Adult Tonsillectomy

[Davey S2]

So at the ripe old age of 45 I'm having my tonsils out next Monday.

I should have had them out years ago but after on going problems they're finally coming out next week.

Anyone else had them out as an adult? I've heard its worse then when you are young and not expecting it to be pleasant but not sure just how uncomfortable its going to be.

I know I have to eat and drink regularly to help clear any gunk and prevent scabs but any hints, tips or horror stories?

[Nexus Icon]

I don't think it's too bad, pain-wise. My friend had them out and although he only ate soup and ice cream for a couple of days he was pretty much ok. Well, I say ok, he does now speak like Joe Pasquale when he never used to. He can't hear it himself but it's hilarious.

[Autopilot]

I had mine out when I was 18 or 19, so while I was quite young still, it was considered fairly old as you'd usually have them out as a kid.

I was told before the procedure that afterwards it can hurt as much as a nasty case of tonsillitis. I guess it's different for different people, but I personally found it to be bloody agony!! It was the swallowing action that hurt so eating ice cream didn't really help me to be honest, it was just swallowing in general that hurt. I actually found that eating scratchy food offered some relief.

So in short, I found having my tonsils out to be exceptionally painful afterwards but it's short lived and after 4 or 5 days you'll stop pulling faces each time you swallow but absolutely worth the effort to not have tonsillitis every month!!

On a slight tangent, I had a number of cortisone injections in to my hip and one in to the sciatic nerve. I was told that would really hurt and while it wasn't nice, it wasn't that bad to be honest so you may personally find a tonsillectomy a stroll in the park and I was just unlucky.

[chrisch77]

Soluable Co-Codamol is your friend - make sure you stock up for after the operation!

[WinstonWolf]

Davey S2 said:

So at the ripe old age of 45 I'm having my tonsils out next Monday.

I should have had them out years ago but after on going problems they're finally coming out next week.

Anyone else had them out as an adult? I've heard its worse then when you are young and not expecting it to be pleasant but not sure just how uncomfortable its going to be.

I know I have to eat and drink regularly to help clear any gunk and prevent scabs but any hints, tips or horror stories?

Had mine out in my twenties, they've grown back apparently

[Davey S2]

Thanks all.

I've been told that in most patients any pain subsides in a day or 2 but then comes back after 5 or 6 days so I'll be on pain killers for about 10 days.

Will be stocking up on soup and ice cream on the weekend.

[r159]

Whatever they tell you to do post op, do it. I ended up with an infection which spread to my nose (had rhinoplasty at the same time) it absolutely f’ed me up for a few days including having to go back to hospital.

[dazwalsh]

The mrs had it done, and woke up about 4 days later coughing up blood, first a trickle then progressively worse. She ended up having to Pull the huge stringy clots out of her throat so as not to choke, just about managed to get her to the bottom of stairs as the ambulance arrived.

She was fine but fk me that scared the living hell out of me, and it looked like i had butchered a deer in the en suite

But erm yeah, i’m sure yours will go just fine.

[grumpy52]

My long distance driving buddy discovered a golf ball size lump in his throat.
He was sent for a biopsy and while he was in they removed his tonsils. He has since had the lump removed and now has just started chemo and radiotherapy daily until after Christmas.
He has up until now been very healthy and working as a long distance driver all over the UK and Europe despite being over 70 , we have done several great trips around Europe together. Having in truck karaoke down the Brenner Pass at 3am with us both singing our heads off is one of my best memories.

[xjay1337]

Davey S2 said:

So at the ripe old age of 45 I'm having my tonsils out next Monday.

I should have had them out years ago but after on going problems they're finally coming out next week.

Anyone else had them out as an adult? I've heard its worse then when you are young and not expecting it to be pleasant but not sure just how uncomfortable its going to be.

I know I have to eat and drink regularly to help clear any gunk and prevent scabs but any hints, tips or horror stories?

I had them out 2 years ago.

The day I came home (same day as operation) I had a Chinese! :-)

The pain was really bad from like day 4 to 10. The painkillers really impacted me, made me very ill and not happy.

Overall I have less sore throats etc so well worth doing but it isn't comfortable at all and you need to be prepared for it to be VERY uncomfortable to eat and drink for a week at least.