Tongue pain after tonsillectomy

I have the same experience. My doctor never mention that i would experience tongue pain. It is day 11 and i can barely swallow water to take the meds to relieve the pain - pain from the tongue only. The surgery was 12/6/12 and i find it unbearable to endure the pain after eating. I will see my PCP tomorrow - can't get my doctor's nurse to call me back - in hope of get the miracle mouth wash that will relieve the pain instantly.

me too. i thought i had thrush and called my doctor but was told it was normal. i am 29 and had my tonsils removed 7 days ago. I feel like i am never going to eat normal again. I guess my body might could handle this but this time of year it certainly stinks as it is Christmas! :)

I'm an 18yo female; got my tonsils out on the 19th, today is the 25th. I have not really been able to eat anything - tried mashed potatoes for the first couple days, but lately the only thing that will go down is 4 cheese rice-a-roni or pudding. I'm on percocet for the pain and have it crushed up in pudding every four hours or so. The first few days were pretty bad, but I have to say that yesterday and today have been the worst yet. I tried drinking an odwalla smoothie for protein yesterday and collapsed on the ground from the pain. I've upped my percocet dose to two every four hours instead of just one (I'm supposed to take one or two as needed). I've been sleeping in chunks of about 6 hrs. When I wake up the pain meds have all worn off and I have to rush downstairs to take one. I've also noticed that I tend to feel worse after I wake up, and I think that is from sleeping on my stomach so I'm going to try on my back. Yesterday and today I've had tremendous ear pain on top of my throat and occasionally I feel like the base of my tongue is on fire. I am getting more and more tired as recovery progresses, both I believe as a side effect of the percocet and because I'm not eating enough to keep my energy up. I'm fairly miserable at this point, thought occasionally I feel chipper around midday, especially if I've been able to eat something.

Not to be a complete debbie downer; I'm really happy I got the surgery. I had never had a problem with my tonsils before this fall, my first semester at college, when all of a sudden I had four bacterial infections in the same tonsil within two and a half months. The third time I actually had to go to the hospital and get antibiotic and steroids through an iv, which was incredibly scary. I know that after this that'll stop completely; it just sucks right now. I have found that what has helped me most by far is ice packs (as many people have mentioned) and a baby bottle. It sounds silly, but I purchased a baby bottle at the grocery store and will fill that with ice and water. It is much easier to drink from than a glass, much like having a straw with you everywhere but better. The only downside is that you do tend to swallow air with the water so it makes you a little gassy. Small price to pay for hydration though! I've also been able to drink milkshakes, so my family is going to try putting a raw egg in a chocolate milkshake and see how that works. I know raw eggs are fairly dangerous, but I am really worried about my malnutrition and this will give me some much-needed protein.

Hopefully things will get better soon!

Ellie, we are in the exact same boat. I am an 18 year old female also, and I have never had ANY problems with my tonsils until this first semester of college. However, that being said, I have continuously been sick this semester, and before I actually had a tonsillectomy, I had swollen tonsils for about a month and a half, because no doctor would believe I needed a tonsillectomy. Countless dollars and antibiotics later, I went to an ENT who then looked in my throat and said "WOW, yeah those need to come out."

Now, to the interesting part. I was never notified about any pain regarding my tongue. I knew that there could be joint pain associated with keeping my mouth open wide enough for the operation, but I didn't know that they would cauterize my tongue as well as my throat! Now I'm waking up with, both the pain of the operation, but also with the pain of the burns and INTENSE ear pain. To make it even worse, I thought that I possibly understood my pain and could double up on my Lortab before going to sleep at night, with  hopes of making it 8 hours without pain. 

NO. Apparently, my body just doesn't want to cooperate with that method.

It has been three days since my surgery, and I am trying my best to be patient, but I feel very weak and tired all the time. I haven't however had problems keeping things down, as much as I've had problems getting things down. My tongue is so severely swollen that it is a hassle to get my soft foods over the hump that is my tongue and down my painful throat.

But like I said, I am trying to be patient, I just wish that I could have been prescribed with something just a tad bit more effective than whatever dosage of Lortab I'm on. 

Hopefully, in the end, the pros outweigh the cons, as I've heard from many that they do. (:

Howdy everyone. I just had my tonsillectomy on Dec 28. After the 5th day I'm doing pretty good. Even after the first day I wasn't totally incapacitated. I have my pain meds, Tylenol w/codeine elixir and Vicodin elixir (not taken together obviously). I didn't know about the tongue pain or swelling of the uvula (most of that is from the anesthesiologist shoving a tube down your throat to keep you breathing) , but they are going down.

I had wanted my tonsils out since 2007 when I started developing constant tonsil stones. I would dig them out every other day, and I knew I would eventually hurt myself getting those suckers out. But because of the horror stories I read about from people recovering from tonsillectomies, I would put it off. A couple times a year I would check if there had been any new techniques developed that minimized pain and recovery. It was always the same  few techniques. The knife, coblatian, electricity etc. They all had scabbing (which if I understand, where a lot of the pain is coming from), and a greater chance of bleeding. I didn't want any of that.

Last month I was looking again and came across a tissue welding technique developed by Starion. Here's an article:

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The hard part was finding an ENT who actually used this device, because Starion isn't a big boy in the medical equipment field (that might be changing soon, because they were recently bought). I only found one ENT in the Los Angeles area who was using this technique, and after meeting with him, I scheduled my surgery for two weeks later.

As I said, it's 5 days later. I had two burritos for lunch today (sure, it wasn't perfect because you still have discomfort). I still need to avoid acidic foods like citrus or tomato based products. I've got no scabbing. I don't always take my full medicine dose, and sometimes skip the regular intervals. It's like having a sore throat when you have a cold. Some have described the worst of it as strep, but if I had that, it was early on. (I just made sure to take my meds and drink LOTS of water. The only other time I notice the pain has been the last couple days, and that's because I feel so "normal," I have not been drinking enough water, so my throat gets dry. I also tried putting a humidifier in my room at night but not sure it actually does anything.

So, to make a short story longer, there is a newer procedure out there that definitely cuts the pain and recovery times down, but like anything else, do your research. Here is a page from my ENT's site where one of his patients chronicled his adventures with tissue welding. 

 

'm not trying to shill, but I've been looking for a long time for new tonsillectomy techniques, and with my luck, a new one will come out next year with no pain and no recovery.

If anything changes, I'll post again but I'm hoping each day will just get better and better.

Thanks for listening and good luck,

Erik

My little girls tongue are also like that are what is it and are yours coming right? As a mom I am so worried!

First, let me say how glad I am to have found people with similar issues.

6 days ago, I got tonsils removed along with septoplasty and turbinate reduction due to my sleep apnea. I rarely got any throat related illnesses, but I could barely sleep and was always a zombie, so there's a great benefit to me too.

They kept me in intensive care the first night and the pain wasn't insanely strong, but it was a horrible mental torture which I'd say is worse. My doctor prescribed some OTC tylenol syrup and morphine to alternate every 2 hours. Didn't do anything to me, so I went back and got a prescription for percocet. Still going on 0 hours of sleep since the mouth dries up right away and wakes me up instantly. 

Yesterday, (day 5) I felt much better and was happy I was finally recovering. Doc said on day 10, I'll be able to do anything I want. But then all of a sudden, the tongue and uvula issue hit me and hit me strong. I've had quite a few injuries in my life and have pretty good tolerance for pain, but nothing feels as sharp and painful as this. Like others said, it feels like someone has sliced the inside with a razor and then sprinkled salt on it. Glad I found out that it's normal since my DR didn't mention anything to me about it either. Problem is that my appetite finally came back, but I can't swallow anything :(

So here I am, sitting on day 6 at 4:25am, starved, having percocet handy in case. I was planning on going to a nice restaurant for my bday next week, but I guess I'll have to hold it off.

What keeps me going is the thought of how amazing it is going to be to finally sleep well and be energized throughout the days.

I an 49 and I just had mine out 6 days ago and yes my tongue is sore today.... I was told to drink 8oz everybody something cold every hour and I put a heating pad on my neck it feels so good it takes slot of the pain away..Good luck to you this was the most painful surgery I have ever had in my life...

I am on my 5 th data and its not bad i opened my jaw and it felt so good it's the stupid tounge I  can stick it out of my mouth but when I open my jaw and do same thing it kills me......... So I say I would gp back in time and never let this happen again

It's been a week exactly since I had my tonsillectomy. I thought the body's healing would be much faster than this, I can tell the swelling has gone down significantly, but everything still looks quite a mess back there. Also I'd say the pain is at its worst right now. Sure hope by this time next week I'll have achieved a decent night's sleep, and maybe a decent meal. For now, its back to doing whatever it takes to relieve the ear pain. might try a heating pad.

I never realized how many older people have to have their tonsils out, WOW! I am 30 and had my tonsils out March 27th 2013, He took the small amount of adnoids i had too. Back in 1986 I had tonsil surgery, the doctor took them out, obviously not all cuz they grew back. So i went a few years with a golf ball size tonsil attached to the back of my tongue and throat. I had a hard time breathing, eating, drinking ,, you name it. It sucked. It has been 8 days since surgery. Day 1 & 2 were great, ice cream and apple sauce went down fine, Then day 3 came and the pain radiated from my throat to the tip of my head. Heachaches, double ear pain, tongue pain - OMG that seems to be the cause of the ear pain. April 2nd i was rushed to the ER because i was gushing blood from my throat and nose, came out of no where. Doctors arent sure if it was a popped stitch or not but luckily I went because there was other health problems lingering.. My blood pressure was insanely high 190/110 or close to it..

Def drink fluids, someone mentioned holding someones hand cuz it hurts, that works. Dont force food down ,, ur body will know its ready. stay on top of ur pain meds - its key! dont rush your recovery - take good care of yourselves.

Good Luck with healing every one :)

Yes I had surgery over 2 weeks ago and my tongue is starting to swell and hurts. Its not so much my throat its my tongue that hurts. Iam 26, but I also drink alcohol and smoke so I don't know if that has anything to do with it iam sure it does though.

my daughter is 7 and she is really suffering from tongue pain with some white marks we think are burns from the tool used to sear of the tonsils and adnoids. She cant eat, her jaw is so stiff and her tongue is causing her a lot of waking pain. Sleeping is only aided by iboprufen. It would have helped to know this would be the case. I had an initial meeting months before and a meeting the week prior to surgery and no mention of my daughters tongue or jaw. This is common if you google search blogs on the topic. BASTARDS. I feel so sorry for my confused and vomiting daughter who had no idea it would not be just about her sore throat.

I'm experiencing same. I am 14 days post tonsilectomy and my tongue on the very back side of my left still hurts badly. Please how long did it rake for the pain to subside?

Hi it's been 10 days since my tonsillectomy and when I woke up I was in almost zero pain but as the hours passed o day one pain was unbearable especially since my meds didn't come into the pharmacy so I didn't have meds for 18 hours that is the worst thing ever pain was still there and I do suggest u take ur meds 15-20 mins earlier cause once it wears off u don't want the pain of swallowing it again and I wasn't really drinking much had lots of Popsicles also don't eat sherbert it contains milk which will make more mucus phlem in the throat in still spitting a lot and clearing phlem uggg irritating also if u start feeling as if something is lodged in the back of ur throat and is causing u to gag my doc told my it's do to the breathing tube it caused swelling but it started swelling few days Into the process of healing and was honestly bugging really bad I forced my self to puke also am very nauseous ask ur doc not ur surgeon for nausea dissolvable tablets honestly they are helping and my surgeon said he cut a price of the back of my tongue that's t it hurts so much cause my tonsil had grown onto a part of it so it's very hard to swallow liquids with out it stinging really bad also it's causeing a bad ear ache ughhhhhh my mom told me smells like hundreds of dead animals are in my mouth thanks mom