Tonsil Stones

cilley · Silver Member Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 300

I hope this doesn't sound too gross, but both my brother and I get white particles in the pockets of our tonsils. He thinks it is food buildup but I think it is the bacteria. The stuff is kind of hard, like stones and with a foul odor. Do we need to take our tonsils out?

tedi · Silver Member Joined: 21 Oct 2000 Posts: 270

These things are called tonsilloliths or "tonsil stones." Tonsil Stones are typically white, or whitish-yellow, irregularly-shaped, foul-smelling, and usually smaller than a pea. The tissue lining the tonsils is fairly sensitive, so people with this problem often report that they feel an irritation in the back of their throat and are able to pick these critters out of their tonsils. Under normal circumstances, as this mucosa sheds, the dead cells leave the crypts and are swallowed, but in some unlucky people, like you, the dead cells accumulate and glom together to form hard little balls. This makes great food for bacteria, and of course your oral cavity is colonized by all kinds of bacteria. The only sure method for ridding yourself of this problem is to have your tonsils removed), but there are non-surgical alternatives which you should certainly pursue.

Wiff · Newbie Joined: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 17

I'll be damned! For the longest time I have had this condition off and on and I always just referred to them as "tonsil trash". I never once stopped to think that other folks had this going on also and that there is an actual medical term for it. Digging those things out was a real bitch because of the gag reflex but then I learned to eject them just by using the muscles at the back of the throat to flex the tonsil in such a way that I could literally squeeze the nasty critters right out. To me the things always look like a piece of cottage cheeze.

Guest · Guest

I get Tonsil Stones too.
Usually I just take a q-tip and press it along the side of my tonsils to find all the crap falling out. It takes several times to get all that cauliflower looking crap out. Yuck. Your throat feels so much better once it's all out and I can breathe and swallow better.

Rorschach · Newbie Joined: 23 Dec 2006 Posts: 4

One word: tonsillectomy. It sounds severe, but I had tonsiliths for years without knowing what they were, and also bouts of tonillitus which I didn't connect to the tonsil stones. After a particularly nasty bout I went to an ENT specialist who explained I have 'crypts' in my tonsils, hence catching the stones and also making me prone to bacteria build up and affecting my health. I hate the occasional bad breath from the stones, I hate tonsillitus, plus the idea of digging stones out of my throat for the rest of my life was just not on. And I don't want to be a 70 year old lady with dead-rat breath. He suggested a tonsillectomy which I have now had, and I will NEVER get them again.

Fleawest · Newbie Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Posts: 8

My wife and I both get them and refer to them as "Tonsil Terds". I think it's pretty common and I don't think anyone should run out and get their tonsils removed because of them.

Guest · Guest

I have had Tonsil Stones for about 20 years. I never knew what they was until now. I also get soar throats really easy. I am constantly chewing gum or using breath menths because I have had people tell me I had bad breath. It is so annoying. Is it normal to have had Tonsil Stones for as long as I had them?

7bearlover · Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 10

I have the same problem, but I had my tonsils REMOVED when I was 6-years-old. How come I have this problem still? I am 50 now. Any help welcomed! Embarassed

RedFoxtail · Newbie Joined: 25 Feb 2007 Posts: 1

Last Wednesday night I had a feeling that I had something to swallow in my throat and only thought that my throat was dry so in the morning I was drinking a lot to try to get rid of the feeling that there was food stuck in my throat. Thursday morning I look and see a big white limp on the right and a small white lump on the left side back of my throat. Researching I realized these lumps were on my tonsils and until today, Sunday the lumps were just getting bigger until I swallowed a piece of one randomly...and swallowed one on the left and the one on the right while eating lunch. I thought it was over until I started trying to see if there was anything else left in what was seen newly formed pocketed spaces in my tonsils where the "stones" were...and a combination of tensing up my throat while pushing with my finger led to 2 more Tonsil Stones falling out. So...I don't see my doctor until tomorrow but I'm sure they were tonsil stones...

7bearlover · Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2006 Posts: 10

Does anyone know if it's possible to have these "stones" form after having tonsils removed years ago? Liked 44 years ago? I am 50 now and get these foul-smelling things in my throat from time to time.

Tonsil Stones

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