How to Prepare for Tonsil Surgery

Do you have an appointment for tonsil surgery? Commonly referred to as a tonsillectomy, this type of surgery is, completely straightforward and often considered as routine by an ENT doctor. However, you might still be curious if there is anything you can or rather should do to prepare for this type of procedure. Well, there are a number of steps you can take here. So, let’s look at some of the possibilities.

Avoid anti-inflammatory meds

It is absolutely vital that you make sure avoid the anti-inflammatory medications that you might otherwise be taking. These are also known as NSAIDs and some are commonly taken to deal with anything from chronic pain to minor medical issues. Ibuprofen is an example of these types of meds. An ear nose and throat doctor will have advised you of this when your surgery was booked and arranged.

Remember, it’s also important to let your doctor know exactly what you have been taken and offer a full medical history. If you fail to do this, they might find that you have been taking meds that will impact and increase risk of bleeding throughout or even after the surgery.

Diet

You should also consider what you should and shouldn’t be eating. It’s important that you do not eat anything after midnight the day before the surgery is scheduled for. You can’t drink anything either and this is just to ensure that you don’t become nauseous due to the medication that you will be on.

After the surgery, you will be able to eat once more. However, you should try and avoid foods that have a strong chance of aggravating your throat  where possible. So, ice cream or hard foods is probably best avoided and you want to dodge dairy products too. This is once again often enough to irritate the back of your throat.

Despite these important considerations, you do need to make sure that you are staying hydrated throughout the treatment. If you fail to do this, then you are going to delay the healing process and you definitely don’t want that.

Time off and transport

While tonsil surgery is considered to be minor treatment, it’s important to be aware that it is still surgery. You will still have been under anaesthetic during the treatment. As such, it’s advised that you do arrange transportation from the surgery. You don’t want to be driving and ideally you want to make sure that you plan a full two weeks of recovery. You certainly don’t want to arrange any holidays during this time. Basically, you will be more or less confined to the bed and may need help getting around, even in your own home.

Your throat will understandably be quite sore after the surgery. For this reason, you should enquire about any type medication available from your ENT doctor They will tell you that there are plenty of ways to reduce the pain including the use of a humidifier to ensure that dry air does not hurt your throat.