Shooting pains in the throat after a tonsillectomy

I was told to drink from a glass if possible instead of a straw because it helps to make sure what you're drinking coats all of your throat and keeps your scabs moist.

Apparently your scabs fall off if you don't keep them moist (hence why we're supposed to drink so much water)

Hey, when I was at the hospital post op they gave me one dose of liquid antibiotics before they sent me home and that's it. I don't think you need more than that one dose. But I'm not a doctor either.

Day 6 post tonsillectomy and I am seriously loosing the will to live. Please someone tell me when the pain starts to get better? I did childbirth last year and this is 100x worse. I can't eat, sleep, barley can even swallow. Someone please tell me there's light at the end of the tunnel??????????

Hey guys. I'm 27 yrs old n had a T&A on Nov17 today is Nov26. I am having horrible pains in my left ear. I still can't eat much at times. Not drinking much cause it burns like fire. Still have huge scabs on both sides of uvula. Trying to figure out y that is. Wondering if the doc might have made a mistake in nic it. Uvula is slightly swollen. Feel horrible n I suppose to return to work in 3 days.

Hi I am 17 & got my tonsils out 7 days ago. The pain is insane. I was in the ER over the summer for throat swelling & infections as I had mono, strep, & an abscess in my throat all at the same time & I can say that this pain is even worse. I wake up coughing & hacking up scabs with pinpoint pain at random locations in my throat that radiates into the ears. The only way to somewhat control the pain is by putting heating pads on my ears & throat on the sides of my head. It takes me hours to eat simple foods & with intense pain. I have lost 10 lbs & regret this decision. The doctors definitely sugar coat this whole recovery. I would not do this again for a million bucks. Hope y'all heal quicker than I am.

Hii I got my tonsils out 7 weeks ago and am still having sharp pain down the back left side of my throat. the right side healed so quickly though! I'm afraid I have nerve damage as well on the left side. When I drink tea I only feel the heat down the right side of my throat and when I cough I only feel if on my right. You still experienced this after 7 months? Did it ever get better? I'm extra freaking out because I'm a singer. I hope to hear back from you! I wanna know if you eventually got better. Finding answers is so hard. Best

Hello all,

My name is Thomas and I am 27 years old. I'm hoping that this gives people insight and education. While I'm still going through the process, I hope it helps other people.
I am on day 7 (if you count surgery day). Day 1, I ate a lot of Popsicles / slushy style drinks and a ton of water. I slept 3 hours at a time and got up to drink water and start medicine again on the dot of 4 hours. Day 2 the throat pain started getting worse. I only had chicken broth to eat, but had over 10 bottles of water and some Popsicles. Again I slept 3 hours at a time and set alarms to wake up and take meds / drink water. Day 3, I was actually feeling better in the throat, I was relieved and was drinking lots of water and eating broth, macaroni and cheese off of a pizza. This is when I noticed a lot of drainage stuck in my throat. Like every time I took a breath I would feel it moving in my throat. So I coughed it up a few times no problem. The last time I did I started bleeding. It was a decent amount, and I recommend if it happens to you, bleed in an empty water bottle so you can see how much is there. I drank cold water which can stop the bleeding. It eventually stopped while at the ER, but I'm glad I went to get a second opinion. I bled around 1/4 a bottle of water. They sent me home with some antibiotics and steroids. I didn't sleep much that night, but probably more out of anxiety. I still set the alarms and was waking up an hour or so before them. Day 4 my throat started feeling better! I was getting excited. I started eating more! Again only soft foods like broth, chicken noodle soup, peas, green beans, etc. I am still drinking water like it's going out of style. I noticed halfway through the day the pain was getting worse. My ears and my jaw were in incredible pain. Like someone was pushing on both sides of my head. So this was interesting because the pain meds only touched them for a very short period of time. I used a moist towel that I microwaved to as hot as I could stand it. I put it on both ears and it provided some relief, but very minor relief. It was harder to sleep this day. Only 1 hour at a time. Then wake up with pain. Drink water and go back to sleep. At recommended pain medication time I would take some more. Day 5, Pain in ears more painful. Jaw hurts still. Neck a little stiff. Still drinking water and POWERade all the time. Again pain meds not really lasting full amount of time or even close to it. Slept similar to other day. Day 6, I woke up with a dry throat. I drank some water and started bleeding. It wasn't a lot (maybe a teaspoon all morning... just a little in each spit that I put in the bottle), but it was enough that I stayed up from 4:45am when it started. Basically I watched it and kept drinking water. I went to the ENT when they opened and he said that he didn't see and fresh spots (it stopped bleeding an hour before they opened), but it's probably where scabs are falling off. He also said it's better to wait and see, than to go and burn the spot again, as it will set back healing. After the appointment I had some more energy. I ate an egg, the middle of a biscuit since it was soft, some plain gravy. Later I went and ate some bread and meat from an arbys sandwich (very small pieces at a time), green beans and mashed potatoes. The pain was the same as day 5, but my throat didn't hurt as much. Day 7, this morning has been interesting. Pain meds don't seem to be working at all, especially if I try and stay hydrated. I had a dry mouth and started drinking water and it felt like I was swallowing razor blades! Well I didn't sleep, but maybe a total of 2-3 hours and every time I was awake it still felt like this while drinking. I've read it's new skin and scabs falling off which is fine, but let me warn you it's a ton of pain. I'm going to fight through it, but it hurts with every sip of lukewarm water. Hopefully the rest of the day goes well.

I know I have plenty of more days of recovery left, but I was on websites checking symptoms every day because I felt like something was happening to me that didn't happen to others (I was wrong). My main advice is stay hydrated. Drink so much water! Eat what you can, but don't over do it! Listen to your body, if it says lay down and don't do anything then do that. You don't want to rush it and be worse off because of it. This process has been terrible so far, but I keep looking forward to light at the end of the tunnel. On a positive note it appears my symptoms are a few days ahead of others. This has me praying I'm a few days ahead of recovery... maybe it's wishful thinking!

I read these during my recovery because it's nice to know there's others going through the same thing. I had my tonsils removed 12 days ago, and I still don't feel anywhere near 100%. Im a 21 yr old f. As expected, the first few days weren't terrible. I was able to keep up on drinking a gallon a day and eating as much as possible. I was taking hydrocodone every 4 hours. However, hydrocodone makes me very ill and despite being given anti nausea medication as well, by day 6 I had to drastically cut my dosage to MAYBE twice a day. I was miserable. 2 of the worst things for me: ear pain and the scabs. The scabs were literally so disgusting to me (the taste and smell) that I couldn't eat for 3 days and couldn't drink water (only apple juice) because water just ended up tasting like the scabs and I'd gag. By day 8 both sides had very large scabs that fell off in one big chunk. I'd never been so grossed out, it made me vomit because I couldn't fathom swallowing them. After that, I felt muchhhh better, but began feeling like I was swallowing razor blade a. 12 days later, that hasn't changed. I wake up everyday with needle-like pain in my ears and temple headaches, and on either side of my throat there's a spot that feels terrible to swallow. I have to go back to class and work tomorrow, and I'm nervous. I'm taking ibuprofen every few hours to deal with the earpain, as narcotics tend to not touch nerve pain. I can't yawn either without it hurting badly. I hope to heal soon, it's been about 4 days with zero progress and it's hard to not get discouraged. This was the worst thing I've ever gone through in my life, I'm looking forward to the rewards of not being sick so often and hope it was worth it! To all who are still recovering, take care of yourself and try to stay positive!

it's happening to me right now. it hurts so bad

Yes I feel that and it sucks because it's been 2 weeks today and it hurts to swallow and hurt then I yawn like that right feeling

Ok so I got my tonsils out 2 weeks ago and I've been feeling a lot better I mean it still hurts to swallow or yawn but I've been feeling great. I was wondering if it's a bad thing to work after a week and a half. About a week and a half I started working on my motorcycle and my truck in the 97f weather. Is that bad? I've been drinking soda and water a lot but I think I started to get an ear infection again and idk if it is or I think it is but I don't have my follow up for another week. Help me

The recovery does suck but think after the recovery no more throat problems and it sucked before for me because like every other week if have a throat infection and it really sucked today is the 2 week mark if you count the surgery day

Drink tons and tons of water. After about day 3 or 4 (check with your doctor) begin taking 800mg of Advil every 8 hours. I did this and it helps the pain WAY more than the pain meds because it helps reduce the swelling of your tongue, uvula, throat, etc. Don't push yourself to eat solid foods quickly because it irritates your throat and could possibly take off the scab prematurely.

Don't do it.