Shooting pains in the throat after a tonsillectomy

Hello. I was awake for three nights when I had this surgery because I was not able to sleep from those sharp, ugly pains. It was like somebody took the knife and started to cut out the right side of my throat. Well, my doctor explained to me that this is just one of the possible tonsillectomy side effects and that a lot of people do complain about this. He told me that I need to be patient because he can't tell me exactly when this pain will go away, but he gave me some pain killers. To cut long story short, there is no doctor in this world who can tell you when this will exactly go away. You need to be patient and follow his instructions. 

This has been happening to me, too. I'm not sure what it is. I wish there were some answers.

Hi,

I am in day 12 and I am getting those shooting pains only on the right side and it feels like I am swallowing a razor blade. It just took me an hour to eat a bowl of soup.

Just woundering if you guys are still having those symtoms, because I had a tonsillectomy Sept.7,2006 and I STILL have a sore throat on one side with the sharp pain when I swollow, more like a pinching feeling. I also still have the ear pain.

What I have learned is the ear pain is normal, it is called reffered pain, it is suppose to go away when the throat heals %-)
I also have a swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck. It started on day 7 after my surgery. Steroids helped some but the problem is still very much there and I am still in very much disapare.

I hope for all of your sakes that you are fully recovered and leading your normal healthy happy lives, but if your still having problems please post them and maybe we can figure it out together. Happy New Year.

I am a 51-yr-old female and am in day 6 of tonsillectomy. I never thought pain this bad was possible. I keep getting sharp pains as well, with them shooting to my ears. I just read where gum helps the muscle spasms in the mouth - wish my doctor would have told me more. Also, I'm just now getting a vaporizer for the room where I sleep. I seem to get much worse at night. Hate the liquid pain meds - Hydrocodone. It made me violently ill the second day, but the relief from it is better than Tylenol 3 pills, so I'm back on it. What an ordeal. Find myself wishing my life away - wish the month of January was over! My friend's husband was 31 and had a sore throat for 3 months following his surgery last year.

Hang in there kmccord,you're gonna make it :-D
Make sure to eat as often and as much as you can, it will help you to feel better when taking the pain med. Also try to drink as much water as you can, it goes down better if drinking it through a straw.
Vanilla ice cream burns less than chocolate, and is good to coat your stomach. Boiled hot dogs and scrambled eggs worked well for me.
Good luck and wish you a speedy recovery.

I AM 16 YRS OLD AND HAD MY TONSILLECTOMY AUGUST 31st 2006. I HAD THE SAME PAINS IN MY THROAT. I DONT KNO WAT IT WAS BUT MY DOCTOR SAID IT WAS NORMAL. MY PAIN WAS ALWAYS WORST IN THE MORINING BECAUSE I WOULD SLEEP WITH MY MOUTH OPEN AND IT WOULD DRY OUT MY MOUTH. I HAD TO GET A VAPORIZER TO SLEEP WITH. CHEWING GUM DIDNT HELP ME AT ALL IT JUS MADE MY MOUTH TASTE NASTY. I COULDNT SWALLOW NOTHIN. THE THING THAT SOOTHED THE PAIN FOR ME WAS TAKIN CRUSHED ICE AND LETTIN IT MELT IN MY MOUTH. BUT ERYTIME I SWALLOWED IT FELT LIKE I WAS GETTIN STABBED IN DA BAK OF MY THROAT ALL DA WAY TO MY EAR. I DIDNT EAT ANYTHING FOR 4 DAYS AFTER THE SURGERY. AND I BARELY DRANK AS MUCH AS I WAS SUPPOSED TO. MY MOM DIDNT KNO CUZ ID POUR DA DRINK OUT WHEN SHE WOULD LEAVE AND SHE THINK ID DRUNK IT. WELL A WEEK AFTER MY SURGERY I WAS ON THE COMP AND I SNEEZED AND BLOOD WENT EVERYWHERE. I WAS BLEEDING REALLY BAD. I WENT TO THE HOSPITAL AND THEY SAID A SCAB HAD COME OFF. I HAD TO HAVE IT CAUTERIZED. WELL AFTER THAT MY THROAT GOT ALMOST 100% BETTER REAL QUICK LIKE. LIKE DA NEXT DAY AFTER DEY CAUTERIZED IT I WOKE UP IN DA HOSPITAL AND I COULD DRINK AND EAT JELLO AND EAT BROTH WITH NO PROBLEM IT DIDNT HURT NEMORE AT ALL. IT WAS WIERD BECAUSE DA DAY BEFORE I COULD BARELY SWALLOW. BUT YEA MY THROAT IS FINALLY HEALED NOW. BUT IN THE BOTTOM LEFT OF MY THROAT IT FEELS REALLY TIGHT WHEN I GET UP IN DA MORNING AND WHEN I OPEN MY MOUTH ITS LIKE IM STRETCHIN DA SKIN THERE. IT HURTS BUT IT GOES AWAY THRU THE COURSE OF DA DAY. AND ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY THROAT IT LOOK LIKE THE TONSIL IS GROWING BAK. I DONT KNO IF THATS POSSIBLE BUT THERE IS SOMETHIN LIKE GROWING THERE. MY MOM SAY IT MITE BE SCAR TISSUE BUT I DUNNO. IM GOING TO THE DOCTOR NEXT WEEK THEY SHOULD KNOW SOMETHING. OH AND WHEN I EAT REALLY COLD THINGS MY THROAT STARTS LIKE THROBBIN. IT DOESNT HURT ITS JUS UNCOMFORTABLE. SO YEA THATS THE STORY OF MY TONSILLECTOMY.

I'm on day 12 also. I've found mention of oxycodone and tylenol III. If you are taking either of these (as I am) then start taking a stool softener asap. Day 7-11 were void of a bowel movement for me and today was the most painful experience of my life. Much, more than the tonsill pain. I spent ~10 hours in the ER because of the pain in my stomach. Finally I passed a couple pounds of what could have been solid diamond for all I know. Anyway, LOTS of water (or any liquid you can stand to swallow) and stool softener.

good luck all...

I had my tonsillectomy on November 17th, 2006. I am still having sore throats every day. Especially when I wake up. I use a vaporizer every night, I drink a lot of water and still have issues with the sore throat. I also get sick after anesthesia and they tried the meds while I was out and it didn't work. It was a very horrible two weeks after the surgery. I went back to work after two weeks but still had lots of pain. I'm really not sure that I would do it again knowing what horrible pain I went through. Just thought I would share my experience.

Hi Everyone,
I am 35 years old and a nurse for 13 years, I just had my tonsills removed Feb.6. I thought child birth was bad. Nothing compares to this. I spent the first night at the hospital. Went home in the worst pain I had ever endured in my life. My ENT doctor gave me horse pills for pain? Well atleast I felt like they were. When I tried to swallow it felt like rusty nails and the worse ear on tongue pain you could imagine. I would just sit and beg to die. Please remember I have only had short periods of minor narcs used in my life. Hydrocodone at the most. I was now taking pill form of demorol and phenergan Plus Tylenol #3 with Codine in between . I WAS STILL IN PAIN. By day 4 I was sleep deprived and very sick would not drink because it hurt to bad, just when I thought things could not get worse.........Blood started pulsating out of my mouth.....I was rushed back to the hospitol, admitted the bleeding stopped . they put me back on a moraphine pump. Next night I start bleeding again only this time I am taken back to the O.R. Day 7 I am sent back home on the horse pills, by this time while I realize my doctor my have followed his text book, but my case was not a textbook. Day 9 I could not stand anymore horse pills or pain for fear of becoming dehydrated again. I went to see my family doctor . he gladly numbed my throat up so that I could atleast eat that day then gave me a maraphine patch for pain . He even called the next few days to check on me. Today is day 12 and my pain is bareable for the first time. I have a follow up with my ENT doc. Tues. [WE HAVE ALOT TO DISCUSS] Ifeel like I suffered alot.

i AM ON DAY FOUR OF MY TONSILLECTOMY AND WONDERING WTHER I M SUPPOSED TO BE TAKING ANTIBIOTICS? CAN SOMEONE PLEASE LET ME KNOW, MY HOSPITAL DIDN'T TELL ME HARDLY ANYTHING AND OTHER PEOPLE I HAVE SPOKEN TO HAVE TAKEN ANTIBIOTICS POST THEIR TONSILLECTOMY. i HAVE JUST RUN OUT OF THOSE DISOLVABLE PAIN KILLERS AND SYROP AS WELL AND THEY RECOMEND ME TO NOT HAVE ANYMORE BUT THE PAIN IS JUST UNBEARABLE. pLEASE SOMEONE REPLY AND TELL ME YOUR OPINION OR YOUR EXPERIANCES ON TAKING ANTIBIOTICS AFTER
tHANX DAISY

Wow, ok, I'm almost glad I didn't do too much research on the net for the post-op recovery.

I had my op at the end of Feb, and it took me a good 2 weeks to recover to the point where I could work properly. The sharp shooting pains sound very familiar - I had them on the right upper side of my throat from about day 6 onwards. It's the exact same spot that opened up and started gushing blood on 10 after the surgery (6 hours in a trauma unit - not nice).

As to the rest, I had no serious pain after day 12. However before that it was pretty much the worst pain I've ever had (the worst - as predicted - days 5-8, and constant vomitting after the surgery). I received a note from my doctor describing what should be done and avoided in order to relieve the pain:

1) Chew gum - seriously, this helps! It relaxes the jaw muscles. Helps a bit with the ears as well.
2) Avoid ANY fruit, fruit juices, spicy foods etc
3) Drink fizzy drinks
4) Use pain supposotories (spelling?). The idea isn't nice but after nearly going wild with pain trust me, it helped!
5) Drink your fluids and try to eat

It's now coming to 2 months post-op. There are still twinges in my throat, and my taste hasn't returned to normal yet. I lost over 15lbs after the surgery as I couldn't eat much for 10 days.

What I would suggest is getting and keeping your doctors details very handy. Most doctor's won't have a problem with calls - they understand that this isn't an everyday event for you.

I got my tonsils removed a month ago, the pain that your feeling is the healing process. They removed a big chunk of your throat, its going to hurt, bad. Basically keep it hydrated and it won't be as bad. stay off your feet and don't do any thing that takes too much energy.

I was just wondering if anyone feels a "tightness" in the back of their throat when they open it wide, like when you yawn.

Well I'm due to have my tonsils out in 2 weeks and daft me has sat and read this so clearly I am sh***** myself o.O

So does anyone know ways to help the healing process?