Tonsils related question.

[mav]

Have you or anyone you know had their tonsils removed at an older (>30) age? Want to share any experiences?

The reason I asked is I am tired of having several painful bouts of tonsillitis every year, and I am seriously considering getting a tonsillectomy.

[JPS]

I've heard that if you have them out as a kid (I did, about 50 years ago..) it's a breeze. As an adult, not so much.

[10-Ring]

I had mine out at the age of 22. It was rough, I was on the couch for 2 weeks.

[GlockSpock]

I had them out in third grade. The kid next to me in the recovery room was eating a hamburger that day. I went nearly a week without any solid food because I wouldn't stop bleeding and kept throwing up.

P.S.

The reason I wrote this post is because several years ago I was at the doctor and he made mention of my tonsils. I politely informed him that I had my tonsils removed. His response? "They must have grown back". It's funny, really, because as I was being wheeled back to have my tonsils removed, the surgeon made mention that "It's no big deal. I've had mine out three times".

I used to get strep throat many times a year. I don't think I've had it once since they were removed. Edited November 27, 2012 by CZ9MM

[xRUSTYx]

Had a friend who had them taken out about a year ago. He was down and out of work for almost a month ... They took out everything (not just the tonsils) due to a serious case of sleep apnea.

Said he could never recommend getting it done.

I was born with ultra large tonsils, and the doctor has advised me that it would be best to get them removed before they cause issues further down the road. After watching what my friend went through - I don't think I will go down that road. If I was dealing with something worse (IE: Sleep apnea or lots of tonsilitis,) I'd probably get them removed

[xRUSTYx]

[quote name='CZ9MM' timestamp='1354046481' post='851489']
The reason I wrote this post is because several years ago I was at the doctor and he made mention of my tonsils. I politely informed him that I had my tonsils removed. His response? "They must have grown back". It's funny, really, because as I was being wheeled back to have my tonsils removed, the surgeon made mention that "It's no big deal. I've had mine out three times".

I used to get strep throat many times a year. I don't think I've had it once since they were removed.
[/quote]

1 of my mothers grew back. She had it removed the 2nd time as well

[babelt]

I had them taken out by a doctor here in Greeneville when I was in the 8th grade. It wasn't bad at all, I was asking for food on the way home.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

As others said, tis a rough operation for an adult, but I can't say from personal experience.

If your tonsils and uvula are routinely swollen, might get checked for sleep apnea, which can afflict skinny folk as well as fatties, and at any age. The snoring and snorting during sleep aggravates the tonsils and uvula and makes them swell up, and could perhaps make them more prone to infection as well.

Before I got diagnosed and treated for apnea, my uvula would sometimes be so big it would drop down in my throat in the day time and feel uncomfortable swallowing food, feel like was trying to swallow the uvula as well. After treatment, the tonsils and uvula are very rarely swollen, and if they are swollen it is an indication that something was mis-adjusted with the CPAP or sleep gear and I probably had some apnea the previous night.

Was plagued with lots of tonsilitis and repeat runs of antibiotics in my early 20's. Just kept getting tonsilitis every few months. Maybe it was mere coincidence, but in the early 70's the folk wisdom was that vitamin a would improve resistance. There is always folk wisdom re vitamins and the "wisdom" changes over time. Anyway, coincidence or not, I took "large but non-toxic" doses of vitamin A for about 6 months and the repeat tonsilitis ceased and never returned. Vitamin A will build up in your system and you can overdose on it if you try, so research how much to take and how long. In addition to pills, a real good source of vitamin A and other good stuff is cod liver oil. The non-spoiled fresh cod liver oil is near tasteless and painless to choke down. It got a bad rep for tasting bad many decades ago when it wasn't as pure and was stored too long non-refrigerated. Rancid cod liver oil is truly horrible, but good fresh stuff, not so much.

edit: vitamin D as well. Vitamin D has gone in and out of fashion over the years but the last few years even many vitamin-hating doctors and legit research has been showing many benefits including improved resistance, with vitamin D. You can take fairly massive doses. A fellow working in south georgia, digging ditches all day with no shirt in the summer, generates so much sunshine vitamin D you would have to gobble handfuls of pills to equal his "natural" dose. Edited November 27, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

It is different when you are younger..
Your tonsils are the virus police of some sort when you are younger., As adults you dont really need them anymore..

Your tonsils now are just really big bacteria catchers.. look up tonsil stones.. its gross ..And if you had a lot of tonsilitis you form these small pockets from the puss that ate away the tonsils.. You noticed that after each bout you get more? Pretty nasty eh? lol

Get them out.. be careful with bleeding afterwards.. thats all. And they might want to take out your adnoids IF you have breathing problems

[MacGyver]

Had a friend who had them out last year as an adult. He had a strange, but apparently not that uncommon side effect of post operative bleeding from the lingual artery. They think that had someone not been there with him and been able to take him immediately to the ER, he may well have bled out.

Oddly, I think something similar happened to a young friend of mine last year as well. I don't know all the details of that one, but know he had to go back in the hospital a week or so after his surgery.

[runco]

My sister-in-law had them removed when she was around 29 or 30, terrible experience and pain for many many days. In comparision, my then 5 year old son, was out of commission about a day or two.

[RED333]

I am over 50, still have mine, from what I have heard and now read, keep them till you HAVE to take them out.
Besides with out them you get dummer faster.

[Oh Shoot]

Just another example of a mostly evolutionary vestigal structure, like appendix, coccyx, etc. Used to serve a more useful purpose waaay back in the gene pool.

- OS Edited November 28, 2012 by OhShoot

[deerslayer]

Had them taken out when I was 35 and would do it again in a heartbeat. Dr. scared the crap out of me about it being hell as an adult and warned me not to get behind on my pain med. After four days of seeing bugs and spider webs that didn't exist and talking to my wife when she wasn't there, I decided that I would see just how bad the pain could be and quit the pain meds. I never looked back. I missed two weeks of work, mainly because my job was pretty physical and I would risk some bleeding. If I had had a desk type job, I would have been ok to go back after five or six days. If you are a heavy drinker or drug user, the pain meds may not work as well and it may be rough. I honestly never felt the slightest bit of pain. Edited November 28, 2012 by deerslayer

[seez52]

Had mine out at about 31. Was painful and kept me down for a while, but I was getting strep 2 or 3 times a year. Dr said they were likely always infected and periodically flared up. Could see the pockets of infection on them. Haven't had strep since and that was over 20 yrs ago.

[Guest TankerHC]

Tonsils out at 36, eating that afternoon. But thats me, had all wisdom teeth pulled and ate a pizza two hours later.