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 having the most hell of my life guys. I stopped taking prescription medications because they did nothing for me. I just bought a lot of 32 oz Gatorades from Family Dollar and 200 Aleve tabs for $15. Even though I was told not to take Motrin, it helped better than the Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen or the Oxycodone/Acetaminophen they prescribed me. I like Aleve better though. I had my surgery on 6/2/16. My biggest complaints are uncontrolled excessive drooling and spit ups, pain and swelling, and tough swallowing. There were times I ate solid foods, jello, oatmeal, and cinnamon applesauce. I’ve made a couple of mistakes by drinking 100% cranberry juice from Ocean Spray. I know it’s the summertime and ACs are necessary but if you can get a Cool Mist Humidier, it could help with dry throat. If I could go back I would have never went through with this. To me, it’s not worth it. But I hated the tonsil stones and sore throats. I know so many have different experiences with tonsillectomy recovery, some good some bad. I wish everyone well and hope their recovery is faster than normal. God bless you guys.
Are the scabs big globs that feel mooshy? I’m on my day 5 yet I think my scabs fell off already.
day 11 of my recovery….had a couple episodes of violent bleeding when some scabs came off..terrifying when that happens but talked to doc, gargled ice water, and after a few minutes of time it stopped. I did go to ER the first time as recommended by my doc, they only monitored though in case the bleeding did NOT stop and then they would’ve had to put be back under and re cauterized the area. Luckily I did not have to do that. Still have a lot of scabs to go but it is getting better.
I have found that you must drink tons of water and stay away from anything that might cause dry mouth as that will make it worse.
can not wait to get back to my normal routine and eating habits….really craving tacos!
What does the scabs look like.?
I can defiantly relate to what you said about being excited for a normal routine again. Even foods I hate look so yummy right now.
I’m on day 6.5 and am going nuts from feeling the scabs touching the back of my tongue. To me that is the worst part, not the pain or lack of good food. I just want to pull them out of my mouth because I want to gag and the feeling is awful ! ?
I don’t see the end of the tunnel and mentally that is tough…
This is my issue. Today, it feels like I have tons of trash wrapped around the back of my tongue. I’m on day 7 ????
Today is day day 11 for me post surgery and its gotten a tad worse pain wise. I feel like I have a scab on the right tonsil that is too sharp so its poking the adjacent wall where the tonsil was. I can see it protruding and the pain is there even when I am just sitting and doing nothing. Sometimes I feel like taking a tweezer and pulling it out -.- I stopped all painkillers around day 5 due to the constipation from the Vicodin. That was not fun. The worst is the loss of weight. I lost 10lbs because of this liquid diet and I am not a big guy so people notice it right away.
The pain was manageable and I started eating solid food around day 8. The bad taste/smell from the scabs went away after day 9 for me. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but not yet unfortunately.