Tonsillectomy scabs? I'm scared?!

Heya

I'm 20 and I had my tonsils out 9 days ago. I never had the experience of coughing up scabs... when I'm eating, they go down with the food.

I read online that you cough them up too, and it grossed me out and scared me, but I never had this problem. It hurts heaps when I eat, and then when I look in the mirror I can see that there's less scab. (So obviously they're coming off with the food/swallowing.)

Don't stress. Just keep eating and drinking as normal. Don't force it, they'll come off in their own time. I'm hoping that by tomorrow (Day 10) they'll be nearly all gone.

Okay, thank you. I don't think mine have be going down with my food , since I check on my scabs a lot, which doesn't make things better. (At least thats what my mom says.) They look the same though each time I check on them.

But except for today, I ate a piece of plain bread and lost part of the scab that was hanging off (Gross)

I'm glad to know that you don't cough them up, phew.

I hope you can start to eat without a problem!

First, don't read horror stories anymore :) It can only make things worse :)  Anyway, it can happen because, regardless of the tonsillectomy method used, some sort of scab is going to form over the area from which your tonsils have been cut. It can happen to several people, not to all. It is ugly feeling, yes, and it hurts. My friend told me that it feels like something is falling off from the pockets on the side of the throat. Because of this, he needed to take a pain killers and two days after surgery, he needed to go to the ER for help because he couldn't stand the pain. It happens. 

Hello, I had my tonsils out, December 1...and today is the 5th. I was in the ER this morning for pain. This is absolutely horrendous. My ears are starting to hurt and Im using a heating pad. Buy boy am I nauseous. HOw much longer of the pain is there?

I had my tonsils out 7 days ago. I had my follow up today with my doctor. I thought he was going to say that I had an infection or that it wasn't healing because of the pain that i am having. This pain is TERRIBLE. I had heard stories and my doctor told me it was going to be rough. Each day I wake up hoping for less pain & haven't had that yet. I sometimes will having a coughing attack. I will cough a lot and my eyes start to water. It only lasts for a few minutes though. I am to scared to look at the scabs and my doctor said i will just swallow them which is gross but i'd rather not see them and not know. I am on soft food still for another week. I am craving a bagel with strawberry cream cheese. I have lost 10 pounds already which i am not complaining about, but i wish this upon no one. It is very rough. If you are preparing for this, just remember its painful but you will survive. I tell myself that this will be worth it because i hopefully wont have tonsilitis every 2 weeks. Good luck to everyone having them out & hang in there!!!!!!!

I am 16 years old and I'm on day 6...every morning when I wake up I have alot of phlegm in my throat that I cough up but when I cough it up j also see little white things in by spit...is this the scabs? This sucks...pain is horrible. Pain killers don't work...this is the worst thing ever lol. So will I know when the scabs are coming off? Will they come off all at once? Will I swallow them or cough them up? Either way I think I'd throw up lol

Im on DAY 5 of recovery. Im 15 and I really hav'nt expirenced bad horrible pain.
This suck's! I'm craving hot fries and I want them so bad. I heard that the white scabs will come off on thier own. I dont think mine have at all. I dont bother to look. It sorta hurts to open my mouth and even stick out muly tongue. I hope by Wednsday I'll be able to eat what I want. Does anybody know when I'll be able to again? I'm starving! I'm tired of all these mash potatoes (/.)

I'm 18, on day 5 of recovery. I literally just forced myself to cough/vomit up a few scabs, and boy do I feel better. I wish my ENT, or anyone for that matter, would've prepared me for how painful and dreadful this truly is. I leave for college in 4 days, so here's to a speedy recovery!

I had my tonsillectomy 5 days ago I've been coughing and it hurts badly . This morning I woke up coughing and felt something came out so I looked and it scared me at first it's a piece of whatever it was so I searched and luckily I just coughed out the scab it's hurting me more since coughing is involved good luck to u ☺️

Hi I'm almost 13 and I'm on day 6 and tomorrow is Christmas. I drink warm water and it does help. If you drink with your chin down it doesn't hurt very much. Yesterday was pretty bad and I thought today would be worse because they say it hurts on day 6-9 because that is when the scabs come off. My scabs came off early and started on day 5 and I was scared about it. I have cravings for the Christmas foods I can't eat and I just want this tromitising pain to be relived. I stopped taking the pain prescription meds and started tilonal and there was no differance whatsoever. my ears hurt more than my through but I put heat pads on them to make it feel better. It hurts most in the mornings though so that is my biggest fear right now. Good luck! 

I'm 24 and am on day 7 post surgery. They said it was going to be painful, but the pain is beyond anything I can imagine!! My scabs have started to fall off and I keep having coughing fits. I originally thought it was sinus mucus coming up when I coughed but from what you have described, it's my scabs. Everyone is saying they are able to eat soft foods, but I am barely able to get jello down. My pain medication makes me throw up so I have been without any medication since day 4. My biggest problem with food is the burning sensation. It's not the texture, but the acidity of the food that I seem to have problems with. Powerade, juice and fruit smoothies all feel like gasoline when they hit my throat. Is anyone else having this problem?!

Hi. I'm an 18 female and this is day six for me and i've been coughing a lot. DON"T COUGH. it isn't the coughing that is the worst, yes it still hurts, but I just took a dose of my liquid hydrocodone and felt like acid was going down my throat. I guess it's because the wound is kind of open now but I literally felt paralyzed I couldn't move and tears were just streaming down my face. I bought a humidifier today but don't notice a difference. If this pain doesn't end soon I don't know what I'm gunna do.

Im 17 yeara old guy with a pretty high pain tolerance. At least i thought. Day 5 not including operation day today and the pain is only just flatlining after a rise over the last 2 days. Day 2 i went out to a party, bad idea!!!! By day 3 and 4 i was stuck to my bed feeling the nausea. Today (day 5) i coughed up a little bit of scab and spat it into the bucket next to me, then for the next hour i was spitting up traces of blood, looking at the scab i saw where the small scab had fallen off there was a little black/red scab forming that was quite big and gross looking. Now dinner is coming up and my usual downing of 5 servings of food has turned into picking at bits of pasta. Drinking water even hurts this little red/black scab thing. Im hoping it will form a new scab to cover the raw skin. So yeah coughing made me peel a bit off but for all you peeps experiencing it, just think about the easy sleeps and tasty food and the feast you will have after this ordeal! Danny

I'm 17, hi :) I honest to god was not expecting this kind of pain! I'm nearing the end of day 4 (including the day I had the buggers out) and after ENT gave me no clue on the pain I'd be in, I thought I should read up about the coming stages of recovery... And now I'm terrified :l I am very rarely seen to cry, but the sleep deprivation, the inabilities to eat like a normal person and even move around in a manner that isn't similar to that of a toddler's is just ridiculous! I can handle the pain, barely, and only with the use of almost overdosing on ibuprofen and paracetamol and ice pops. The day after, I think it was the anesthesia, made me vomit like there was no tomorrow and whilst I spent that day with my head over the bucket by my side, my dad on clean up duty, my mom managed to get me some anti-nausea tablets. They seemed to work thank god! So the last couple of days have been slightly better, less vomiting at least. But then the pain sets in... And now, worst of all, I just had a mini coughing fit, I'm so scared D: Chloe