I have a confession to make. *deep, trembling sigh* I…have tonsil stones. Like kidney stones…but from my tonsils.
Okay, maybe “shame” is too strong a word. After all, if I were really ashamed of it, I’d hardly be writing about it on the internet for everyone to see. But it’s still not a subject that comes up in “polite” conversation. Despite the big pharma medicine commercials in which we’re informed of the often gruesome side effects by stilted, unnaturally cheerful actors and their chatty, inquisitive girlfriends, and of course the old “not-so-fresh-feeling” douche commercials, women don’t actually make small talk about personal health issues with their pals. Well, not usually.
Anyway, for as far back as I can remember, I have occasionally felt something in my mouth and then spat out a small whitish…thing. Vaguely round, they resemble pieces of cottage cheese. While I never felt any pain, there was sometimes a sensation like something stuck in the back of my throat: annoying, but not really uncomfortable.
One time when I was about 8 or 9, my mom even took me to the doctor when the stuck-in-the-throat feeling went on for a long time and I complained a lot about it. They couldn’t find anything wrong and had no idea what those cottage cheese-like things were. So from then on, I didn’t really worry about it and barely noticed the occasional piece; just spat them out and threw them away without another thought.
Then five or six months ago, that stuck feeling came around again with a vengeance. Irritated and curious, I did an internet search and lo and behold, within two minutes I had an answer to something I’d wondered about my whole life: I have tonsil stones, also known as tonsilloliths.
Although tonsil stones are thought to actually be very common (many people experience no symptoms and don’t even know they’re there), no one actually knows for sure what causes them. People who have a lot of post-nasal drip and/or episodes of tonsillitis are more prone to experiencing them (neither applies to me, though). They can be difficult to spot; at my last physical shortly after I learned about tonsil stones, I told my doctor that I had one right then, and she couldn’t even find it. She informed me I have “deep tonsil crypts,” which is likely why I get them even though I don’t have any real sinus or tonsil issues. To see mine (and they tend to keep growing in the same spots), I have to turn my head sharply to the side.
The stones themselves are calcifications that form in the folds of tonsil crypts, although debate continues as to whether it’s trapped food, bacteria, mucus, calcium salts, sulfur compounds, or a combination of all of them. They can be white, yellow, or even green tinged. Further, they smell absolutely terrible. The smell is hard to describe, but unmistakable once you know it. They can range in size from a tiny speck to over 1 inch! If you decide to search for more info on your own, watch out for pictures. The really big ones may give you nightmares and/or cause projectile vomiting. Or at least make you shudder uncontrollably for several minutes like they did to me.
While again, many people don’t even realize they have them, tonsil stones can cause bad breath, sore throats, difficulty swallowing, and in rare cases, infections. As far as I know, my breath is no worse than anyone else’s, although I can now sometimes recognize a faint nasty taste in my mouth when my tonsils are cooking a stone.
Treatment: well, there isn’t much. If you ignore them, they will eventually fall out on their own (hence why I would suddenly just feel something in my mouth). But now that I know I have them, I obsessively check for them every day and remove them whenever I find them. Removal options include:
- Scraping them out with a q-tip (but never anything sharp to avoid injury) or with a toothbrush
- Blasting them out with a water pik (use cautiously on the lowest setting to prevent tonsil injury)
- Some people can just knock them out with a finger (didn’t work for me)
- For really severe cases, a tonsillectomy is the final option, because you can’t produce stones without tonsils
- I’ve also seen a variety of nasal drops, teas and all other sorts of things which claim to either dissolve the stones or prevent them from forming in the first place. I haven’t tried any of them and can’t speak to their efficacy; of course, use caution and common sense when purchasing any of these products.
After a lot of gagging and eyewatering, I’ve pretty much perfected my technique. My method is to hold a flashlight in one hand pointed into my mouth (it’s dark in there!) and bang them out with a q-tip. I put the q-tip next to the stone and scrape against it from the side until it falls out. Then I spit it out if it didn’t stick to the q-tip and…that’s it. I look hilarious, no doubt. My son has seen me checking for them enough times that when given a flashlight or penlight to play with, he will ask to check my or my husband’s mouth for “yuckies.” My husband has them too, as I discovered after racing up to him and shouting, “I love the internet! I have TONSIL STONES!” and once I explained, he replied, “Those white things? I have one right now.” His don’t bother him and he just leaves them alone.
Although no one knows what really causes them, I have noticed an increase in the number and frequency since I increased my consumption of dairy products, which makes sense since calcium is thought to be a component of the stones. But I love my dairy and will not give it up for anything. I’ve also noticed that sweeteners, even natural ones like honey, increase the stones. It’s best to limit sweetener consumption anyway.
Ultimately, for the majority of the tonsil stone-afflicted, they are not harmful–annoying and embarrassing, but not dangerous.
There you have it: the bad and the ugly (there’s certainly no good) on tonsil stones. If you’ve ever randomly spat a white curd-thing out of your mouth and thought, “What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is THAT?!”, now you know you’re not alone.
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I have to say that dairy products are one of the main reasons why I have tonsil stones right now.
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Hehehe, I have that annoying thinks for five years. Green clay help them to go on surface, so I can clean them. I mix green clay and water and put thet on my neck(where can I feel my tonsil) and let it dry. Or sometimes I wet clothes and wrapp around my neck and leave clay to work for two hours. P.S. sorry if my english is not good, I am from Croatia
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If I put wet clothes around my neck for 2 hours the tonsils will remove ?
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[…] with the digestive system. It is usually combined with other berries and sold in health food stores and herbal shops. Diet is another way of preventing tonsil stones from […]
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[…] poking at the stones with a toothpick so that you can loosen them is also a good idea if you are having no luck with the […]
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[…] region that serve as breeding ground for dead cells mucus bacteria and other harmful materials. This debris collects and then develops into white formations. Tonsilloliths occurs when the material that is trapped calcifies. […]
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[…] propose a tonsillectomy for those who have a reocurring condition in this regard. ?Recommendations On How To Remove Tonsil Stones Tonsilloliths better known as tonsil stones form when nasal mucus food particles and […]
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Is it bad to take them out? if you take them out does it make it reoccur more? I had a lot before and some of them are closing up but some areas are getting bigger because it’s recurring. Any suggestions on what to do, Ive never had these and they are causing me a lot of throat and ear pain. Doctors have not been helpful at all! Any suggestions would be great!
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Sidney, you definitely want to get them out as often as possible. I always searched for them twice a day. The longer they remain in your throat, the more your throat & lymph nodes will hurt & the more your breath will stink. The worse news is they keep getting better & better at hiding, you’ll find them hiding behind all kinds of crypts & folds that you didn’t even think were movable. I told my Doc about how they were getting so good at hiding and asked her if that even made any sense and she said yes, the “crypts” in our tonsils will go deeper, causing pain and can actually become dangerous. She advised the best option was to get my tonsils removed. She referred me to an ENT and he confirmed what she said, diagnosed me with Acute Tonsilitis & advised me to have them removed. I got them removed last week & the ENT said there was a lot of scarring from the crypts running so deep which made the surgery more painful but also helped explain why I often had throat & lymph node pain. I’m really glad I got the surgery done & am so thankful I’ll never have to deal with those nasty stones again. I had been dealing with them for 10 years.
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To be honest I’m just commenting because you’re a really great writer my god lol
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You brought me so much peace with this article. Thank you!
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I really appreciate this effort of spreading awareness regarding tonsil stones however you may like the complete treatment of tonsil stones and complete knowledge about them here: http://www.weightlosseffects.com/health/coblation-tonsil-cryptolysis-for-tonsil-stones-and-cancer-holes-in-tonsils
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Holy snapple, my people! I never knew what those things were, nor gave it much though as to what they were. Good to know im not the only one, as well as knowing they arent harmful. I never noticed a pattern, but i definitely got a stone every once in a while, sometimes once a month, and sometimes within a week. Im lucky to be able to sorta just spit them out with a cough-like technique I have perfected. Thanks for the post.
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Okay, so when you say “deep tonsil crypts “, how “deep” is deep? I mean, I’ve searched and searched in the back of my throat and I can’t find anything. I’ve used q-tips to try and pull back these so called flaps of skin in front of and behind my tonsils. Still Nothing. I know with certainty that these stones are there, but I can’t ever seem to locate them. I spend hours at a time in the bathroom armed with a flash light and a variety of tools to see if I can somehow expose these horrifically annoying things that smell worse than death. Sadly, nothing ever works and I’m left with swollen, bloody tonsil crypts. My dentist won’t help me. My regular doctor won’t help. Wtf?!
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[…] also has the advantage of delivering anti-bacterial agents below the gum line flossing tape will not. Overall the oral irrigator is a great can swollen tonsils cause […]
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I have one ‘left’ right now- this blessed little freak is stuck wayyy high in the top corner of one my tonsils (I can’t get to it atm and it’s bothering me that it’s stuck). I first started getting them when I was around 18- they went away after a year and now (lucky me)- they’re back. I recently got a very sore throat and after thinking I caught strep from work I checked and sure enough- just like the first time- some disgusting white chunks were jammed in my tonsils again.
I blame the 3 colds I caught and a sinus infection that brewed from working with a whole bunch of little kids at a school in the last 2 months- darn parents bringing sick kids to school.
I first found out about them as a teen- going to my PCP complaining about a terribly sore throat and she looked at my tonsils and told me that they were bits of food- and that she’s heard of her other patients just poking them out. I was annoyed at first- (and kind of embarrassed) no way something so gross could be on my tonsils! (lol, ah reality is so cruel). The internet’s answers brought me both comfort and retching nausea.
Anywhoo- I’m glad you wrote this- it makes me feel a bit better.
I’ve never smelled them- I’m too afraid and refuse to dissect one whenever I pop one out- but just the sight of them makes me want to throw up. I hate when I accidentally swallow them (when they fall backwards after being poked out). The only thing that keeps me from tossing cookies then, is the thought of another one forming because of the bacteria that would result from tossing up.
It’s hard for me to deal with them mentally because I’m so darn adamant about being clean and having nice breath- the thought that I may have been killing someone for the past week unknowingly with my breath makes me feel gross. I’m very particular about my grooming- and I’m always on point with my hygiene- I just hate these things so mucchhhhhhh.
*quick remark: a waterpik doesn’t work for me- it usually pushes them farther back or higher so that I can’t reach them.
Round tipped bobby pins bent straight and an acne lancer seem to work well for me. I have such a sensitive gag reflex though- it’s like I was cursed with them purposely. I swear- no god made the human body lol tonsil stones are too disgusting.
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Another removal method is using a dental irrigation syringe to squirt water at the stones to push them out of place. It probably only works for small stones but it would be more ideal for those sensitive to a gag reflex. You can learn more about it on this website – https://www.howtogetridoftonsilstones.org/tool-remove-tonsil-stones/
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