Tonsil Removal in Adults

My husband had his out when he was 28 and it was the worst experience of his adult life including his vasectomy. BUT, he didn't listen to his doctor or me. I think the most important thing to remember is to keep hydrated. He got dehydrated because his throat hurt and he didn't want to drink anything but that made it 100 times worse and ended up back in the hospital with bleeding and intense pain. So that is my advice... lots of help and drink LOTS even if it hurts. Don't worry about eating so much but keep your fluids up and you will heal that much faster. I think his experience would have been so much better if he had listened to me and kept drinking but he is stubborn. Keep up on you pain meds too, do not, I repeat, do not let them wear off even if you think it doesn't hurt that bad because its alot harder to get on top of the pain again once it is back than it is to keep it under control. The first week is not fun, but once it is over it gets so much better after that and if you have help and follow doctors orders, you can usually escape the horrors of what some people, like my hubby, have to go through. Oh ya, activity level... No you won't be up making supper for the first little bit. Lots of laying around. Its pretty invasive surgery even though its day surgery and short, they still remove alot of tissue and it takes quite awhile to heal. You will need help, make sure you arrange that ahead of time or have meals prepared ahead that someone can just throw in the oven.

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On Sept 4th, I will hit my 1 year anniversary of having my tonsils out. I was 26 when I got them out due to 5 tonsil infections over the course of 11 months. I have always gotten strep throat AT LEAST once a year since I was a child.
Yes the tonsils are there for a reason to catch bad stuff, but they can also become "toxic" to your body. For some people, they are a nuisance, not a helper.
I wil be honest. It wasn't fun. I felt way better directly after surgery than I did after I got home, only because of the good anethesia.
I was given liquid pain meds and liquid phenergan to help with the nausea that the pain meds may create with not being able to eat for a while. And yes, even if you feel like you don't hurt that bad...for the first week, stay on your pain med schedule. I even set an alarm to take them in the middle of the night. I made the mistake of not taking them and it took an entire day to get back on top of the pain.
One thing no one told me....your uvula and tongue may get pretty swollen. The tongue goes down quicker than the uvula, which stay that way for a good week. This is just your body adjusting to the fluid transfer, figuring out what to do with it.
Staying hydrated is number one. It hurts to drink for a couple days, but believe me, it hurts worse if you dont drink. NO straw drinking for a few days due to risk of the suction removing the blood clots formed.
For the first few days, you may want to sleep in a recliner or propped up in your bed at a decent angle. Your ears may hurt for a few days. It will probably be difficult to sleep for a day or two.
I started to feel a little back to normal after the first week, then had a few days, around day 9 where the pain came back, this was when the "scabs" started to slough off. I had no problems with bleeding, some bleed a little, and others, usually when they don't do as told, bleed a lot and have to go back in.
My son was 2 at the time. I had my husband stay home for 2 days. If you can and your hubby doesn't work on a weekend, try to do it on a Thurs or Fri so he can be there without taking time off work. I was able to care for my child, but didn't feel like doing much more. I suggest making some food ahead of time that can be frozen and brought out for your husband to cook. Or ask some friends if they can help out for a few days.
The first few days, I stuck with pretty much water and popsicles, some jello that i would liquify by swishing in my mouth. After day 4 I ventured into pudding and SlimFast drinks because I knew I needed some calories. If you do the slim fast drinks, dilute them with water, they can feel kind of "gooey" in your throat..
After week two is when I started to finally really eat again. Soft things, like potatoes, yogurt, bananas, any soft fruit or veggies. I really didnt eat any meat until week 3 since it is harder to chew up to a good consistency to swallow.
It took quite a while before I was back to normal, and then my throat felt great with those big nasty things gone.
For me, I don't think it was the worst thing ever.I would say comparable to the way I felt after having to get stiches after birth...if you know what that feels like.
I have not had a problem besides a common cold since I got them out. Good Luck making your final decision and with the surgery if you decided to go through with it.

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I remember that the first couple of days were a little difficult, but after that it was just a little soreness in the throat. It is outpatient surgery, so I wouldn't worry too much. Just take the meds they send you home with and you should be fine. Good Luck and you will feel better once they are gone.

I had mine out at 17, and it was pretty awful, honestly. And I didn't have kids to take care of at that point.

If it may help you to not be sick though, you may want to risk the cons. I'm assuming that strep throat is pretty unpleasant when you have it several times a year. So if you can alleviate that with 2 weeks of pain from tonsils, it might be worth it.
Besides, you won't want to eat anything. Look at it as a forced diet! :)

I was 28 when I had mine removed. I think I had strep 3 times in my life, then when I was 28 I got strep and could not get rid of it. I felt and slept so much better after I recovered from the surgery. All the doctor told me is that it is much worse for adults than it is for kids. In the recovery room the nurse told me on day 3 I would feel like it is never going to get better and that I should start feeling better after that day. She was right. I remember on day 4 I was so excited because I was feeling better. Everyday would get a little better. I think I went to work a day or two early and had to leave because I started feeling bad because I was doing a lot of talking. Good Luck!

I had my tonsils out as an adult and I would never do it again. Now that I know what I know, I tell people all the time not to inflict it on their little ones. Our little ones can't articulate what has happened to them and probably won't ever know.

I had strep often when I was in college. I think college life just lowered my resistance PLUS the doctor always put me right back on a round of antibiotics. Now I know that antibiotics weaken the immune system and make you susceptible to catch strep again.

Tonsils have a VERY important purpose (as do many other body parts that doctors routinely remove.) Tonsil "catch" the toxins (like strep) and protect our vascular system/heart. Without the tonsils the strep can go right to the heart. Now, if I get a cold, etc I don't get a sore throat for long. It goes down into my larynx and I can't speak., or my lungs and can't breathe. It's also a much worse pain than sore tonsils ever were. Taking your tonsils out will NOT prevent you from getting strep, only strep throat. Google strep on the internet and see how dangerous it can be. Your tonsils are there to protect you.

Hope this information helps. I wish someone had given it to me when I needed it.

God bless,

M.

If you can't take pain at all, you'll just have to continue to suffer. But strep throat is a menace - if you miss that you have it, it can cause scarlet fever and related heart and joint problems. I know this because it happened to my sister.

Yes, a tonsillectomy is painful. Harder on an adult than on a child. I had mine out when I was 17 years old. It was a week of a terribly sore throat. I wish so much that they had been removed when I was too little to remember it.

You will need help at home. Your husband should use his vacation time to stay at home with you and help. Your health is an important thing. Your children need you to be around for a long time, and your husband needs to make sure he helps have a healthy mother for his kids by stepping up to the plate and taking care of things at home until you can get on your feet.

There are pain medicines to help you through this. You need to stop being so worried about the pain and be more mindful of the overall goal - your overall and long term health. Make sure that you get a second opinion to make you feel better about your decision whether or not to have the surgery.

Good luck,
D.

It will be tough, but if you have had kids then you can take the pain. You need to be healthy for them.

I had my tonsils removed a few years ago, after getting numerous tonsil, ear, and sinus infections. The normal surgery seemed to include adenoids too. I am glad I did it, but it was difficult. I read up on it ahead of time and knew that it takes adults longer to recover than kids. I'm glad that I had help from neighbors and relatives. One thing that helped me was to write down the times of when I took which meds so I could keep track of when I could take the max amount or gradually switch to over the counter pain meds. Some of them came in liquid form in case I had trouble swallowing. I can't remember why, but I wasn't supposed to drink from a straw for awhile.
The biggest problem wasn't the pain. It was the feeling in my throat when it was healing. Kind of an itchy, gaggy feeling. So if I tried to talk I would feel like throwing up, and the doctor didn't want that. So I tried not to talk- for 10 days! I don't think this happens to everyone though. While my in-laws were helping, I would sit on the sofa and write pages of notes to them, such as "I feel dizzy", "I have a headache", "tell him not to pull the cat's tail", etc.
P.S.- I didn't have problems with strep, but my tonsils had grown very large which created folds that could trap bacteria or debris. It often felt "crunchy" when I swallowed. The doctor said antibiotics would not help, they could not get in deep enough to get rid of it.

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