Pain right after the operation.
Parathyroid surgery doesn’t hurt very much. In fact, about half of our patients don’t take a single pain pill of any kind after they leave the hospital. The rest take some Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen, or Tylenol. We have another page on this topic in this section of the app.
The pain you have in the front (and back) of the neck when you first wake up from anesthesia gets much better very fast. Some people wake up with pain in the back of the neck. This is quite common but the good news is that it almost always goes away in a few hours.
Pain for the first week after the operation can also be normal.
Some people have a sore neck and sore throat after the operation for a few days. This is normal and you should feel free to take your favorite or preferred pain medication for this. We have also found that cold drinks and smoothies provide relieve more than hot drinks. This is also a great excuse to eat ice cream! Some people get the best relief by alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol every 4 hours.