Life without tonsils - downsides?

tpita

Is the long term prospect really all rosy?

spirithawk06

My doctor told me that I shouldn't have much trouble with the site after it is completely healed. He said I might have some pain when I yawn and a tightness in the muscles there that might last for two days to two months but he said eventually that should go away. I haven't had any trouble with food getting caught there since my scabs fell.

In my case though, I was in and out of the doctor's office with tonsillitis and I have noticed that my sinuses haven't been blocked up and my sense of smell and hearing is even improved post-surgery.

I've heard of some people having voice changes that wound up being permanent but my voice is slowly but surely returning to normal. I sounded like I was deaf for a while though and at week 3 my voice is still a little hoarse.

Maybe you should ask a doctor or your ENT. They might have more information for you.

tpita

Thanks - that's superb feedback.

I've been to two private docs - one of them very much in favor of operations and the other risk-averse who prefers thorough long non-surgical treatment. Both have good arguments, but I wanted to get some independent feedback before I make my decision.

Ratatosk

Like you, my tonsils were mainly a nuisance, but in my 30s it seemed like tonsil stone production increased and sometimes they'd bleed. I also noticed a correlation between sinus like headaches and more tonsil stones. When I finally got mine removed, the ENT indicated they were huge -- full of that nasty tonsil crud, that no amount of antibiotics would've gotten rid of. Think he said they were golf ball size.

So I did have a sizeable hole on one side, which was much bigger than the other. The recovering wasn't so bad -- For several months my tastebuds were off and I was more sensitive to carbonated and hot beverages. Similar to burning ones tongue. Almost immediately I noticed I could breathe much better -- must've had more room in my throat and I went from daily doses of sinus pain reliever meds to maybe once or twice a year for a normal headache.

It's been about 8 years. I've had no issues whatsover with food catching in the crevices. In fact, what crevices. Everything just seemed to fill in... And I wondered why the heck I hadn't had it done sooner.

tpita

That's excellent feedback, Ratatosk! If anybody has more to share, that'd be great! I'll schedule an appointment with doc and get a fresh referral to an ENT for the removal. The assurance thus far has been great.

Seems like the real downsides indeed are limited mostly to potential surgery complications.