tonsilectomy recovery time

Ouchy! · Newbie Joined: 01 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

Okay well i had mine out about 8 days ago today. What can i say it was great , actually it was very sore......what i will say is that their is no way to tell how the next person will react.

Unlike the previous poster, i was able to eat crisps, although these should be plain with no flavouring, as these tend to set off the ulsers that can form where your Tonsils used to sit.

The first couple od days are awkward, for me day 5 and 6 where bad, but as soon as i got over this is been steadily getting better every day now, to can just about eat most foods, except chocolate (again the ulscers are trigger by this).

Have plenty of ice packs prepared for drinks etc.

Try to eat, even if it takes you about a hour to eat some bread ( i found eating the soft inner part of the bread possible at my worse points), drinking liquids didnt really prove a big problem for me.

But htis is my biggest piece of advice.

As painkillers go Voltarol Dispersable is simply amazing, offering about 5 hours of near total relief at a time (although again eating could set off some painful pangs), again take your time rest then eat again.

The great thing about Voltarol is that it mixes with water easily, and only take about 3 mouthsfuls to take, plus should they wear off till your next dose, you can take sommin like Co-codamol to tie you over.

I Hope this helps, anoth little thing i did to help me mentally, i printed on A4 and hung on my wall..."youll sonn be back to your normal self"...some reason that really helped, as i though ahead that this time next year ill have forgotten about it, and be Sore throat free! Very Happy

kmmp · Newbie Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 2

I had my tonsillectomy and two other procedures last Thurs (7/13). One procedure was called a UPP and the other had something to do with scraping my nasal passages to make breathing easier. The doctor had warned me that on a scale of 1 to 10, my throat would be a 9.5 and my nose would be a 4. He wasn't kidding!!! After the 2nd day, my nose plugged up and I couldn't breathe except through my mouth which hurt that too.
This is day 7 and it still hurts like hell. It's just that the pain isn't constant--it comes and goes in waves now. I can feel the scabs healing at the back of my throat and they make me cough. I liked cold stuff at first but now that hurts my ears. So I've switched to lukewarm broth and jello. I'm tired of being hungry all the time. Liquids are hard to swallow. Popsicles did work for a while but now I really have to smush them up to warm them a bit. I tried some over-cooked ramen noodles and got down about 2 tablespoons of that today with a little more chicken broth.
I expected the white scabs at the back of my throat but my tongue is sore too and coated with thick white stuff. I have to get it off with a tongue scraper and that doesn't work that well.
I can't wait till the day that I can look back on this as just a memory. I'm a school teacher on vacation but I still wasn't ready to sacrifice so much of my summer vacation for this!
Good luck to the rest of you!

kmmp · Newbie Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 2

I had my tonsillectomy and two other procedures last Thurs (7/13). One procedure was called a UPP and the other had something to do with scraping my nasal passages to make breathing easier. The doctor had warned me that on a scale of 1 to 10, my throat would be a 9.5 and my nose would be a 4. He wasn't kidding!!! After the 2nd day, my nose plugged up and I couldn't breathe except through my mouth which hurt that too.
They gave me pills of percocet which hurt to take cause they're so huge. I hate crushing them cause they taste awful too.
This is day 7 and it still hurts like hell. It's just that the pain isn't constant--it comes and goes in waves now. I can feel the scabs healing at the back of my throat and they make me cough. I liked cold stuff at first but now that hurts my ears. So I've switched to lukewarm broth and jello. I'm tired of being hungry all the time. Liquids are hard to swallow. Popsicles did work for a while but now I really have to smush them up to warm them a bit. I tried some over-cooked ramen noodles and got down about 2 tablespoons of that today with a little more chicken broth.
I expected the white scabs at the back of my throat but my tongue is sore too and coated with thick white stuff. I have to get it off with a tongue scraper and that doesn't work that well.
I can't wait till the day that I can look back on this as just a memory. I'm a school teacher on vacation but I still wasn't ready to sacrifice so much of my summer vacation for this!
Good luck to the rest of you!

Guest · Guest

Hi I am male, 20 years old and I am on day 8 after having my tonsils out. Like others have said, the older you are, the longer it is going to take to heal so the more pain your going to have to go through. Starting yesterday the pain was a tad worse than usual. It hurts quite a bit now because I just woke up. You'll always feel worst when waking up. I had abnormally large tonsils when they took them out so my healing time will take longer. Not looking forward to it....

Eating soft foods such as chicken noodle soup, jello, pudding, scrambled eggs, pasta, and ice cream has been the way to go for me. It is still hard to swallow so you might find that you won't eat as much as you normally do just because it would hurt too much. But definitely take your time to make sure you get something down. I have tried my best and have still lost 18 pounds.

I have not had to go back to the hospital for any reason, I had the scabs break on me once and sat around spitting up blood for a good hour but it healed back up on its own. I wouldn't recommend waiting around though if it's severe spitting up. A buddy of mine lost about half a pint of blood when his broke and we took him in to get it stopped.

Rating of the average pain from day to day on a scale of 1-10 without pain meds is a 5 I'd say, with pain meds a 3. Depending on what your eating expect around a 6 or 7, you'll feel that bad in the morning as well. To the person who asked if you are supposed to try and eat rough stuff to break up the scabs that is false. It will break up the scabs, cause lots of bleeding and possible scarring in the back of your throat, and end up putting you back in the hospital. When I left the hospital the day after the surgery they even sent me home with a list of things to eat and in big bold letters it says DO NOT EAT ROUGH FOODS. Also avoid hot and spicy foods for obvious reasons.

Guest · Guest

Hello everyone. I am a 19 year old male, and I am on my tenth day of tonsillectomy Recovery. I wanted to share some insight.

I went to the hospital at 530 AM with my parents and my partner, and my surgery started around 8. I woke up in post op at 9 and they gave me morphine for pain, and a drug for nausea. At then they took me to the post op room where I was allowed to see my parents again. Around 11 they gave me my first dose of roxicet which was liquid percocet, and then they sent me home. The first day wasn't bad at all, but that evening when the morphine wore off the pain got really bad.

Days 2-4 were ok. Most of them were spent in a haze from the drugs, but they were bareable. I didn't really take in any food, but I did drink a lot. Day five is when the roxicet started to really upset my stomach. I had to go off of it and just take regular tylenol. On day six I went back to my parent's house from my apartment because it is true that days 5-8 ish are the worst. The scabs started to fall off, and the pain was so bad that I went back on the roxicet upset stomach and all. As the scabs start to fall off, there is a ton of mucous causing nausea, you will spit out chunks of it which is aweful, and the referred ear pain is UNBEARABLE!

By day 7 I was pretty much through the woods with the pain. Now I only really have trouble when I wake up from sleep. Oh... and the first sneeze I had after... OH MY GOSH! it was so painful.

MAKE SURE! that you have someone with you for this recovery. It is so depressing. You feel like you will never get better, and you feel like a burden because you litterally can't do anything but think of the pain.

Here are some things that helped me.

Chew gum... it helps flush the mucous and keep your throat wet.
Put Ice on your ears... it helps with the ear pain.
DO NOT take pain meds on an empty stomach... this causes nausea.
Soak in warm water... this helps you to relax.
Drink Room Temp. water... The cold water seems to be harsh on the throat.

Guys it is a REALLY rough recovery, but if you need it DO IT! It is really worth it... just have a loved one with you and take as much care as you can... good luck!

OKLAMB73 · Newbie Joined: 18 Aug 2006 Posts: 1

I am a 21 year old female and I had my tonsils and adenoids out exactly one week ago today. I can say I am really glad that I didn't read all of the posts about it until now, I don't think I would have had the operation!

My recovery has gone fairly smoothly, no trips to the hospital. I couldn't talk very well for the first few days, a note pad helped for that. Popsicles (not anything citrus or too extreme on the flavor), cold soups (yes they make those!), luke warm or iced black tea- no lemon, yougurt smoothies, gatorade and lots of rest have brought me to a decent state.

I agree with the ban on scratchy foods, they don't seem like a great idea even still. I have managed some macaroni and other pasta, and cold green tea smoothies now.

I was pleasantly surprised to wake up this morning with minimal pain and to realize that I hadn't had pain meds in my system for 3-4 hrs was even better.

I can't say much as to the weight loss as I have no scale at home, however when I got dressed yesterday I had to wear a belt with jeans that were tight last week, so I am guessing I fall into the category of losing weight.

Really the best person to ask about the surgery is your surgeon. REquest meds for anti-nausea especially if you have had post op nausea before. Also talk to your anesthesiologist about nausea prevention, they can do a lot for you these days.

If you have an option for a radio wave technique in your surgery I highly recomend it, that is what I had and it seems I had a very mild surgery compared to most.

I hope that this has provided some hope and insight for what to stock up on pre surgery for a healthy recovery.

Guest · Guest

I am 40 and had my tonsils out 3 days ago. I also had a deviated septum corrected at the same time.

So my nose is plugged, which makes swallowing even more difficult.

Yes, th pain is bad. I would agree that days 2-3 are worse than day 1, when all that morophine was still in the body.

I have been fortunate that I have been able to eat soft foods from day 1. Noodles, soft bread, juice (no citrus), water, jello, pudding, popsicles, even iced coffee. Had a meatball yesterday evening. Eat slowly, chew well, if it goes down, then great.

Sleeping is OK, but because of the nose, my mouth gets excessively dried out. I keep some soda water next to me, I find the bubbles help bread down the mucus that invariably builds up in the mouth. Cold is not a problem for me, hot, citrus, spicy and chocholate are.

This afternoon I'll get the splints out of my nose and HOPEFULLY be able to breathe through there.

I have a presentation to give in 6 days, so i'm hoping that much of the pain will be gone by them. Referred ear pain began yesterday.

Never had any nausea (whew).

Looking forward to life without the chronic infection. No matter the pain, this was worth it.

Guest · Guest

Get adequate pain relief. If the surgeon is not willing, ask your referring General practitioner. You will need to have something every 4 hours day and night to get through esp. day 3, 4 and 5.

surgent101 · Newbie Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

hi my name is steven i am 22 and i got home and the next day i ate kraft dinner i felt fine but the third day they just broke out of the blue i went to the hospital and the stitched it back while i was awake it felt like i was going to die worst paint nin my life i didnt talk after that and i was fine my advise is dont eat for the first few days

jackie11070 · Newbie Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 1

Today is day 8 for me... I am still in a lot of pain and the only medication I can take is extra stength tylenol (crushed up). The liquid lortab the doctor prescribed me made me throw up, which was very unpleasant. I usually wake up 3-4 times during the night coughing, which then leads to pain in my throat and ears. I used a humidifier last night, which helped with my throat drying out during the night, but I still woke up once or twice coughing up mucus. Other than the pain, the worst part of this whole thing is not being able to eat. I have lost about 10 pounds, and I will probably continue to loose more weight, until I fully recover, (which I'm hoping is soon). The best advice that I can give to anyone thinking about doing this procedure, is try to eat and drink as much as you can. Try drinking a slim fast in the morning, because it is a meal replacement so it has tons of vitamins and proteins that you would usually be getting, and it fills you up. Also, baby food fruit has been pretty good for me, it's not too thick so it goes down pretty smoothly. Cream of wheat in the morning, you can dilute it with water to make it pretty thin. Popsicles to soothe the throat, and vitamin water to drink, because it's healthy for you. I'm glad that I had this done, my tonsils were extremely large and I was having problems sleeping at night. It is a slow recovery, but I'm back at work already and just taking it easy. I've been extremely luck with not having any bleeding so far. I'm looking forward to my post-op appointment on Monday, and just waiting for the day that I can eat normally again... I'm starving!!! Good luck to anyone who is going to have this surgery done.

tonsilectomy recovery time

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