Tonsils and Singing

Yesterday, I went to the dentist. The hygienist told me to open wide and say aaaa. The second I did so, she exclaimed, “Holy tonsils! Have you ever been informed that yours are exceptionally large?” I, in fact, had not ever been told. She spoke to me quickly about how they are the explanation for my brutal sore throats and internal throat inflammation that springs up much more often than desired. Naturally, the inflammation affects my voice. It generally takes me a month to find my full range again after being sick, and some days even when I’m not sick, my throat just feels swollen. So I looked up “tonsils and singing” on Google. What I found was that a tonsillectomy is a surgery that many singers with large tonsils opt for because of the hindrance to the voice that they cause. Some sources even claimed that after removal, singers’ head voices rise a little and the tone of their voice is more full and open. However, other commenters warned of damage caused by anesthesia intubation during the surgery which can seriously mess up a singing voice. So, who knows what’s generally best. It’s probably better to figure it out person-to-person with a doctor. I most likely won’t get the surgery, but at least I know what’s been going on my whole life.