Adult tonsillectomy and turbinate reduction - worth it? Skip the tonsillectomy?

[mrrossix]

Hi all

Posting on behalf of my wife (38). She's booked in for a tonsillectomy and turbinate reduction and she's absolutely terrified of the pain and the recovery time. The max time she can get off work is 2 weeks and it sounds like recovery could be longer; she hates her job as it is (I won't say what it is for anonymity, but it's brutal, and the management are bullies - we are looking at a change of job and/or career, but that's another topic & not so easily addressed!). She'd be scheduled to give a verbal presentation too the first day back.

Thing is, the reason she's having the op is due to sneezing fits (often in the middle of the night, so they affect sleeping). All the research we've done suggest turbinate reduction usually does help (related to allergies; she is sensitive to dust and animal hair). However, that doesn't seem to be the case with the tonsillectomy; if anything, some research suggests it can CAUSE more sneezing!

The doctor had suggested removing them as they are huge and he did say it "could" help with sneezing too, but I feel it was a bit of an offhand remark and more of a "let's rip 'em out while we're in there" kinda comment!!

Note: she does NOT get tonsillitis.

So, our question is: why suffer the pain and long recovery of a tonsillectomy if she doesn't really need them removing?? Can't we just say "do the turbinate reduction" ONLY (it's private healthcare through my work, so surely we can ask??) and leave the tonsils in, if that's the main cause of the sneezing issue?

The recovery for that seems nowhere near as bad (long term recovery can be longer but she'd be back at work ok and the pain levels sound much more manageable).

Thoughts/opinions?

Thanks all
x

Updated: she's since been able to talk to the doctor again who has explained that her inflamed tonsils are also blocking the nasal passageway so they need to come out too & at the same time really. He's reassured her on the topic of pain and medication - apparently they will provide steroids.

Is she having a full tonsillectomy, or a co ablation procedure? The recovery is much quicker with the latter.

Hi - it's a full tonsillectomy unfortunately.

Had a tonsillectomy at 42. It was fine - the anticipation was far worse than the procedure itself. Avoid Google, stay on top of pain meds - set an alarm to wake you in the night if you have to (the window between feeling fine and being in too much pain to swallow tablets is v small), sleep propped up so you can breathe properly (your throat will be v swollen - do not look!), eat food with a bit of texture (like mashed potato - helps to reduce big scabs/bleeding), sip lots of fluids and use a straw, stay away from sick people (not a good time to catch a cold), rinse your mouth with warm salt water (brushing your teeth might be too tricky). 2 weeks to recover should be fine if there are no complications (infection/bleeding).

Thanks... she's been in today for it and they've had a chat again and said "let's just do the nose today" - they're going to skip the tonsillectomy after all, and just do the turbinate reduction. Clarified with the doctor that if the tonsils do get inflamed then that can affect affect the airways but confirmed it wasn't a "we need to remove the tonsils" but rather a "removing them may help, but the prime issue is the turbinates". And as they said, the tonsils could also be removed later if they absolutely needed to be...!

@notprincehamlet soft diet is no longer recommended. Crunchy food is now encouraged.