[GoldHawkStar]

I'm 21-years-old, and two years ago I went to the doctor due to swallowing infrequently often and it hurting, among a few other symptoms such as coughing and having a hard time breathing. This had never happened to me before. They tested my blood and found that I had a "bacterial infection" and that it would have been bad had I waited another day to get it checked out. Gave me oral antibiotics, I was fine in no time.

Now, less than two years later, it's happening again. I read this thread by Samseau and swished some hydrogen peroxide. Going to the doctor tomorrow morning and I'm sure they'll tell me the same thing and give me the same pills.

Looking online now, I'm sure what I had/have was simply just strep throat. I've heard that removing your tonsils can reduce the likelihood of getting strep throat and overall reduces the likelihood/severity of soar throats.

I've also heard that the removal of tonsils helps your overall breathing. Specifically this article got to me. Professional NBA player had his tonsils in as well as asthma (same here) and found a dramatic improvement in his breathing after getting them removed. I have a hard time breathing sometimes, especially when I'm doing cardio, so maybe this could help.

For those of you who have gotten your tonsils removed as an adult - Did you notice any improvements in breathing and frequency of soar throats? How was the procedure? Were you able to get back to lifting soon after? Did insurance cover it as an adult?

[Space Cowboy]

Never had my tonsils removed but I have thought about it. Had an awful bout of strep throat over a year ago that actually left one tonsil permanently swollen. Was completely miserable for a week and couldn't eat for about 5 days. They put me on oral antibiotics but that stuff is pretty weak. What really worked was getting a big shot of penicillin in the ass.

As for removing the tonsils, I am a bit wary as I've heard that getting them removed as an adult is pretty torturous and leads to at least a week of severe pain.

[GlobalMan]

Doctors recommend removing tonsils far less frequently these days than they did decades ago. Early 20's is usually the end of the time frame for experiencing issues with tonsils and most people mid 20's and older will not have further flare ups. This is what I was told years ago when I had issues with my tonsils two or three times around 19-20 years old, and indeed I've never had a problem in the decade+ since then.

If this keeps going on every year for a few more years then you may be one of the very few who might benefit from having them removed, otherwise I'd bet doctors won't recommend you have them removed.

[Charlemagne In Sweatpants]

When I was in my mid-20's I started getting tonsil stones. Tonsil stones are basically gross little chunks of calcified material that form in the crypts of your tonsils. Nasty stuff. They caused a persistent irritation in my throat, and when I coughed up one of these things - good god - it was like launching a concentrated turd across the room.

When this started happening daily, I got my tonsils removed. The procedure was standard, and covered by insurance (I'm in the US). When I met with the doctor after my surgery he said of my gnarled, cryptic tonsils: "Well, you're certainly not gonna miss those." I was laid up for about a week, and spent the days at my parents' place, sipping liquid vicodin, and re-watching season 3 of The Wire. I had to gradually introduced solid foods over the course of a month. Yes, I ate a lot of ice cream. It wasn't that bad.

OP - since you are having these bouts of strep rather infrequently, I don't think you need to get your tonsils out. Just know that if you do end up having them removed, the recovery is manageable if there are no complications. For what it's worth, the thing I was most worried about was my voice changing (as your tonsils are a part of the topography of your throat). My voice didn't change, and I haven't had a sore throat or a tonsil stone since.

[the Thing]

I had my tonsils removed when I was little.

Imagine having a sore throat that feels like it's just about to heal but never heals for 20 years.

Don't do it. That's all I'm saying.

[MidJack]

Never undergo unnecessary surgery. If you're worried about getting sick, stop doing things that make you vulnerable to getting sick -- like drinking too much or sleeping poorly.

There is no guarantee that the surgical wounds in your throat will heal properly, and you could be in pain for the rest of your life. Not worth the risk.

[chakalaka]

Tonsils might be a reflexion of something else. One cause migh be stomach problems associated with drinking or gaining weight. Maybe omeprazol. A throat doctor only looks into the throat. Go to a stomach. Or a general.

[Bury Zenek]

I got them out this year in my late 20's. First week is hard cause you can't eat proper food. Strangely enough I didn't experience any pain at all, not once, probably I have high pain toleration. You said some penicillin worked before. I think it's caused by bacteria, make swipes from throat, deep inside nose, above throat. If there's something in your nasal tract you can try to kill it by washing your nose with correct antibiotic (Proetz method). In my experience using liquid antibiotics locally in the nose cavity gives best results (I killed a streptococcus aureus this way), oral antibiotics can't get through. Some bacteria are considered part of the bioflora even though they are pathogens and contrary to what your doctor may say they can be causing your problem. Do a detailed immunoglobulin analysis from blood to see if your organism is producing high levels of antibodies, if yes, you have an ongoing infection. Test your blood for bacteria presence once again. Checking vitamin levels won't hurt too. Remove tonsils only if you run out of options and experience joint pains.

[sthesia]

(10-24-2016 09:00 PM)GoldHawkStar Wrote:  

For those of you who have gotten your tonsils removed as an adult - Did you notice any improvements in breathing and frequency of soar throats? How was the procedure? Were you able to get back to lifting soon after? Did insurance cover it as an adult?

Years of catching a bout of strep throat nearly 1-2x each Winter finally became annoying AF.


Sure... I could completely overhaul my sleep habits, nutrition, and other lifestyle factors to reduce my risk of developing these annoyances every Winter. Doing these things concurrently with my professional life, personal life, and social life at the time would have proved challenging. Not impossible though.


Surgery has risks. Bleeding. Infection. Vocal Damage. Morbidity/Mortality related to Anesthesia. Shit can hit the fan... even during elective surgery in a healthy young male.


I weighed the risks. Researched the potential benefits. Factored in the cost/benefit analysis of alternatives.


Surgery scheduled.


I cleared my schedule and booked two solid weeks off for recovery.
As an adult, you have MUCH more muscular tissue that needs to be dissected and debrided than a kid undergoing tonsillectomy. This is what makes the procedure in adults SO much more painful and the recovery significantly longer. The tissue in the posterior pharynx is left raw & exposed and needs to heal.


Going under anesthesia was a piece of cake, as was the entire operative procedure. I was asleep. Woke up with a remarkable euphoria in the recovery room; or so I was told. Didn't have my wits fully about me until I was ready and exiting the PACU. That was some good anesthesia; it paid to have put in a special request.


Insurance paid for everything.

[well, nearly ... I had a couple hundred $$ deductible to cough up ... but rec'd nothing over & above that charge.]


The pain afterwards was NO JOKE.


Excruciating pain at times that lasted nearly for 2 weeks. At times, it was unrelenting. I got to the point where I was timing doses of acetaminophen, NSAID, and opioid to ensure around-the-clock analgesic coverage. It still hurt.


Eating was a challenge for about a solid week. I had to pre-medicate to allay the pain prior to eating. Lidocaine swish & swallow helped. I spent a lot of time laid up in bed. I lost a considerable amt (~10+ pounds) of body weight.


On post-op day 4 I coughed. Then I bled. Then I bled some more. It wouldn't stop.
Got in the back of my mom's car. Sped to the nearest emergency room. Bleeding was controlled in ER. IV fluids replenished the volume loss. Did not need emergency surgery. Felt a real fear when thinking that if that blood starts acutely pouring down the wrong pipe (trachea vs esophagus) I could potentially asphyxiate on my own blood and this could be the end. ...I survived.


About 10 days in I learned from first hand experience the phenomenon of opioid induced constipation. I made fiber my friend after that.


Full recovery took maybe about 3-4 weeks. I got back to work outs after that. In retrospect a break from training like that is just a blip on the radar (at least for me.)


A few years following the surgery, I have indeed noticed a decreased incidence of those annoying AF sore throats. But... those pesky lifestyle changes... I've since implemented many of them too. Gun to my head: did tonsillectomy play a BIG role in reducing the # of strep throat infections I suffered? ...Absolutely.


If you do decide to undergo the knife, may your recovery be speedy & free of complications.

[Brick]

Sounds like my story is abnormal...got mine removed when I was 29...they were huge and could touch each other when I opened wide. I was tired of the tonsil stones and hardcore snoring. I told my doc I wanted em out because of sore throats, if you get more than 6 a year, they want to take them out according to this doc.

Here's where I guess I can be the dangerous ray of hope...surgery was a breeze, recovery was almost as easy. First night I didn't sleep a lot, kept drooling everywhere and there was some blood (not a lot), but the next day I had kung pao chicken for dinner and some moscow mules. Didn't take a single vicodin and didn't feel like I needed one. Took the week off to sleep a lot, but that's about it. Ate what I wanted, occasionally drank a bit. Obviously, doctor did not recommend that diet, but I felt fine, so I rolled with it. If i had felt anything wrong i would have acted accordingly. Only snore on my back now and sleep like a rock.

Best of luck and I hope you're as fortunate as I was!

[SamuraiJack]

I had my tonsils removed at age 43 because I was tired of getting tonsil stones. Tonsil stones smell really bad, and that results in some serious bad breath.

My recovery wasn't too bad. First 2 or 3 days post-surgery I took the pain meds prescribed. I was pretty much recovered at about the 1 or 2 week mark. Able to eat solid food and physical activity was back to normal.

I'm very happy I had this done. The bad breath associated with the tonsil stones was affecting my professional and personal life as I was always worried about facing people when I spoke, even at a distance.

[MidJack]

It sounds like your doctor did not use the traditional surgical method (there are alternatives). The surgical sites are extremely sensitive and disturbing them with solid food after only 24 hours is high risk for severe bleeding.

(10-27-2016 12:08 AM)Brick Wrote:  

Sounds like my story is abnormal...got mine removed when I was 29...they were huge and could touch each other when I opened wide. I was tired of the tonsil stones and hardcore snoring. I told my doc I wanted em out because of sore throats, if you get more than 6 a year, they want to take them out according to this doc.

Here's where I guess I can be the dangerous ray of hope...surgery was a breeze, recovery was almost as easy. First night I didn't sleep a lot, kept drooling everywhere and there was some blood (not a lot), but the next day I had kung pao chicken for dinner and some moscow mules. Didn't take a single vicodin and didn't feel like I needed one. Took the week off to sleep a lot, but that's about it. Ate what I wanted, occasionally drank a bit. Obviously, doctor did not recommend that diet, but I felt fine, so I rolled with it. If i had felt anything wrong i would have acted accordingly. Only snore on my back now and sleep like a rock.

Best of luck and I hope you're as fortunate as I was!