# The Tonsil Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909 "2013-02-20T21:54:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/21 "2013-02-21T01:48:57Z")
seldom got sick as a kid so no problem then in my 50’s I get squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsil. I figure no problem they’ll just take them out. Nope, too risky for shedding cells into the lungs. Chemo and radiation instead. Wish I had had them out. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/22 "2013-02-21T01:55:21Z")
Unfortunately I still have them. I want them out because tonsil stones are so repulsive. I’ve never had them, but what if I do??? ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/23 "2013-02-21T02:09:47Z")
I must be lucky. I had mine removed by Laser at 30. It took 20 minutes for the operation alone. I was home hours later. In at 8am, recovery room an hour later, back home in the after noon. No pain, no complications. Go for the Laser option. I was back to work the next morning. The only slight pain I had, was from the clamps they put on my tongue to keep it out of the way. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/24 "2013-02-21T02:31:45Z")
Still have mine. Haven’t had any problems yet. Will definitely go with the laser option if it ever comes up! ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/25 "2013-02-21T02:43:14Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Do tonsils really have anything to do with strep throat? I mean, you still have a throat after and I’d imagine that could still get a strep infection. My ENT explained that my tonsils - once they were out and checked - were shrunken and scarred over, indicating that they’d been infected multiple times. Strep and staph can both colonize the tonsils and turn them to the Dark Side. No cookies necessary. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/26 "2013-02-21T02:52:11Z")
Had my gall bladder out when I was 43, but everything else - including the tonsils - is still in place. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/27 "2013-02-21T03:18:15Z")
They came out as a child. Sometime around age 10, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/28 "2013-02-21T03:43:43Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > I had mine out when I was four, I think. Mid 1950s. They were shredding and I was spitting out pieces of tonsil, so it was kinda necessary. I pulled such a TANTRUM after the surgery, I was allowed to go home the same day. Now these days, same day surgery is a common thing, but back then, it was unheard of. I was nine when I had mine out one morning or afternoon in 1969, and was home in time for supper (not that I could actually eat anything through the lingering soreness). Indeed, I had to miss the family dinner a few days later at a restaurant I had been looking forward to visiting for the first time after hearing raves from my parents, grandmother, and aunt about how good the food was. It was years before I finally got to Eddy’s, which was a decent enough eatery, but didn’t quite live up to my by-then totally unrealistic expectations. ---
**Author:** ![ems](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@ems](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ems)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/29 "2013-02-21T04:02:48Z")
I still have mine but from the age of 16 when I caught mono my immune system has been less effective than it was when I was a kid. From then on I was getting bouts of tonsolitis every 2-3 months for about the next 6 years. I suffered through the antibiotics as my GP did not want to make the referral to th ENT due to the recovery for adults being so much worse. Finally after collapsing at university due to my throat closing up the ENT referral was done and he took one look and said ‘yank them’. Had to reschedule twice due to various infections and then finally the date was set but my start date for my graduate job was brought forward due to a change in location and I was being sent overseas. This was almost 12 years ago now and I have only had one serious bout that required antibiotics since then. Very odd. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/30 "2013-02-21T04:11:11Z")
Had 'em out in June 1966 when I was 6. It hurt to swallow for about a week afterward. But when you’re 6 and regaled with all the ice cream you can eat, that pretty well makes up for it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/31 "2013-02-21T04:18:28Z")
I grew up in the '50s also, and was scheduled to get them out. Then I got a cold or something, and my mother decided this was a sign and canceled the whole thing. Never hurt. My wife still has hers. When she grew up, her aunt, who was a nurse, lived with them. The very first operation she assisted at was a tonsilectomy where the patient died. She sure as hell wasn’t going to let my wife get one after that. Obligatory Bill Cosby reference: Ice cream, we’re going to get ice cream! ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/32 "2013-02-21T04:34:29Z")
Reading this thread, I realized I can’t remember either way and had to first go check wikipedia to see what they are supposed to look like and then peer into a mirror. I guess they are gone and I would have definitely remembered if the operation would have been done as an adult, so I voted removed as a kid. I’ll have to ask my mother about this. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/33 "2013-02-21T04:46:23Z")
Born in '64. Mom was a registered nurse, and all for vaccinations, went along with circumcision but wasn’t happy about it, and said no to the tonsil thing unless necessary. Never was. I think my mom was a progressive! ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/34 "2013-02-21T06:53:20Z")
I’m 25, still have my tonsils. I’ve never had tonsillitis and have had strep throat once, last year. My dad, 61, had his tonsils out as a child. My mom (same age) still has hers. No one else in my family has had a tonsillectomy to my knowledge. They were thinking of doing it to my younger brother because he has chronically enlarged tonsils and adenoids that used to prevent him from breathing through his nose, but my parents decided against it and went with allergy shots. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/35 "2013-02-21T23:19:08Z")
I had mine out when I was 8. They were falling apart, so the doc said they had to go. My eldest daughter had hers out at about 16; one has grown back. I do not miss my tonsils. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/36 "2013-02-21T23:46:34Z")
Honestly, I’m still a little horrified that they regenerate. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/37 "2013-02-22T13:33:20Z")
Voted 1 only, because I couldn’t vote for options 1 and 3 - had 'em out, they grew back. Haven’t bothered me since 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/38 "2013-02-22T13:48:22Z")
38 posts on tonsils and no links to the greatest [Greatest Tonsil Story Ever](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adTxODTEsD8)? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/39 "2013-02-22T14:24:18Z")
I am a tonsilectomy virgin. I’m saving myself for marriage. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909/40 "2013-02-22T15:04:49Z")
I had mine out when I was very young. It was extremely common back then. My wife, pepper Mill, who is only ten days older than me, however, still has hers. Of course, to even things out, I still have some of my (non-sexual) original equipment that she’s had removed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tonsil-poll/650909.md?page=3)