There is a current somewhat alarming trend among singers who remove their tonsils, and it is highly unlikely that most of them had any good reason to remove their tonsils other than thinking that it will somehow make them better singers. The truth is if you do not have tonsilitis, and your throat often swells is not because of any health condition, but because you are forcing your voice way too much which will make your tonsils swell in order to prevent infection.
Yes, you will sing better without tonsils because they will no longer obstruct the airflow in your throat. Generally speaking, singers who sing better without tonsils are the ones that had swollen tonsils fairly frequently, which negatively impacted their singing. On the other hand, the tonsils are your first line of defense from a throat infection, so removing them might make you more prone to throat infections.
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There are a lot of singers who do remove their tonsils, either because they think I will make them a better singer after tonsillectomy or because their tonsils get swollen fairly often and they can hardly sing. The problem is that tonsils play a vital role in keeping you healthy as they protect you from infection. Tonsils fight off infections and while they are doing that they tend to get swollen, to a point where it could be difficult even to swallow, let alone to sing.
Although swollen tonsils are more prominent in children than in adults, but that doesn’t mean that tonsillitis can not appear among adults. Far from it and it seems that a lot of singers do have a problem with their tonsils and some of them do consider removing them. The tonsil’s primary role is to fight off infection, although in some cases the swelling of the tonsils can be caused by allergies.
A lot of singers think that they can sing better without tonsils, although this is true for most singers who have frequent swelling of the tonsils but in general, it shouldn’t really affect your voice. If you had a tonsillectomy and you found that your voice sounds a lot better than before, then getting rid of your tonsils was a good idea and odds are that your tonsils were limiting how good you can actually sound.
Just keep in mind that removing your tonsils will not make you a better singer overnight, and only to remove it if a doctor recommends it. The truth is that a lot of singers do force their throats and vocal cords, which makes them more prone to infection, as the first line of defense against these infections are your tonsils, once you remove them there is nothing to stop the infection from spreading to your throat and vocal cords.
Some singers do think that by removing their tonsils will make their voice sound a lot more powerful unless you have been diagnosed with tonsilitis, removing your tonsils will not make your voice more powerful. What it will do is to make you more prone to throat infections, if you want to make your voice more powerful, instead of removing your tonsils, read my article My singing voice is weak! ( What to do? ).
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Does getting your tonsils removed make your voice higher?
Yes, in general when singers remove their tonsils they will find that their voice changes either getting higher or lower. This is fairly normal, as tonsils obstruct the way sound comes out of your throat and this will directly impact the way you will sound. In some cases where the singer has tonsillitis, they will find that all of a sudden their voice changes as there is nothing in the way to obstruct their airflow while singing or speaking.
Now if you are thinking to remove your tonsils just so your voice gets higher, do not do it! There is no guarantee that your voice will get higher if you remove your tonsils, odds are that singers who have removed their tonsils and found that their voice got higher than they had almost all their lives somewhat swollen tonsils which obstructed their singing. The problem is if you know that you have your tonsils frequently swollen that you have probably learned to sing with them, once they are removed you might not actually like your new voice. If you want to have a higher voice then check out my recent article How to make your voice higher permanently ( Fast & Easy ).
Voice deeper after tonsillectomy
There are some singers who have reported that their voice got actually deeper after tonsillectomy, in general, most of these singers are male singers who have a bass or baritone voice. This is the same case as before, as the swollen tonsils obstruct the airflow and will alter their sound. The problem is that a lot of singers jump on this bandwagon of removing their tonsils without any good reason, other than trying to be a better singer.
The problem is that once you get rid of your healthy tonsils then you might find that your throat gets infected fairly often. On the other hand, any surgery made in your throat or mouth area is fairly risky as you are a singer, and one simple mistake could ruin your voice forever, so do consider the possible negative effects that can occur. I have even heard of people taping on their forehead before surgery “singer” so that the surgeon is extra careful, I really doubt it makes any difference tho.
Can singing cause tonsillitis?
Yes, singing can cause tonsilitis, as most singers will force their throat and vocal cords to a point where they have a somewhat constant sore throat and swollen tonsils. Competition among singers is fairly fierce, and the most dedicated ones think that they have to force their voice in order to get better, and oftentimes they neglect their vocal health entirely. Some get sore throats, some develop a vocal fry while others develop tonsilitis.
The problem is that most singers do not allow their body to fully recover from the previous days singing, and this only makes the body struggle in order to prevent infection and this is why some singers have almost constant swollen tonsils. Rest is extremely important, especially if you are forcing your voice, you have to give your body a chance to heal itself before you put more stress on it. If you want to know more about vocal health then check out my in-depth article How to take care of your vocal cords for singing? ( In 10 Easy Ways ).
Can you scream without tonsils?
Absolutely, you can scream without tonsils, some might say that you can scream even better without them. Although it’s a good idea to practice screaming only a couple of weeks after you got your tonsils removed, as the area where your tonsils had been are fairly sensible for the first couple of weeks and you should not put too much pressure on them. Once you are fully healed you can scream as loud and as often you want.
The problem is that a lot of people, not only singers think that tonsils have anything to with their voice, although this is true for people who get swollen tonsils fairly often, but for the average person, this is hardly the case and removing your tonsils doesn’t mean that you can scream and abuse your voice as much as you want as there will be consequences, like frequent throat infections. If your tonsils bothered you because they were swollen, now imagine not having them and allowing the infection to spread to your vocal cords, couple of these throat infections and you will probably want your tonsils back.
How long after tonsillectomy can you sing?
As for how long after the tonsillectomy can you sing, will depend on the person and how fast the scars have healed. Generally speaking around 4 weeks should be sufficient enough time to get your scars healed and be able to sing. Some singers do start singing as early as 2 weeks after the operation, do not do this, just take a break from your singing and allow your body to heal. The problem is that most singers do not fully understand how much pressure they put on their body with a tonsil surgery.
After the surgery, your body’s main goal is to heal itself so if you force your throat during this period of time you are risking an infection, which is the last thing you would want after surgery. Take your time and allow your body to recover, if your throat hurts even after 4 weeks then you should give it some more time, as your body didn’t heal itself yet. If several months have passed and your throat hurts when you sing then removing your tonsils was pointless, as most likely your singing technique is what is making your throat hurt.
Does getting your tonsils removed hurt
A lot of singers think that tonsillectomy is a fairly common surgery and it is rather painless, plus you can eat all the ice cream you want after the surgery. Most go to the surgery with a mindset that it is as simple as making two cuts and then going home the same day. The problem is that it will hurt after the operation, luckily you will get some medication that blocks this pain, but the pain will persist for several days if not weeks.
On the other hand, you could spit out a lot of blood for a couple of days if your tonsils have not been cauterized correctly, while this in itself isn’t painful but it will hinder your progress of healing.
Vocal exercises after tonsillectomy
Your main goal after getting a tonsillectomy is not to force your voice in any shape or form. While most singers will not sing for a couple of weeks after the surgery in order to let the body heal itself, on the other hand, there are singers who do not want to miss out and use vocal exercises before they can actually sing. The problem is that even simple vocal exercises will be rather difficult to practice after the surgery.
Do not worry if you can not practice singing for a couple of weeks, nothing will happen to your voice. In case that you still want to use some vocal exercise after the surgery then my recommendation is to use exercises that are easy to do and do not put a lot of pressure on your throat, like humming.
In conclusion
Removing your tonsils just because you think that it will make you a better singer is a bad idea. There is a reason why everybody is born with tonsils, this is the first line of defense against infection. I know how annoying it can be as a singer to have your tonsils swollen, but imagine how worse would it be to have instead of swollen tonsils a full-blown throat infection. Every surgery is risky, especially if you are a singer and even if the procedure ends up being successful you might find that you did more harm to your voice by removing your tonsils.
