having an overwhelming compulsion to hock up loogies(like sucking up phlegm from sinuses into the throat and then spitting it up) it’s effing disgusting, but there’s always blood in it and it’s also chunky-ish mucous so I can’t really tell if it is my scabs coming off slowly or just my nose draining down my throat as the septoplasty wounds are healing. This is all gross! I haven’t thrown up; I have a pretty strong stomach in general. The pain is worse after sleeping or being still for a couple of hours. Up until my 5th day I could not get more than 15-20 minutes of sleep at a time. Being forced to mouth-breath from septoplasty would make my mouth and throat so unbearably dry that I would wake up gasping for air sometimes until i sat up and drank water. The severe dryness makes my throat burn like Satan’s asshole after a burrito, foreal . And this is while still being properly propped-up in bed as recommended! I have been hungry enough, and already in intense pain enough, to go where no tonsillectomy patient has gone before with food….i actually choked down a bacon n swiss buttery jack burger from Jack in the Box on Friday (Day 5) i cut it into 4’s like lil sliders and choked that mutha down. My friend Shawnna just watched me wince in pain with every bite i took and shook her head. Dude…this is not at all recommended. I may have scratched the sensitive tissue on my throat but i didn’t have bleeding from it, it just hurt like B****. Only lost 5-6lbs the first week so not too bad. Taking the pain meds certainly helps when eating, and likewise eating helps the pain meds absorb quicker and greatly minimizes nausea. I Neti-potted for the first time before finding this message board. Got a couple of smaller clots to flush out but still not enough to feel a huge difference. It still helps clean/sanitize everything up in there regardless. The Neti-pot is a must!! Mine is more like a Neti-squeeze bottle. Anyhoo if there is anyone reading this that has successfully recovered from a dual surgical Tonsillectomy/ Septoplasty procedure and has some advice, please reply!! Thanks and get well out there
Im 32 y o, female. I had my tonsils and adenoids taken out on October 3 so this is day 5 for me. I had no vomiting, thank goodness. Pain was up there but stayed on top of my pain med and water. Didnt eat anything fully until day 3 which was jello, applesauce, and popsicles. I brought scrambled eggs into my diet today, day 5, which tasted amazing. Youre not suppose to cough, clear throat, and I choked on my water which made me scared because my ent doctor told me it can cause bleeding so I got scared. But no bleeding. Earlier I felt a sharp pain in my mouth as I was waking up and noticed scabbing now. So Im counting down on when they’ll fall off! Im reading horror stories and its making me nervous. My ent doctor said theres a 2% chance of people bleeding more and going to emergency room so Im hoping Im not in that 2%. Im using my humidifier and ice pack which are helping. Ive lost 14 lbs which isnt good but when you have no appetite or pain, you dont feel up to eating. The doctors say with age, it gets worse for tonsils and adenoids to heal up and I believe it. My little cousin was back to herself in less than 10 days when she had hers taken out. I had my removed due to sleep apnea so Im hoping this will all be worth it! So stay hydrated, take your pain meds, eat soft foods for 2 weeks unless dr says otherwise, and best if luck to you all! Speedy recovery for all!
I did forget to mention I had ear pain like no other!! So my pain med really helped on day 3 and day 4. Im able to talk more without getting sore. Sleeping upright does help me out.
I am struggling with the ear pain too. Do yours crackle too?
My surgery was Oct 2! I tried scrambled eggs on day 4 i think and it felt like it actually crumbled and got wedged in my tonsil scabs and swollen tissue. It was awful! I thought eggs were a soft, safety food for us! I had to gently gargle with warm water until it felt like the crumbles weren’t stuck and scratching my throat
I’m 21 years old and I had my tonsillectomy on 9/28/17. The day of my surgery was scary for me since I’ve never had surgery, which mean I have never been put under anesthesia. When I woke up, it just felt as though I had a slight sore throat. The doctor said the infection was a lot deeper than he antisipated but there were no complications and all went well and I did not have to have my adnoids taken out because they were small. I went home about an hour to an hour and a half after I woke up. Throughout the day I had some pain and I started taking my pain meds, which didn’t really work the first few days. I woke up about 4 times during that night. Day 2 I was in a crazy amount of pain. I read that the first two days aren’t terrible, but not everyone recovers the same. I called the doctor and he told me to take my pain meds and Advil on and off and that seemed to help a little bit. The second night seemed to be about the same as the first considering I slept sitting up. On day 3 the pain was overbearing. It hurt to eat anything and all I could do was drink water all day. I opted to sleep on the couch with my head on the arm and i only woke up about twice during the night. The next couple of days were ok. The pain wasn’t too bad and the meds seemed to be working together. I felt pretty drowsy throughout this recovery as well. I’m not on day 6 post op and I’m decreasing the amount of pain meds I’m taking because the pain is pretty bearable. I’m hoping, within the next few days, I’ll be feeling a lot better. My main advise is that water will be your absolute best friend throughout your recovery. Just be patient. You’re strong lee than you think!
I had my tonsillectomy on 9/28/17. The surgery went well and about 6 hours later after I got home and the pain meds wore off I was in some pain. Day 2 I actually felt great not to much pain. Was taking my pain meds around the clock which honestly didn’t help too much for me and it kept me awake instead of sleeping. Day 3 was the worst of the pain. I slept all day long from morning until night. I also had a slight fever on day 3. I was so swollen it was hard for me to keep myself hydrated. Day 4 I woke up with some pain still which could have been caused from acid fly sleeping with my mouth open and becoming dry. Towards the afternoon of day 4 I started to feel a bit better. I am now on day 5 and the pain isn’t to bad today. When I cough or yawn it hurts. The scabs are still there and doesn’t look like they will be falling off anytime soon. I rotated Tylenol and Motrin every 2 hours which helped way more than the pain meds for me. You also don’t want to take the pain meds around the clock if you can stick it out because you can become constipated. The experience is not a fun one that’s for sure. But a few people I have spoken with have said it is def worth it and once you start the process there is no going back besides sticking it out and being a tough cookie. But lots of fluids, pain meds, and soft and cold foods. 🙂
I meant to put I am a 29 y/o female