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Anyone had their tonsils removed as an adult?

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Megamorph

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My doc says that my tonsils need to come out. I've known this all my life, but it's getting more serious now, so I'm thinking about having it done. Who here has had it done after you were an adult? It seems to be a lot worse for adults than kids. I'd like to hear your experiences.
 
No, but I still have mine and I am older than a quarter century...
I think the pain is basically the same as for a kid - and you get ice cream to keep the swelling down. 🙂
 
My older bro had his taken out when he was in 19 or 20. I had mine take out when I was 3 or 4. I caught nuemonia<sp?> while I was recovering in the hospital and I still think I had an easier time than my bro did. I think it's kinda like gettin' yer wisdom teeth removed. The younger you are the "easier" it is. But each person is different. A friend of mine got his wisdom teeth pulled when he was 29 and he was only out of action for a day or so.


Lethal
 
I was either 18 or 19 when I had them out, so I suppose that is technically as an adult.

It plain sucks.

I had issues with my tonseils though as a kid, I got strep throat like clockwork. The blasted things would swell up to the size of golf balls; but my goofy self thought that was normal.

Anyhow, it was completely worth it for my condition and if you have been having issues through your life I would bet it would make a difference.

No reason to wait, I would go ahead and get them out if your doc says so.

Also, that stuff about eating ice cream all you want; nonsense. I drank nothing but water and liquid codiene for close to two weeks.
Good way to lose weight though.

Honestly it doesn't feel too good and it does hurt for close to two weeks, but hey it was worth it for me.
 
Myl sister in law had hers out when she was 32 and she was laid up for 2 weeks. Don't do it . It's just a scam by doctors who want to buy a new Mercedez.

At the very least, get a second opinion.
 
I had mine out at 35 - it DID suck, but I was only out of work for about 4 days. The first day after the operation was awful; after that I was fine as long as I stayed bombed on the painkillers. No fun, but no worse than a bad case of the flu. YMMV of course. Good luck.
 


<< Who here has had it done after you were an adult? It seems to be a lot worse for adults than kids. I'd like to hear your experiences. >>

Well, you're only going to depress yourself. Adults (18 and older) do have a tougher time with tonsils than children. Children are pretty resilient insofar as healing and recovery goes. But, if its something that must be done...there's no sense worrying about it.
 
Megamorph, I'm the chief resident of the ear/nose/throat department in my city. I might be able to give you some pointers.

Why do you need to have them out? The current indications for tonsillectomy are for airway obstruction, recurrent infections, and suspicion of cancer (!). Those are the broad categories there, I won't get into the long details around them.

Having your tonsils out as an adult is significantly tougher for you in regards to PAIN. Some older people (ie. late 20's/30's) have said its worse than childbirth. You WILL have significant discomfort for 7 to 10 days. You WILL lose some weight as all you'll be doing is sucking back fluids. Adult tonsillectomies are generally tougher due to increased amounts of scar tissue holding the tonsil in its place in the oropharynx. You aren't at any greatly increased chance of having a postoperative bleed or infection unless you have had a significant number of infections or a peritonsillar abscess in the past.

Hope that helps.
 
I had mine out when I was 26. It took two weeks for the pain to go away, but it was worth it. It get sick FAR less now.
 
I will be getting them out...probably in around a month. Besides airway obstruction there is the frequent strep throat (once every six weeks if I'm lucky, once every four weeks if not) and other throat problems. And it's not a scam for everybody...at least according to the three different doctors I've talked to.

Expect severe throat pain for a week and I hope you don't smoke...cause you won't be afterwards.
 
i had mine out when i was in my late 20's because of chronic tonsillitis.

The Good:
i felt like i had an EXTREMELY bad case of the flu for 1-2 weeks every 3-4 months until i had them out.

The Bad:
i hadn't had surgery before & nobody told me what to expect afterwards: you wake up in the recovery room feeling intensely cold, shaking, and coughing up blood. all the hospital offered me to eat over the next few days were sweets & i got tired of them. physically, you're quickly exhausted for a couple of weeks afterward, so don't try to jog or anything. you have to learn to swallow differently - i remember coffee & other liquids coming out of my nose more than once until i did.
 
I had them out when I was 21. I had strep throat a lot as a child and to a lesser extent in my teens. I also had my adnoids and uvula removed at the time.

When I had it done I did not eat solid food for 7 days. I lost somewhere between 10-15 pounds in that time because all I could do was drink and eat soup. Even after seven days there was some pain in swallowing.

After you are all healed up be careful drinking liquids too fast. The first time I drank from a water fountain after the surgery I had water coming out my nose. I don't know if it was the missing tonsils or adnoids that caused that.

The best thing is I have not had a sore throat in 9 years since the operation.

 
I had mine ot when I was 26 or so, it wasn't bad. They even did it under local anesthesa...so it was kind fun to watch in the doctor's reflector. He was explaining the whole thing as he went..." Cutting the upper suspensory ligiment....(*poink* like a small rubber band snap)...now the lateral ....(*poink*) and the final one.....now we use the lariat to grab aholdd of it ...." Etc etc...It was great.

When I got back to my room, I almost choked trying to eat some ice ships ( I was still numb in the throat), dinner of the usual jello and orange sherbet push-ups.

I was released the next day, and felt good enough that I wanted to stop to get a BK Whopper...(bad idea, salt-bad....).

As mentioned, it was ~ 2 weeks of working up completely to solid food again, but all-in-all, it wasn't that bad.

I wanted the tonsils after Pathology got done with 'em, and I didn't get 'em. I was gonna have 'em gold plated (or cast), and make some new-and-unusual earrings for my girlfriend....


Aw well.

The other point is, you should listen to the Doc that's looking down your throat. He knows what you got, and how bad it is. If you're nervous or think he's paying for a vacation out of the deal, get another doctor's opinion...most health care / HMO programs request/require a second consult for surgery anyway (and pay 100%).

Given the option again, I'd have 'em removed again. I went through decades of Strep / sore throats / etc....I was happy to lose 'em.

FWIW

Scott
 
Thanks for the replies. I know I need to have it done, but I'm just really worried about the recovery. I had septoplasty done a few years ago and the recovery was horrible, so I'm pretty nervous about this kind of stuff now. I'm also naturally pretty thin and lose weight easily. If I don't eat, I wither up.
 
I had my tonsils taken out last Thursday and I am in pain still. It hurts like hell. I havent been able to eat or drink anything. When I do try to eat and drink something and I swallow my eyes start watering cause of the pain. Its been a week since my surgery and I lost 15 lbs within a week from not eating and drinking. My pain pills dont even help with my pain and my dr. wont even given me something else to take. I done had 2 c-sections and I would rather have a 3rd c-section than this. Tonsils taken out are worse and I wish I never had to have them removed but hopefully after I finish healing I will be glad I had it done, but right now I wish it never happened. Good luck to everyone having there tonsils taken out.
 
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