[thedubester]

have any of you had your tonsils removed? if so, what was it like (the whole process, level of pain, recovery, etc.)

i had a viral infection, pretty much like mono, for about 3 months, where my tonsils swelled up a lot. for the first three weeks, i could hardly eat a thing because i was in so much pain and i could feel my tonsils swelling up and blocking my throat. everytime i swallowed food, it would just come straight back up. it took about 8 swallows to get one bit of food down, followed by lots of fluid to push it down even more. after that, i finally went to the doc and he gave me penicilin which made the pain go away. it was still bothering me, so i went back to the doc and he put me on steroids.

months later, my tonsils are still insanely swollen. there's no pain at all, but it's still a bit difficult to eat. on top of that, because of the swelling, i drool a lot when i sleep (ewww), which is something i never did before... and i snore SOOO incredibly loudly (even my dorm friends can hear me snoring in their rooms across the hall when they're sleeping). i'm getting fed up and i want them gone! i know that in today's age, they generally don't remove them. they think it's best to keep them in, since your tonsils are important in your immune system... but i don't really care anymore!

any advice/ tips?

[MONICA]

well if they're getting in the way of your lifestyle, then you need to go see an ent [ear nose throat] specialist. the procedure is really fast and easy [or at least it seems like it's easy lol]. ive seen kids getting them removed in the OR a few times. they put you to sleep, then they take them out and cauterize it which means you won't have to get stitches! ummm. i'm sure you'll get pain medication and it IS a surgery so you might be in some pain. the anesthesia usually lasts up to 24 hrs so you might have a few side effects from that...but other than that, i'm not sure. i dont intern for an ent person so i dont get to see the follow up of the patients :[ i hope this helped!

oh yea, and these kids come in with these HUGE tonsils and adenoids. it's like so weird. haha.

[emma007]

they think it's best to keep them in, since your tonsils are important in your immune system... but i don't really care anymore!

Ok first off, whatever you have heard about having your tonsils removed, and it taking a big blow to your immune system is a bunch of bull. You have THREE sets of tonsils. The ones you are prolly talking about are the palantine tonsils. These are the ones you can see easily in if you look down your throat, and get infected the most. If you get one set removed, it will cause a little hit to your immune system, but not a whole lot. If you have all three removed, which I believe is super rare, then yea, you would have a bigger hit to your immune system.

I two sets of my tonsils takin out when I was around 5 or so. I don't really remember a lot about it. I don't think I was in a lot of pain or anything though. I don't get sick a bunch either.

[rieleva ♥]

people remove their tonsils when they often had tonsilitis... becasue if that's the case possibly you are high risk of having an RHD(rheumatic heart disease) because the infection from your tonsils can posibly go to your systems probably the heart to cause RHD...

in your case i think its best to ask a doctors opinion... especially if it gets to your lifestyle..

[kuku]

It's a relatively harmless procedure in my opinion. I've seen the actual surgery. You are either put the sleep or sedated. They cut and the tonsil falls into a tiny basket.

If it's affecting your quality of life, I would think strongly about removing it.

[leahmarie]

In my opinion, swollen tonsils are caused by what you do everyday or I mean what you eat and drink everyday. all extremes of hot and cold food and drinks can make your tonsils swollen or may be worse, have infection. So I advice you guys to be careful of your tonsils.