How Long After Tonsillectomy Can You Eat (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 1 Week

Tonsillectomy is the process of removing the palatine tonsils from the back of the throat. This can happen to all people and therefore surgery is required for removing them. There are two tonsils that occur in the back of your throat which have to be removed during the surgery. However, you eat normal food just after your surgery because you need to give some time to recover.

For children, it could take more than two weeks to come back to their normal food routine. Children should be consuming soft food after their tonsillectomy surgery. Some soft foods include yogurt, pudding, soups, and other such things.

How Long After Tonsillectomy Can You Eat?

Tonsillectomy is something that is common to all aged groups. It is not necessary that you do not consume foods that you like. For example, you can still eat your favorite ice cream after your surgery. These foods are soft and therefore there will be no harm caused. Make sure you do not consume hard foods like meat and other such kinds of things.

Tonsillectomy is one of the safest operations and it is also one of the most common surgeries that is especially performed on children. If there are some white patches on the back of your child’s throat then you should not remove them on your own until and unless you are a professional in this field.

The scabs that happen on the back of your child’s throat will happen and it will automatically fall off after a week of surgery. So, there is nothing to worry about because there are no side effects. But, whenever tonsils are happening in your child’s throat then the child may suffer some kind of pain.

The pain might be in the ear and neck for at least 2-3 weeks after surgery. Whenever the scabs are falling off then the patient might feel more pain and this is common. The person or the professional who is conducting the surgery should be able to comfort the child’s pain because that will help the child to eat and drink.

Why Does It Take That Long To Eat After Tonsillectomy?

It is all because of the pain that a child or a person stops eating after they had a tonsillectomy. Well, it is natural that if you have a sore throat or there is a small throat pain then you stop eating and drinking like you used to do before that pain.

Therefore, it takes a few weeks before getting back to normal life. Even after the surgery, the pain will occur because of the scabs which will take about a week to fall off. After the surgery, the patient might feel bad ear pain which is the pain that is coming from the throat. The pain might last for up to a few weeks.

The patient should take some kind of medication to help the pain that they are suffering. Pain medications, chewing gums, and other chewy foods might help the patient from their pain. The pain might not go even after taking medicines but the pain will at least be in control.

It is important to keep and maintain all the necessary procedures after the surgery has taken place. Make sure you follow all the details and instructions given by the doctor. If there is some kind of problem which might not be a common symptom then it is best you consult the doctor about it.

Conclusion

In the end, it is your health that matters the most. Things like these can happen and it is completely normal. Tonsils need to be removed as soon as possible because these things cause severe pain in your neck and ear area.

 Try eating soft foods like jelly, pasta, applesauce, smoothies, milk, cool soup, enough amounts of water, juice, and other such kinds of food items. Try to eat liquid kinds of stuff so that your body can get all the necessary nutrients that it needs for a couple of weeks.

Things will be normal once you can take care of yourself properly. Do not do things that might affect your health and increase the pain more.

References

1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article-abstract/618513
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/lary.5541121403