Tonsillectomy

[cantdrv55]

I was thinking about having my tonsils checked because of constant sore throat, sinus infections and sleep apnea. I had heard that removing tonsils and adenoids may fix those issues. My eight y/o son just his removed today for the same reasons and even though he is medicated, he is still in discomfort. He is a tough little guy and has a higher pain tolerance than myself. Now I am rethinking my own tonsillectomy as I heard the pain is worse the older one has the procedure.

Has anyone had their tonsils removed as an adult? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 almost unbearable pain, what was your pain level? As you can tell, I am a pansy.

[rattlsnak]

I had mine out at age 22 (long time ago!) but I was eating hamburgers the next day and by day 3 no issues at all. Yes, I had discomfort and a mild soreness afterwards, but I was in so much pain from the constant sore throats all the time that this was a HUGE relief.

[MysticLlama]

I had mine out (and adenoids) around 13-14.

Fun stuff, all the ice cream you can eat they say, yet even water was almost impossible to get down for 3-4 days. Got a nice addiction to codiene going that was ugly to kick after two weeks, try to stay away from the stuff to this day.

My sister on the other hand did just fine after a couple days, so it must depend on the person.

Long term, I feel like it was a detriment and I get sick easier, etc. after, so I'm not a huge fan of the idea myself. I feel like they are probably there for some reason, and maybe nobody has ever figured out the root cause of the swelling.

Mine were something like 6-8x normal size when removed, and had been so for quite a while, so it seemed the obvious thing to do.

[Nickshu]

Everyone I know who has had it done as an adult has had a much harder time than kids do, but got thru it. But if you need it you need it. Biggest problem w/ adenoids is postop bleeding as I believe most docs shave them down and they heal secondarily.

[gprsh924]

I'm 27 so I mostly qualify as an adult. I am actually headed to the the doctor's office this morning for a 2 week checkup on my procedure. I had my tonsils removed on December 22nd. The pain hasn't been very bad when I'm just lying around the house, but eating anything other than milkshakes a week in was out of the question.

Then I had bleeding last Monday, and had to be rushed in for emergency surgery to recauterize the spot that opened up, so it set back my recovery a little bit. I stopped taking my painkiller yesterday and went back to work, but I'm still on a liquid/soft diet for another 4/5 days.

Overall I would say the recovery isn't too bad, but you definitely need to make sure you take it easy and don't push yourself. That will increase the pain. At a minimum, schedule he surgery for a Friday and don't plan on working until the next Monday.

I got an infection in my throat in October that kept coming back as soon as I went off of antibiotics. In addition, my snoring and sleep apnea got out of control. The last few nights are the first time I've sleep wel in months. It's been nice.

[LeeH]

I had my tonsils out in 2010 at age 46. I don't think of myself as having a particularly high pain tolerance, but for me it was a big nothing. The doc gave me a huge number of pain pills. I had half the prescription filled and only ever took one before bed the first night.

Yeah, my throat was sore, but it just didn't seem like it was any worse than an average sore throat. My main issue was tongue and jaw pain. I think they used a clamp to hold down my tongue and possible strained my jaw muscles while I was out.

My tonsils were always infected. I only wish I'd had it done sooner.

Anybody had a tonsillectomy as an adult?

[GH85Carrera]

Back in the 50s it was a almost standard procedure to cut them out. My older brother had his out and just as I was old enough the thinking with doctors was to leave them in. I still have my tonsils.

My brother started having a sore throat when he was in his early 20s. A doctor took a look and said you have tonsillitis. His tonsils grew back.

[flipper35]

The doc recommended my sister have hers out when she was young. My parents took her to a chiropractor first and she still has hers and hasn't had any issues since.

[pavulon]

Of course, lots of variability in situations, pain tolerances and surgeon technique leads to lots of variability in patient experiences.

Another concern to consider is the unusual occurrences of tonsil cancer.

Lymphoid tissue helps protect the body against infection. The throat has three types of tonsils: the pharyngeal tonsil (adenoids) in the back of the throat, the palatine tonsils on the sides of the throat, and the lingual tonsils on the base of the tongue.

Cancer of the tonsils usually involves the palatine tonsils on the sides of the throat.

Most tonsil cancers are squamous cell carcinomas but some are lymphomas.


Symptoms:
Tonsil cancer may have one or more symptoms, including:

A sore in the back of the mouth that will not heal
Tonsil is larger on one side
Blood in the saliva
Mouth pain
Difficulty chewing, swallowing or speaking
Persistent sore throat
Intolerance to eating or drinking citrus foods
Severe ear pain
Lump or pain in the neck
Pain when swallowing
Bad breath


Causes and Risk Factors
Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Men are diagnosed with tonsil cancer three to four times more often than women. People are generally diagnosed at age 50 or older but it can develop at any age. The most significant risk factors for tonsil cancers are tobacco and alcohol use, including smokeless tobacco (snuff and betel nut).

Other potential causes include people with certain infections or decreased immunity, such as:

Exposure to the human papilloma virus (HPV), especially strains 16 and 18.
Organ transplant recipients
People with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease

There are no accepted general risk factors or causes for lymphoma.