I’ve had a streptococcus pyogenes infection for about 4 months now, I’ve had 3 differnt courses of antibiotics, none of which are getting rid of it.

The doctor said that I should get my tonsils removed.

Does anyone have experience of tonsilectomy as an adult?

Wife had them done as an adult, was not a pleasant experience but reduced the effect of any infections.

How not pleasant? Were there complications? How long was the recovery?

It’s a major undertaking with at least an overnight stay possibly longer. No complications for her, when I had mine out at 6 the wound bled and made me sick. It hurts “like a bitch” and swallowing is difficult. Recovery about a week.

Sorry, this is going to put you off, but you should have them out.

I had mine out a few years ago. I’m sure the surgeon screwed up because i had severe pain in just one tiny part of my throat for 14 days. The rest seemed to clear up within a week and wasn’t too bad. Couldn’t eat or drink anything except very diluted Ribena. Seriously, I could not manage water on it’s own without intense pain. It was impossible and have never experienced anything like it before or since. I Couldn’t sleep, lost a lot of weight and went through a lot of diamorphine (taken orally and which did nothing much except make me feel drowsy). Afterwards I found that I lost my sense of taste to an extent. The diamorphine and the lack of food intake left me badly constipated and when I started eating again it was extremely uncomfortable until the doc showed up and…..

I also had my sinuses drilled out and a polyp removed. The pain of the tonsilectomy completely obliterated any sense of pain and discomfort caused by this proceedure, so there was an upside.

Pain and discomfort rating was a definite 10 out of 10

I can now handle a Chicken Tikka Phal whereas before a Madras was right on my threshold of tolerance. My mates think I am crazy coz the hot sauce I have now is like paint stripper. It’s called Spontaneous Combustion and is made with chitpotle and habanero peppers. MMMMMM

There is some information on both sore throat and tonsilitis on http://www.NHS.uk
Here are the specific links. they focus on children.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sore-throat/Pages/Introduction.aspx

or

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Tonsillitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

and this link has questions a doctor thinks you should ask..
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Tonsillitis/Pages/Questionstoask.aspx
It even mentions that – for children – they are not sure of the procedure is beneficial…. (I.e. stops more episodes of sore throat…)

So you are right to try to find out if there is evidence that says its likely to be beneficial – or not.

Before I looked it all uo I had thought that if i had this happening a lot I would go for it,,. that once its done you shouldn’t get the problem again. But I have heard it described as painful. AND I just read that – for children – the evidence of good effects are not strong.

My nephew had chronic sore throat and was on antibiotics (worngly or rightly I am not sure) and had a lot of time off school and college (It carried on till adult hood) But he refused to have his out. He had many days of being very sore and ill – rather than have a procedure.

I looked on this site – it lists patient experiences of health care issues and is pretty good – but no listing for chronic sore throat or
tonsillitis….

http://www.healthtalkonline.org/Default.aspx

BUT it may be worth you posting on NHS.UK or DOCTORS forum to get more info. Or ask you GP to summarise the evidence for you ….

Check the Map of medicine (Its the info doctors use to help make decisions).
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Tonsillitis/Pages/MapofMedicinepage.aspx

good luck with whatever you decide….

In my case it was 100% effective. No more sore throats with a raging temperature. Even after the experience I would still go through with it again. I’d just make sure I picked a surgeon who wasn’t hamfisted!

From personal experience I would get it done. I had tonsilitis on and off for 16 years. Not clever at all. Finally we persuaded the doc to get them removed. As mentioned above it is painful and takes about a week to calm down (if you are lucky). I had the electrocauterisation method, but there are others. You will eat a lot of soft/cold/liquid food, if the hospital will let you. Mine made me eat things like pizza and cornflakes with very little milk. Not funny.

23 years on I am grateful for this. I still have a weakness for sore throats, but nothing compared to the tonsilitis I used to get. My bro went through the same thing, but they did not want him to have his out. He still gets really bad sore throats, but he has found that gargling with antiseptic every morning and night pretty much stops it. He has only had tonsilitis once in the last 5 years since he started this. You pays you money and takes your choice. As I said to start with, I would take the pain and get them out.

Had mine out at 20, hurt like hell but stopped the sore throats I was getting every few weeks.

I suffered from inflamed tinsills for 45 years on and off at least twice a year .
then one new years day the same but it turned into Quinsies and nearly killed me .
Had the buggers removed 3 months later and it has been brilliant colds and sore throats seem to be a distant memmory .

Mind you it was a painfull 2 weeks ,
the reason they want you to eat toast and rough stuff is it aids the healing by sloughing off the nasty stuff ,
mornings were worse the pain killers have worn off so you cant swallow but need to to get some more inside you .

I used to get Quinsy’s twice a year, every year without fail since i was 15, went on for a good ten years. i now follow a simple routine and have never had it since.

1. Don’t pick your nose, you scum.
2. keep your fingers out of your mouth.
3. Alwasy wash your hands.
4. Gargle with antiseptic morning and night.

Picking your nose and eating it is one of the best ways to stay healthy, according to a top Austrian doctor.

Innsbruck-based lung specialist Prof Dr Friedrich Bischinger said people who pick their noses with their fingers were healthy, happier and probably better in tune with their bodies.

He says society should adopt a new approach to nose-picking and encourage children to take it up.

Dr Bischinger said: “With the finger you can get to places you just can’t reach with a handkerchief, keeping your nose far cleaner.

“And eating the dry remains of what you pull out is a great way of strengthening the body’s immune system.

“Medically it makes great sense and is a perfectly natural thing to do. In terms of the immune system the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works just like a medicine.

“Modern medicine is constantly trying to do the same thing through far more complicated methods, people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free.”

He pointed out that children happily pick their noses, yet by the time they have become adults they have stopped under pressure from a society that has branded it disgusting and anti social.

He said: “I would recommend a new approach where children are encouraged to pick their nose. It is a completely natural response and medically a good idea as well.”

And he pointed out that if anyone was really worried about what their neighbour was thinking, they could still enjoy picking their nose in private if they still wanted to get the benefits it offered.

back to the topic had it done @ 23 and best thing I ever did.
Hurts a bit afterwards for a week or so eating is difficult at first but compared to the illnesses I was getting before this a no brainer choice for me.
If in same situation would do it ASAP without much thought.
I also got an infection afterwards and was in hospital for about 5 days after op but not much worse then the illnesses i was getting and better painkillers.