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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Ok so 45 year old female, thought having my sinuplasty, septoplasty and T&A all done at once would be a great way not to use all of my well deserved vacation days off! Additionally having them done over the holidays would save me an additional 3 days with pay, would save me from having to use all my sick time and vacation PTO, (hospital employed). Although I do not regret it, especially having to deal with more pain and anesthesia, the splints in my nose SUCK! And even though airflow is possible…through the nose, my eyes, nose and throat, toungue,(you name it) burns! Day five, so far has been the worst with my throat. But up until today, my nose has hurt more and I truly can’t wait to get these plastic splints out! Sleeping is ok, but waking with the driest mouth literally feels like shards/blades or combo of both! But I have followed the directions of no matter how bad it hurts, I drink as much as I can in several gulps and it helps! Sure it hurts, but if the pain I feel is as bad with drinking water, medication, Phenegrine and children’s Benadryl to coat my scabs, I do NOT want to know what it feels like, not drinking.
Water is my best friend! Everything else is just meh! Again, the splint come out Thursday and from there, it can only get better.
Hi, I’m a 20 years old female and I had my tonsils out on Dec. 21 (I know, what a Christmas). I’m currently in the sixth day post op and I can’t wait to be done with this process. It has been extremely difficult. The first days I was able to eat soup, baby food, mashed potatoes, apple juice and popsicles, that was pretty much it. I tried eating solid food but the pain in my throat was too much. The nights are the hardest part, since I haven’t been able to have a decent sleep, the pain in my ears always wake me up even if I have my medication on time, but luckily I found that a bag of ice works wonders.
Today I kind of freaked out because I woke up in the middle of the night to find my mouth full of blood- because the scabs apparently are coming off – (if you have this problem I suggest you go to the ER), I started gargling with cold water for a few minutes and the bleeding stopped.
It really helps to read how others experience this, since we all do it differently, and to maybe understand how this things work. I hope everyone has an awesome recuperation.
This is crazy! I’m 20 and got mine out December 21st this year!
Same here! Crazy… Got mine out 12/21 and today is the first day where I actually feel normal. I had an EXTREMELY hard time before this because for some reason ANYTHING cold going into my mouth would cause my tongue to burn and feel as if it was on fire. It took a few days for me to figure this out so the entire first 5 days post-surgery I was actually causing much of the pain that was making me put ice in my mouth. It was a vicious cycle.
I got a Septoplasty, Tonsillectomy, and a few other small nose things done. I absolutely underestimated the pain level of this surgery. LOL. All the pain was from the tonsillectomy, I barely felt any pain from the nasal stuff.
Still glad I did it though!
Female, 18 years old. 7 days post op, had mine the morning of the 15th. All i can say now is that i think that a most of my scabs came off because the pain i felt brought me to tears. If this happens to you, an ice pack helps and breathing too. Just know the worst of the pain goes away in a few seconds. Warm water with honey is my favorite drink. Also teas. Milk/warm milk before taking any pain killers stops nausea. i’ve had an ice pack on constantly since i got out of surgery. only upwards from here.
Day 8
I thought this was going to be a better day, but last night I woke up violently at 3:30 am spewing out blood. Freaking looked like cups, but sure it was not more than a cup. It took me about 5 minutes with cold ice water and ice packs to stop it. I was about to go to ER, but it stopped and called doctor. He said I was in the 5% of patients this happens to. Since bleeding stopped, that it all that one could do.
I’m pushed because I have been so good and kept hydrated, and careful. The pain has been awful, but last night down right has me scared. I still have one scar I believe… I cannot look. But now I have to rescar. Will that be like kicking this back days???
Hello everyone, I’ve been reading everyone’s story and thought I’d share mine as well. I’m a 23 (almost 24) year old female who got my tonsils out dec. 15th 2017. I was doing exceptionally well, I had pain but was able to eat mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, Mac n cheese and apple sauce all within the first couple of days! Two nights a go my stomach was growling and I decided to try to warm up a (turkey) hot dog in the microwave before taking my medicine in hopes that I’d get a better nights rest. I ate with no issues and took my hydrocodone at 12:00pm. Shortly after I woke up at 12:45 with blood in my mouth. I went to the bathroom thinking maybe it was just in my spit.. couldn’t be more wrong. I spent the entire night until 6:30am spitting/puking up blood and trying to get it to stop. The bleeding eventually stopped as I was able to sleep again. (If this happens to anybody I HIGHLY suggest going to the ER!) so basically the next morning I woke up insainly sore and was in so much pain. I looked in the back of my throat and there’s still one blood clot/scab back there waiting to fall off! It’s a medium sized bump! I was hoping to get somebody’s input if they’ve had this same thing? I’m extremely nervous about it falling off and me accidentally swallowing it, or worse me choking on it in public! (Maybe some irrational fears, but I feel at this point they’re pretty legitimate with my luck!) if anybody has ANY experience, suggestions or input please let me know! Thank you!
To stop the bleeding faster they say to gargle ice water for about 10 mins. Take a sip of the cold water every 20-30secs and don’t be too violent during the gargle. Do not panic.