Tonsils Removed. Having Pain In Ear And Throat While Swallowing. Is This Normal?

Posted on Fri, 4 Jan 2013

Question: Hi I am 37yrs old and had my tonsils out on Thursday 6/12/12. I have been having a lot of pain mostly my ears and in my throat when I try to swallow. I know I will experience this for a while but the thing that bothers me most is the tickling in the back of my throat that causes me to cough. Is this normal and am I supposed to cough. I hope I am not damaging myself as I can't help but cough when I feel the urge.
Appreciate your feedback.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty (5 hours later)

Hi

Thanks for posting the query

The symptoms mentioned by you are quite common in the post operative period following tonsillectomy. The pain in the adults are more compared to that of the children, this is because of long-standing infection in the adults and fibrosis of the tonsils.

The pain in the ears is due to common innervations between the tonsils and ears. The cough is because of irritation in the throat secondary to trickling of the secretions from the nose into throat and swelling on the pharyngeal wall following surgery.

Please continue with the medicines you are already on. You can start on the normal food habits. Try to chew the food and take small feeds frequently. The more you try to chew, the lesser will be the pain and the healing will be faster.

Hope I have answered your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.

Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar