Surgery for thyroid cancer
Your takes you to the recovery area next to the operating theatres. Depending on what type of anaesthetic you had, you might feel dizzy and sluggish to begin with.
Your recovery nurse checks you very often. This includes checking your blood pressure with a cuff on your arm. And checking your oxygen levels and pulse with a little clip on your finger. They also make sure:
you have no bleeding
any pain is controlled
any drips or drains you have are working
Once you are well enough, your nurse takes you to the ward.
Back on the ward the nurses will continue to check you regularly. They check you less often as you recover.
You usually have some tubes in you after your operation. This can be frightening, so it helps to know what they're for.
At first, you have oxygen through a mask on your face. Or through a thin tube with prongs that go slightly up into your nose.
You are likely to have a drip into a vein to give you fluids until you are eating and drinking. This is called an intravenous infusion. Some people have other medicines, including painkillers, through the drip as well. Electronic pumps may control how fast the medicine goes into a vein.
You may have one or more tubes (drains) coming out from your wound. The tube connects to a drainage bottle or bag. It stops blood and fluids from collecting inside your wound and causing swelling.
You can get swelling in your neck after your surgery. Your surgeon may need to reopen the wound to let the pressure out and take you back to theatre to stop the bleeding. This is rare.
Your nurse can normally take out the drip and drains within 24 hours of the surgery.
Your surgeon usually closes your neck wound with glue. Or they use stitches which are under the skin surface and dissolve over a few weeks. Sometimes surgeons use clips rather than stitches. A nurse needs to remove the clips a few weeks after the operation.
You may have a dressing over the wound area. Your nurse will explain how to look after this.
It is normal to have some pain and stiffness after your operation.
There are many different painkillers you can have. It is important to tell your doctor or nurse as soon as you feel any pain. They can then find the right type and dose for you. Painkillers work best when you take them regularly.
You will probably find it uncomfortable to swallow for a few days after your operation. It may help to have a soft diet for a while. You can talk to a dietician about this if you need to. Or your nurse may give you a diet sheet to take home with you.
Your nurses and physiotherapists help you to start moving around as soon as possible after your surgery. They help you sit out in the chair later the same day as your operation or the next day.
The day after, they’ll help you to start walking around the bed. Over the next couple of days you build up how far you walk. The aim is to be able to walk a short distance, such as the length of the ward, before you go home.
Your nurses and physiotherapists also check you’re doing your breathing and leg exercises. These help prevent blood clots and chest infections.
During the first couple of days after your operation, you’ll start to feel better. The drips and tubes will come out. And you’ll normally be eating and drinking and can move about more.
You’ll begin to feel like you’re making progress.
Most people are in hospital for one or more nights and are then able to go home.
You may go back to the hospital or to your GP surgery every few days for a nurse to check your wound. You will have the phone number of the hospital ward and can call them if you are worried about anything.
It’s important that you don’t do too much and tire yourself out. It may help to prepare or buy some meals in advance that you can just heat up once you are at home.
If you live alone or think you'll struggle to manage at home, tell the nurses at your pre operative assessment or when you first go into hospital. This way they can start planning any help you’ll need as soon as possible.
You will have some exercises to do, to help you with the stiffness in your neck. You can usually start these a day or two after surgery. You should keep doing them until you can move your neck and shoulder as freely as you could before. This will be within a few weeks of your operation.
Your doctor will give you thyroid hormone replacement tablets if you have all your thyroid removed. This includes having a total thyroidectomy or completion thyroidectomy. You take this tablet everyday for the rest of your life.
Find out more about taking thyroid hormone replacement tablets after thyroid surgery
The scar after a thyroid operation is usually a horizontal line towards the bottom and front of your neck. It can be about 3 to 4 inches wide.
After your operation, the scar will be red and sore. But this usually heals well and becomes quite faint after 6 months to one year. Some people can have long term problems with a thick and red scar. Talk to your healthcare team if this is the case.
Your healthcare team will let you know how to care for your wound when you leave the hospital.
After treatment for thyroid cancer, you have regular follow up appointments.
At these appointments your doctor checks on how you are. And to see whether you have any problems or worries. The appointments also give you the chance to raise any concerns you have about your progress.
Find out more about having follow up appointments after treatment for thyroid cancer
Specialist nurses are usually your first point of call if you have any questions or concerns. Make sure you know who your specialist nurse is and how to contact them.
Find out more about coping with thyroid cancer
We have more information about what happens after surgery for cancer including:
how you feel after an anaesthetic
going to the recovery area and ward
different types of painkillers
questions to ask before you go home
There is a risk of problems after any operation.
It is important to tell your doctor or nurse if you have any problems after surgery. Many problems are minor but some can be life threatening. Treating them as soon as possible is important.
Last reviewed: 02 Oct 2026
Next review due: 02 Oct 2029
There is a risk of problems or complications after any operation. After thyroid surgery you might have changes to your voice, and changes to thyroid hormones and calcium levels.
After thyroid cancer surgery, you need time for your body to recover and for your wound to heal.
Doctors will arrange for you to have tests and scans at regular follow up appointments.
Practical and emotional support is available to help you cope with thyroid cancer.
There are different types of surgery for thyroid cancer. Surgery to remove your thyroid gland is called a thyroidectomy.
The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland that makes and releases hormones. It’s found at the front of your neck in the lowest part.
