How old is too old? LOL

[twilightmom]

I am almost 33 years old and have suffered from strep, tonsillitis, recurring ear infections, and tonsil stones (off and on) for pretty much my whole life.  I really am sick of it, and would like to have my tonsils taken out.  I don't know why my mom didn't just have them yanked when I was a kid...I sure do wish she would have.  It's very frustrating to spend the majority of every fall and winter, and sometimes spring!, with a horrible sore throat and all the secondary infections I seem to get b/c of the my tonsils.  But I've heard how much it hurts and that it can even be somewhat risky for adults, and would like to know the general consensus on the topic. I live 20 minutes from the nearest hospital and I'd really rather not even have to GO to that little bandaid station...so about 50 minutes to the nearest 'good' hospital.  Advice anyone?  I know there are several different methods, now--is there a clear winner?  I know the pain will be bad but my biggest concern is safety and the bleeding factor.

[GeorgiaRose]

I had mine removed when I was 25, and while it wasn't a picnic, it wasn't THAT bad, either. I was in Germany at the time, my ex-hubby was Army, and my procedure was done in a German hospital. I believe the language barrier was more of a problem than anything else. I have bad reactions to general anesthetics (typically 2-3 days of ungodly vomiting) which made the recovery less pleasant, but all in all it could have been much much worse. The Germans tend to keep you in the hospital longer than US hospitals do, but I think they kept me a bit longer than was really necessary. You can usually feel when you're ready to go home, and I was ready 2 days before they let me go :) It took me a total of approx. 2 weeks to recover, and the only post op pain medication I was given was paracetemol (plain old tylenol) but it was enough to make me comfortable.

[Mandy747]

Hi,  I am 24 and am going to get my tonsils and adenoids taken out on Thursday January 29th...so excited...NOT.  I am getting the cold knife (excision of tonsils with scalpal) and electrocautery procedure.  My ENT said that it has a more painful recovery but is the BEST procedure to get the full tonsil out and to prevent post-op bleeding. I had a peritonsillar abscess a couple of weeks ago and have been told that once you get one they keep on coming back...with avengence.  I also suffer from chronic tonsillitis.  I have heard a lot of horror stories and asked my doctor to be straight with me, because I am a whimp when it comes to pain (even after having my two daughters via c-section) and he said that I would need to take two weeks off work to recover, have someone on hand the first week to ten days to help out with the everyday chores and especially the kids (my children are young 4 1/2 and 10 months) Making sure that there is no post op bleeds and pain management are his main concerns. I will keep ya updated after surgery and let you know whether or not it is worth it!

[kalbre98]

Hi I am actually going to get my adenoids out on the 21st of Jan and I am 25 and I am also looking at getting them to take out the tonsils to if they think it could be ok however I am a bleeder and from what the specialists told me that taking the tonsils out can cause alot of bleeding in some people but usually those that are more predisposed to this issue such as myself. Obviously it is going to hurt however in this day and age we have great drugs (painkillers) and I have been told it is no worse than a severe case of tonsilitis by the people that I know that have had them out. So I suppose if you know that you are going to get severe tonsilitis every year and often more than once then you might as well have the surgery and get the same feeling only one more time instead of annually each year or even monthly as it seems to sound like in your case. Good luck with your choice.