People left horrified after finding out your tonsils can grow back despite being removed

There was always that kid in school who seemed to be off every other month with tonsillitis, and in some unfortunate cases, it might have been you.

And often, it would just go away on its own, but for some people, they end up just having their tonsils removed to put a stop to the recurring nightmare – leading to said kid bragging about eating ice cream while they got to stay home.

However, while many of us just assume the rare surgery means a total bye-bye, people have been left horrified after finding out your tonsils can grow back and cause nightmares for your health once again.

That was quite the scare for one US woman who was told she needed to have hers removed, despite having had them removed 40 years earlier.

Tonsillitis can be extremely painful. (Getty Stock)

Katy Golden told CNN: “I knew that there was some sort of little flap or something that’s been there for years, but I didn’t realize what it was. I just thought, ‘I’m not a doctor myself. I don’t know much about mouth structure. That’s just how it is’.”

However, when the 45-year-old would ‘get sick and have a sore throat’ the back of her mouth would get ‘super inflamed’, making it difficult to swallow.

But she just thought: “Well, obviously it’s not my tonsils. I have those out. I’ve just got a sore throat.”

After this had happened a number of times, a doctor informed her she had tonsillitis, which understandably may come as quite the surprise to someone who had them removed aged five.

A document from University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust explains that the lower end of the tonsil often spreads out into the base of the tongue at the back of the throat.

Many people may have had them removed as a kid. (Getty Stock)

“Removing this entire ‘lower pole’ can be dangerous because of the increased risk of bleeding,” it reads. “Very rarely, this remaining part can re-grow upward and lead to further infection.”

Other studies also look at tonsillar tissue left behind after childhood tonsil surgery can in some cases grow back.

And while it might be a bit of a ball ache when you think you’re rid of them, they can be removed a second time.

Also making the realisation, users wrote on X: “My tonsil has slightly grown back what the actual f**k.”

“Still thinking about how my tonsil grew back and how mad I am about it,” another said as plenty agree it ‘really sucks’.