Is throat/neck pain normal one year after tonsillectomy?!


Question: Is throat/neck pain normal one year after tonsillectomy?
I'm 24 years old and I had a tonsillectomy last January (2010). The left side was a straight forward tonsillectomy. On the right side the tonsil had attached itself to the back of my tongue and surrounding areas in my throat. The right side required tying off of blood vessels and stitches. Needless to say recovery took a few weeks and was pretty painful. Everything was better for a couple of months following this, apart from my jaw occasionally locked causing a painful click in the joint when trying to open my mouth. The lock jaw has become increasingly worse over recent months and I have developed a persistent pain in the right side of my throat and neck. The pain comes and goes, but is sometimes so severe that I am unable to swallow or eat. When really bad the pain radiates into my neck and ear. When drinking fluid I get a sharp stabbing pain in my throat which feels as if it is at the base of my tongue on the right side at the back of my throat. The pain is severe, as if there is raw skin exposed in my throat, but there is nothing to see in the areas of my throat that I can view with a mirror. Has anyone else had these problems with either pain or lock jaw after tonsillectomy, bearing in mind it is now thirteen months since my procedure?

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

well i've had lock jaw since i was like 14 and i'm just fine. its annoying but nothing to worry about.
as for the throat/tongue pain i would assume that its due to the right tonsil being attached to the tongue and maybe the nerves were damaged from the surgery. i didn't have that problem as my tonsils were not attached to my tongue.
about the only thing you can do is go back to your ENT and explain your situation and see if they have an answer for you.

i'm 24 and i had my tonsils out in 2009.

see your doctor immediately , we are mostly amateurs on here and alot of us have no medical experience

Your jaw muscles are tight on one side which is causing the problems because they aren't working together any longer, they are binding as you open and close your mouth to cause more pain. To get rid of that problem you have to free up your jaw muscles and here's how to do that:
Jaw muscles:
Put your fingers on your head so your thumbs are behind your ears. Press into the back of your jaw next to the skull and hold that pressure. After 30 seconds slowly raise your head until your neck is fully extended then open your mouth as far as you can. Release the pressure but hold your head and mouth like that for another 30 seconds.
If your neck is still giving you problems after that then you need to free up the muscles in it as well for when they are tight they will press into the muscles to your throat to make them sore as heck as well. To get rid of a sore throat, here's how to free up your neck muscles:
Neck
Put your hands alongside your head so your thumbs are on the front of the muscle under your ear and your fingers are on the back of the muscle behind your neck. Squeeze your thumb and fingers together and hold. Relax your body. When your fingers and thumb touch, about two minutes, slowly lower your head as far as you can, release the pressure but hold your neck lowered for another 30 seconds. For both- for best results relax your body first by taking a deep breath and exhaling then remain this relaxed.


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