Hi all

I had my tonsillectomy on Wednesday. The pain has been bad at times, not so bad at others. I was eating very soon after the op and am eating toast for breakfast and am managing vegetables, pastry, etc. Also managing a lot of water and Earl Grey tea (my saviour!). Oddly, I feel quite energetic most of the time.

The hospital staff were mostly rubbish, they didn't give me a patient info leaflet or anything so I've been having to rely on Google to work out what is good and bad to do. Trying a fruit smoothie is my worst decision so far!

I am taking codeine (30mg) four times a day; paracetamol (soluble) four times a day and aspirin (soluble) four times a day.

What else can I do? Hot baths seem to help, the tea seems to help too. I've heard about using chewing gum - is it safe to? What about using a 0% alcohol mouthwash? Any advice welcome! Oh, I've found wearing a wooly hat over my ears has helped some of the pain!

Have any singers had the op done? Did it change anything?

Thanks!

Steve

Hi Steve,
You seem to be doing great and not in so much pain. I had my tonsils out on the 14th - so this is what?...day 10? - and I was in a lot of pain the first five days. I could barely open my mouth so I wasn't even considering chewing gum. I did try alcohol free mouthmash and carefully gargled a bit - I didn't want to push it. It seemed to help in terms of feeling a cleaner throat.
I'm not a professional singer but I've been singing since I was 10. One of my concerns was my voice. I haven't seen a voice doctor but I've read that your voice does change and for many, a tonsillectomy made them sing better (??).
As I observe changes in my own voice during this recuperating phase, I can hear a difference in my voice and I don't like it...I don't want to discourage or scare anyone off. Then again, it's still too soon for me to say any permanent changes have happened.
I know there are more people here that ARE professional singers and had a tonsillectomy done a while ago. Hopefully, they'll give us some pointers.
Feel better!!:)

Hi Steve,

Just a quick message, I had my tonsils out on the 19th, still in alot of pain. I actually just wanted to say DON'T take the soluble aspirin!!!!! It couldn't have been stressed enough to me regarding post op bleeding. Please stop taking it and stick to the paracetamol/codeine combo.

Goodluck

Don't take the soluble aspirin?! What about Ibuprofen? I've not bled yet - might I still? Ah, jesus, that's just what I didn't need to hear! Can anybody else back this up?

Also, what about using a humidifier? Is this a good idea?

Hi,

Didn't mean to scare you or sound abrupt!!!!! The notes that were given to me by my surgeon, state

Do not use aspirin, ibuprofen for pain relief, as the blood does not clot as well

Use a steam vapouriser in your bedroom for two weeks after the operation (I have been using one, keeps room nice and throat moist)

Hope this helps, I was just worried about your recovery

That's fine! No more shall I take it! Any alternatives in addition to para/codeine? Thanks so much for replying!

I have just tried using a hot facial steamer and that seems to help - is the warm moisture safe so close? Also are hot baths ok?

Oh, and can I gargle?

I've been left high and dry by the hospital, I don't think they care!

Just wanted to mention, my vapourisor isn't a facial one, it sits on the floor and has to be three feet away from face. The idea is to just keep the room moist which inturn will keep your throat moist! If you can, don't buy one, I hired my from a local pharmary for the two weeks, worked out much cheaper.

As for gargling, I don't do it every day, not sure if it helps. The only time I did it was when I had a small bleed day 4, and I guess I will when the dreaded scab comes off.

Hope everything is going ok

the nurse gave me a gargle that i am to use after every meal...it's green and tastes slightly sweet...i guess it should be alright for you to gargle. ;)

OW! You say you're not in that much pain at times, but like, 3 different painkillers 4 times a day!? That's a heap!

I haven't had my tonsils out but love singing. How exactly does getting them removed affect your voice? How about adenoids? I WANT my voice to change. It's always had this sort of nasal/throatal quality I don't care for that's not in my head but is when I hear myself on tape, etc.

Thanks, guys, the humidifier has really helped I think :) My girlfriend rushed out to get one for me!

My eating got worse yesterday as the pain ramped up but this coincided with stopping aspirin. I am on day 6 now and haven't bled which is a great relief (unless I have without noticing?).

Breakfast time...here comes the pain! I drink two cups of tea with every meal which helps! Earl Grey is my saviour :)

PS - I haven't left the house but have been kind of active, in going up and downstairs, etc. Mostly just watched the World Cup and DVDs!

PS - I haven't left the house but have been kind of active, in going up and downstairs, etc. Mostly just watched the World Cup and DVDs!

wow, lucky you. going up and down for me is a chore, i end up breaking into a coughing fit and a mini-panic fest that i'm going to bleed.

glad to hear earl grey is good for you. :) rest well and recover fast!

What should I gargle with? I have done a tsp of salt in 250 ml warm water - is this ok? Actually, I can't gargle, I'm scared but am rinsing! My uvula has shrunk a lot, which is great news (I think!).

I couldn't gargle at all during my recovery. I couldn't hold water at the back of my throat...it just went straight down. But I've always heard lightly salted warm water is good.

So many contradictions! My doctor told me not to chew gum! I'm going to skip the gum and do mouth rinses!

Hey guys! I just thought I'd drop in and share my wisdom, for what it's worth. I had my tonsils out last year. I managed to find the paperwork from the hospital that they gave me after I was let go from the hospital that day, and it does say not to gargle, but to chew gum. Reason being, gargling may upset the scabs and make them fall off but chewing gum promotes saliva production and swallowing, which helps the healing process.

But don't take my word for it, just do a google search for chewing gum tonsillectomy and you'll see webpage after webpage of sites saying that chewing gum after a tonsillectomy is good. It stands to reason that anything that promotes saliva production (such as chewing gum) would be helpful, since your main goal in recovery is to keep your throat as moist as possible.