Woman’s Tonsils Grow Back 40 Years After They Were Removed

Here’s a horror story for anyone who had their tonsils removed when they were young. CNN article has been published Details this week of a woman whose tonsils grew back decades later – needing a second operation to remove them.

According to CNN, Katy Golden first had her tonsils removed in 1983 at the age of 5. More than four decades later, Golden’s doctor discovered regenerated tonsils, which likely worsened his painful sore throat. Thankfully, Golden’s second surgery was uneventful, and tonsil regrowth is generally rare.

Tonsils They are a pair of lumpy, fleshy masses located at the back of our throat. They perform a similar function as our lymph nodes, which contain white blood cells that prevent germs from entering our mouth or nose. Sometimes our tonsils can cause problems. They can, for example, become chronically inflamed and infected, or naturally grow so large that they block our airways during sleep and cause sleep apnea. That’s why doctors will sometimes remove them.

Tonsil problems often first appear early in life, and surgery is usually easier on children, so the procedure is done in childhood. Some doctors will prefer to partially remove most of a person’s tonsils (partial or intracapsular tonsillectomy) rather than the whole thing (total tonsillectomy) to ease the burden of side effects such as pain and shorten recovery time. Although this procedure has its advantages, it leaves open a potential risk regrowth of tonsils.

According to CNN, Golden had her tonsils removed at age five to address some inner ear problems, with no serious complications. He doesn’t know exactly when the tonsils came back, but remembers seeing flaps in the back of his throat years ago, often “super inflamed” when he had a sore throat. Last fall, he decided to see an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose, and throat specialist) after a particularly bad sore throat. And that’s when his doctor made a surprising discovery – one that Gold didn’t believe at first.

“I didn’t think it was possible. I was in disbelief and shocked that my tonsils, which I thought were missing, were causing my pain,” Golden told CNN. “He’s like, ‘Well, they grew back.’ And I thought that was the strangest answer.”

It is estimated that it occurs until the tonsils grow back 6% time after partial tonsillectomy. Some studies have suggested a higher number respiratory diseasesfood foods with a lot of sugarand tonsillectomy at an earlier age may increase the risk of tonsil regrowth. Golden’s doctor, otorhinolaryngologist Cynthia Hayes, argues that the type of surgery used to remove the tonsils can also promote regrowth.

In the 1980s, tonsils were often only removed using scalpels or bladed instruments known as “cold procedures.” These days, doctors will often rely on newer “hot techniques” for tonsillectomy, such as coblation, which uses low-dose, low-temperature radiofrequency energy to remove soft tissue. Some studies have shown that cabbage reduces the risk of tonsillectomy complications such as pain compared to traditional methods. Hayes went the extra mile this time to make sure Gold’s tonsils would never come back.

“I actually cut right down to the tonsil capsule and took out all the tissue,” Hayes told CNN. “Obviously I don’t have a magic ball, but I don’t expect it to happen again.”

As is often the case with adults who have their tonsils removed, Golden’s recovery was more painful this time. But he returned to an old method he used as a child to help him heal faster: chewing lots of gum. And he’s looking forward to less terrible sore throats from now on.