Tonsillectomy - Tongue Soreness

Little bit of background info:  27 yr. old female, drink once a week, ex-smoker.  I have been dealing with hypocondriac/anxiety/panic/OCD attacks for about a year now.  Huge fear of cancer (grandmother died of OVarian cancer).  I actually haven't had any attacks since August.  Anyway, I had a tonsillectomy 7 days ago due to chronic tonsillitis.  From my understanding, the ENT doctor used a tongue gag or something of that sort to hold my tongue down.  When I woke up from surgery, my tongue was so sore and swollen.  It looked like I had cuts on each side of my tongue and the cuts looked real white.  The next day, underneath my tongue it looked like I had 2 ulcers but they went away in about 2 or 3 days.  Now one side of tongue feels fine but the other side still feels a little sore.  It has this weird sensation, almost like it feels numb but yet I can still feel my tongue.  It just feels weird on one side in one little section.  Its not as bad as it was 3 or 4 days ago.  Should I be concerned or is this somewhat common with this type of surgery?  If it is common, how long can it take for my tongue to feel completely normal?  Also I just got through taking Oral Augmentin.  Ever since my surgery my tongue has been coated with yellow/whitish stuff and its real thick.  I have tried to brush it off with a tongue scraper.  Did know if that was also common with this procedure and I still have scabs in the back of my throat or if it could be oral thrush?  I do have a little bit of burning toward the front/center tip of my tongue.  I just didn't know if I should be concerned about the tongue sensation?  Don't want to fall back into the routine of panicing and rushing to the thought of cancer.  Please advise and thank you for your time.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Tough to say without seeing it.  An oral fungal infection is possible, and can happen after the surgery or after antibiotics.  Taking a sample of the lesion and culturing it can further evaluate it.  If positive, then oral antifungal medications can be helpful.

If negative, you can get a referral to an oral surgeon, who can evaluate the mouth lesions and possibly biopsy them to exclude the possibility of cancer.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
Medical Weblog:
kevinmd_b

[lmroswell]

My daughter had a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy a little over a year ago.  After the surgery, her surgeon explained that she would have white scabs at the back of the throat where the surgery took place.  Soon the scabs would disappear.  They did.  This may be what you are experiencing.  Your tongue soreness is probably from the trauma of the surgery.  In any event, your surgeon would more than welcome your question about the soreness and white spots.  Hope you are feeling better.  For my daughter, who was age 5 at the time, it took 10 days.  Good luck!

[ozark]

if you were also taking liquid augmentin thats whitish yellow which will discolor your tongue...the tongue may be due to trauma and that will take about 1-2 wks