Removing tonsils 2024

[heartlikealion]

I know this has been discussed before. If you’ve had this done for your child, how do you feel now? How long ago was the surgery, results, pain/recovery? 

An ENT is encouraging us to do this. I know if I told my dad he’d have a fit staying that it’s part of your immune system and not something that should be tampered with. 

Dd tested positive for strep again. This is happening a couple times a year. She sat out of swim part of the school year because she’s constantly getting sick/issues with ears. I don’t think tubes were recommended. Swim was just a 9 week class. But I would like to take the kids swimming this summer if it wasn’t such an issue. 

the thoughts on this topic probably change every so often so I wanted a new thread. 
 

Xh called asking for my opinion. I told him it doesn’t really matter as he has the final say but perhaps a little time to research before moving forward. Thank you 

[Rosie_0801]

I had mine out as an adult and wonder that my mother didn't ignore my fears and make me have it done when I was a kid.

[Heartstrings]

I don’t know that something being part of a body system should mean we don’t remove it when it’s causing problems.  Bodies are weird and sometimes things need to come out.  I don’t think there are any long term consequences to not having tonsils.   
 

None of my kids have had it recommended but I have nieces and nephews who have had it done.  The younger they are the better they do in terms of recovery.  The 5-6 year olds bounce back almost immediately, the 9-12 year olds are down a week or so, mostly bc it hurts to eat so they are cranky. 

[Ottakee]

Never regretted any of the 5 times I did tonsils and adenoids with kids.  The big key for healing is to stay AHEAD of the pain...meaning giving pain meds round the clock for the first 3-4 days.....setting alarms at night too.  And fluids.  Any and all fluids.  Eating or not is not a big deal, but the more fluids they get in them the faster they heal.

[DeainUSA]

My parents went against advice and did not have my removed. As an adult, it was brutal. 

[Annie G]

Youngest granddaughter had hers removed a few years ago- I think she was five or six. She continues to have strep way too often, and yesterday tested positive again. She’s almost ten now.  Dd wonders if removing tonsils helped at all.  
When dgd had hers removed it was no big deal-she came over to my house two days later and was her usual rambunctious self.  Her recovery was so fast, and she didn;t complain of pain after day one, though she did take advantage of the promises of unlimited popsicles for a week. 

[bookbard]

I would look at the research and discuss it with the doctor. There's definitely research showing that removing tonsils does affect immune function (https://journals.lww.com/jfmpc/fulltext/2020/09030/Long_term_impacts_of_tonsillectomy_on_children_s.34.aspx) However, you can never take single studies as gospel, you have to take context into account which is why discussing them with doctors is useful. For example, I'm on a medication which has a side effect of causing fractures. But when I discussed it with the doctor, he explained none of the studies had subjects under 80, and they'd all been on it for over a year, not just one course.

[heartlikealion]

5 minutes ago, bookbard said:

I would look at the research and discuss it with the doctor. There's definitely research showing that removing tonsils does affect immune function (https://journals.lww.com/jfmpc/fulltext/2020/09030/Long_term_impacts_of_tonsillectomy_on_children_s.34.aspx) However, you can never take single studies as gospel, you have to take context into account which is why discussing them with doctors is useful. For example, I'm on a medication which has a side effect of causing fractures. But when I discussed it with the doctor, he explained none of the studies had subjects under 80, and they'd all been on it for over a year, not just one course.

I’m not in contact with the doctors but I think the primary care doctor referred them to the ENT. I can check with xh. 
my guess is the primary care dr supports whatever the ENT suggested. 

[heartlikealion]

26 minutes ago, Annie G said:

Youngest granddaughter had hers removed a few years ago- I think she was five or six. She continues to have strep way too often, and yesterday tested positive again. She’s almost ten now.  Dd wonders if removing tonsils helped at all.  
When dgd had hers removed it was no big deal-she came over to my house two days later and was her usual rambunctious self.  Her recovery was so fast, and she didn;t complain of pain after day one, though she did take advantage of the promises of unlimited popsicles for a week. 

Well that’s a bummer she continues to have it 

[kathyl]

The doc recommended that I have mine out when I was in grammar school eons ago.  My parents decided against it.  I think they made the right decision.  But that was way back in the 60s.

When 2 of my sons were preschoolers in the 80s and kept getting ear infections, the pediatrician recommended tubes.  They each had a couple of pair of tubes, but the only thing that stopped the infections was when I kept them out of group things, and they stopped getting the colds which always preceded the infections.

Fwiw, the tubes left some scaring in one of my son's ears. 

How old is your dd?  

[maize]

My 11 year old had his out when he was about 4--tonsils and adenoids. It helped immensely with his breathing and sleep (his nose was almost entirely obstructed by overgrown adenoids, and his tonsils were enlarged as well).

Recovery took maybe a week? I remember it took longer than recovery for my older son who had only his adenoids removed.

No regrets, no known negative side effects.

[scbusf]

My now-17 year old had his tonsils out when he was 6. He was having repeated strep infections - IIRC, maybe 5 or so in a year. Recovery was fine - lots of popsicles and mac and cheese. He's never had strep since then. He is fairly healthy - he did develop epilepsy at age 13, but I'm sure that's completely unrelated.

[sbgrace]

My son had his tonsils and adenoids out along with some work around his voice box around age 7. I do not regret it--it cured his sleep apnea and he's rarely sick anymore, no more than his twin who still has his tonsils. The recovery was a little rough, but we did our best to keep ahead of the pain, setting alarms in the night even. His surgeon recommended alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen. The Ibuprofen did a great job and the Tylenol alone/no overlap bit was the harder part if I recall. 

[heartlikealion]

Ok I’m actually not sure if it’s tonsils or adenoids they were referring to being removed so I asked for clarification. 

dd is 9 

The kids’ insurance requires you meet the deductible before they cover anything so we are anticipating a high bill. I said I couldn’t pay my share right away (normally when xh sends me a medical receipt I owe my share within 30 days). He said he’d work with me on a payment plan. 

[heartlikealion]

Apparently the surgery would remove both 

[Heartstrings]

40 minutes ago, heartlikealion said:

Apparently the surgery would remove both 

My personal mom opinion is that doing both at once makes the most sense because it saves the kiddo from needing anesthesia twice.  I know kids who have had them removed in separate surgeries and it just seems silly.   Not to mention the cost of two separate surgeries.  

[gstharr]

Interesting. I did not think that they still removed tonsils in 2024.  Well, actually in the last 40 years.  Is this something more common in parts of the country. I don't anyone who has had tonsil removed. Please note that I am not questioning the need for the procedure, just curious as to how common is it still. 

[Heartstrings]

2 hours ago, gstharr said:

Interesting. I did not think that they still removed tonsils in 2024.  Well, actually in the last 40 years.  Is this something more common in parts of the country. I don't anyone who has had tonsil removed. Please note that I am not questioning the need for the procedure, just curious as to how common is it still. 

Young family members who have had them removed recently have all had them removed after a sleep study showed that enlarged tonsils were causing sleep apnea.  A friend's child had theirs removed because of repeated bouts of sickness, and I do mean repeated.  That poor child was never well but is now only a little sicklier than average with much more time spent being healthy.  

I'm going to look into it next time I go to the doctor, the past few years my tonsils have been becoming so swollen during allergy season that I have a difficult time swallowing for weeks each spring and fall.   I don't want surgery, but I know sleep apnea is connected to dementia and I want that even less.  

If I had to guess, I'd say that removing them is probably more common in places where allergy season is more severe.  For me, what starts as allergies ends up as bronchitis and sinus infections from all the drainage.  If allergies can make tonsils swell, and if swollen tonsils make you more likely to get more severe infections, it makes sense that places with bad allergies would remove more tonsils. 

Edited April 24 by Heartstrings

[Starr]

I would want to know what the doctor thinks it will solve and what won’t it solve and what is a maybe. 
it was rough for my teen niece to have hers out. My sister had hers out quite young as they did in the 60’s. All I remember about that was popsicles.

[almondbutterandjelly]

My immediate family has nonexistent tonsils, to the point where the allergist asked if we had them out. No. Also none of us have ever had strep. Ever.

Anecdotally, my friend’s son had them remove as a child because of repeated bouts of strep. He stopped getting strep, so it was successful.

[cintinative]

Two friends of mine with daughters recently went through this (within the past two months). They are about nine years old. It is outpatient. After the surgery, they need meds every three hours (rotating Tylenol and Ibuprofen) and at about day 12 it starts to really turn and be much better. During those 12 days they needed to avoid dairy because that apparently interferes with healing. Needless to say, my friends were exhausted from getting up every three hours.  They both had it done for the reason you describe--frequent strep. 

I had mine out at age five but I was inpatient and I don't remember much at all. Apparently the older you are when you have it done, the worse and longer the recovery is.  

Edited April 24 by cintinative

[wintermom]

Two of my ds's have had their tonsils out due to recommendations from the ENT. Their tonsils were so large that they were constricting their airway. They were both about 13 when they had them out, and the recovery was pretty rough for a solid week or more. That was 5-7 years ago now, and so far their immune systems are doing great. They rarely get sick, and even better, they can breath much easier now. 

In contrast, I have had tonsil issues and STREP throat all my life. My ENT recommended against having my tonsils removed (back in the 1980s) mostly because it was the 'best practice' at that time. I remember the ENT saying something like, "it's part of the immune system and shouldn't be removed." My dh had his tonsils removed before the age of 10 (general 'best practice' at that time) and rarely gets sick. 

If the ENT is recommending removal of tonsils now, it's likely because this is found to be the 'best practice' based on advances in research from what was known in the past.  

[heartlikealion]

3 hours ago, Starr said:

I would want to know what the doctor thinks it will solve and what won’t it solve and what is a maybe. 
it was rough for my teen niece to have hers out. My sister had hers out quite young as they did in the 60’s. All I remember about that was popsicles.

I wasn’t there but xh said the ENT wouldn’t recommend it if it weren’t for the fact that dd has had a few years back to back with a couple cases of strep. She also sounds congested frequently. Breaths through her mouth and they think that will help that. I doubt they guarantee anything.