{"id":1890,"date":"2025-01-03T11:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T11:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/more-popsicles-please-your-tonsils-can-grow-back\/"},"modified":"2025-01-03T11:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T11:41:07","slug":"more-popsicles-please-your-tonsils-can-grow-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/03\/more-popsicles-please-your-tonsils-can-grow-back\/","title":{"rendered":"More Popsicles, please: Your tonsils can grow back"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 1983, Katy Golden\u2019s mom had stocked their kitchen in the suburbs of Detroit with Popsicles <\/strong>and bubble gum. Golden was 5 years old and about to have her tonsils removed to help with some ear issues she\u2019d had since she was an infant. <\/p>\n

The procedure seemed to go well; her recovery was similar to that of many other kids she knew who also had their tonsils removed, and she was back to her talkative self in what felt like no time. <\/p>\n

But just a few weeks ago, Golden stopped at a supermarket <\/strong>to pick up two packs of grape bubble gum because she was about to have her tonsils removed \u2013 again. <\/p>\n

They had grown back over the past 40 years \u2013 the left tonsil nearly to full size \u2013 and were causing trouble once more. <\/p>\n

Golden has had dozens of surgeries throughout her life to address inner ear issues and is no stranger to sore throats, but it had been years since she had seen an otolaryngologist, also known as an ear, nose and throat or ENT physician. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that there was some sort of little flap or something that\u2019s been there for years, but I didn\u2019t realize what it was. I just thought, \u2018I\u2019m not a doctor myself. I don\u2019t know much about mouth structure. That\u2019s just how it is,\u2019\u201d Golden said. \u201cBut if I would get sick and have a sore throat or something, then of course the back of my mouth would be super inflamed, and it was hard to swallow. And I thought, \u2018Well, obviously it\u2019s not my tonsils. I have those out. I\u2019ve just got a sore throat.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

In September, she developed a particularly painful sore throat and made an appointment with Dr. Cynthia Hayes, an ENT with an office about an hour northwest of Detroit. <\/p>\n

While examining Golden\u2019s throat, Hayes explained what she was seeing so a medical scribe could take notes. And when Hayes mentioned the size of the tonsils, Golden says, the disbelief and shock \u201chit [her] like a ton of bricks.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of looked around like, \u2018Yeah, no, I don\u2019t have tonsils.\u2019 I looked at her thinking kind of like, \u2018Maybe I picked a dud,\u2019\u201d Golden said. <\/p>\n

Hayes said she was looking at inflamed tonsils, and Golden was adamant that couldn\u2019t be true. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was a possibility. I was in disbelief and shock that tonsils that I thought were gone were causing my pain,\u201d Golden said. \u201cShe\u2019s like, \u2018Well, they must have grown back.\u2019 And I thought that was just the weirdest answer ever.\u201d <\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n
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Katy Golden recounts her experience of having her tonsils regrow decades after having them removed as a child.<\/span> <\/div>
Courtesy Katy Golden<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tonsil removal can help with breathing-related sleep disorders and recurring infections. Tonsillectomies have become less common over time, but surgeons in the US still perform more than half a million procedures each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic. <\/p>\n

Tonsil regrowth is rare. The few studies that have attempted to quantify the risk put it somewhere between 1% and 6% of those who have an intracapsular tonsillectomy, a procedure that removes most of the tonsil tissue. <\/p>\n

Practices around tonsil removal are not very standardized, experts say, which can make it difficult to understand all of the nuances. <\/p>\n

Several methods can be used to remove tonsils. The most common include microdebridement, which uses a tool to suction and shave off tissue, and coblation, a \u201chot technique\u201d that involves the use of radiofrequency to remove tissue. Some doctors, especially those who were trained decades ago, prefer a \u201ccold technique\u201d that uses only a scalpel or other bladed instruments. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, the amount of tissue removed can greatly vary surgeon to surgeon and is hard to control for in studies,\u201d Buzi said. <\/p>\n

\u201cTonsillar regrowth likely occurs when residual tonsillar tissue is subject to new inflammation. If performed correctly, tonsillectomy aims to remove all tonsillar tissue, making regrowth rare.\u201d <\/p>\n

In eight years of practice, Hayes says, Golden was only the second patient she\u2019d seen whose tonsils had grown back. But she knew right away that\u2019s what was going on. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty apparent when you look back there,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cIn the back of someone\u2019s throat, there\u2019s an anterior to posterior pillar, and that\u2019s where the tonsil sits. When someone has had their tonsil removed, it should be very smooth. But with hers, it was very bumpy. It looks just like tonsil tissue, just as a regrowth, sitting right there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hayes said she feels strongly that Golden was more prone to tonsil regrowth because of the technique that was used when she was a child. \u201cCold techniques\u201d were more common when Golden had her initial surgery decades ago, including the use of a guillotine instrument that cut the tonsil off with two blades. But Hayes says \u201chot techniques,\u201d like the coblation she used for Golden\u2019s surgery this year, allow for more precision. <\/p>\n

\u201cI actually dissected down to the tonsil capsule and removed that whole tissue,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cObviously, I don\u2019t have a magic ball, but I don\u2019t expect that she\u2019s going to have a reoccurrence again.\u201d <\/p>\n

Neither Golden nor Hayes can be sure when the tonsil regrowth started or how long it took, but Hayes\u2019 best guess is that they had been there for at least a decade. <\/p>\n

Although the regrown tonsils were inflamed and causing discomfort, there was no other medical urgency to having them removed; Golden opted for the procedure after discussing all the risks and benefits. <\/p>\n

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    \n
  • Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta<\/strong> every Friday from the CNN Health team.<\/li>\n
      <\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

      Tonsillectomy recovery is often longer and more difficult for adults because children tend to heal faster in general, experts say. <\/p>\n

      In the two weeks since her procedure, Golden says, she\u2019s been supported by doting loved ones but has been surprised by just how brutal recovery has been. <\/p>\n

      \u201cI haven\u2019t experienced any bleeding, but the back area \u2013 think of it like a canker sore that\u2019s as big as the first knuckle of your thumb,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s way more painful than I expected. It\u2019s taking way longer than I thought it would.\u201d <\/p>\n

      Still, she\u2019s optimistic that the payoff \u2013 no longer getting run down with sore throats that \u201cfeel like swallowing a cactus for a few days\u201d \u2013 will be worth it. <\/p>\n

      The bubble gum was recommended during her recovery as a child to help encourage saliva production and strengthen her jaw after a long surgery, but this nostalgic experience didn\u2019t help the second time around; chewing hurt for the first few days, Golden said. <\/p>\n

      Hayes says her expert advice to aid in the healing process is the same no matter the patient\u2019s age: lots of rest \u2013 and Popsicles can help, too. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

      This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In the summer of 1983, Katy Golden\u2019s mom had stocked their kitchen in the suburbs of Detroit with Popsicles and bubble gum. Golden was 5 years old and about to have her tonsils removed to help with some ear issues she\u2019d had since she was an infant. The procedure seemed to go well; her recovery …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":494,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}