I get small couscous size white lumps out of my throat.

Hi there,



I am not a doctor but this sounds very much like tonsillitis. you will notice that you do end up with foul smelling yellow or white lumps. please consult your GP if you are worried, Suzie

they are horrible its just excess food gets stuck im them i found them easy to get out with a cotton bud you just push against your tonsil with the bud n they pop out.

I have this problem and I'm a bit scared. Earlier I went to the doctors because I thought that was an ulcer in the back of my throat - it hurt coz I've recently had an infection so I asked her what it was and she laughed saying there was nothing to worry about since it was only a lump of food that had got stuck. She said I can easily pop it out with a cotton bud. So I did and then I had lunch. However after Lunch I noticed that there was a small lump again. So i tried to get it out. But it wasn't a small lump at all - it was a REALLY BIG one hiding behind a flap of skin. It was so horrible I was heaving when it came out. The smell was horrible and it was so big it wouldn't go down the plug hole. I've been looking online and I've found out that it could be a number of diffrent things but the most promising things I can do is to eat in smaller bites and chew well. Also I can gargle (which I tried but it doesn't work) or get surgery.

At this moment in time I have had 4 operations, 2 or which were on my teeth and having a 5th would be a bit too much. The fourth one was awful.

So does anyone know what I can do apart from poking round my mouth with a straw or get surgery?

Seriously... I'm really scared :-(

I get these things too. Like mentioned above, I experience these little lumps that smell awful. They are no more than a 1-2 mm clumps although sometimes bigger and usually or beige in color. Can be "smushed" easily. Smell really terrible when you break them up. Sort of like concentrated morning breath.

I was wondering, do any of you guys smoke? I've had these for as long as I remember but I seem to notice an positive relationship between smoking (since I started) and the frequency of these things. It wouldn't be surprising of course, and another check mark on reasons I should quit.

i recently had one of these white things! it was horrible, my brother alway tells me he has them and i just though it was disgusting, ironic huh. :-( i'm paranoid i have bad breath everyday now. i only got it after eating loads of bubble gum, dunno if there is a connection, but still. ergh

Listen, I had these for years and years, They stink, you can feel them sitting there and most doctors have not a clue! I had at least 4 doctors tell me that it was food getting caught back there. B.S.!! I finally saw the head of infectious disease at Mass General and he knew what they were. They are part of your immune system... If your getting them chances are you body if fighting something and this is the tonsils reaction to the battle (and I was feeling really sick in my case). In my case I had a parasite they finally found... Cryptosperidium... Nasty b****r and I had it for years till I fought it off for good. But When I did finally fight it off, the "tonsil stones" for lack of the correct medical term I once knew, went away for good. The only time I get them know is right before I'm getting a cold. It's how I always know when I'm about to get sick, I get one and thats it and then not again till I get sick again. My mom gets them the same way. But when I had that parasite my throat was COVERED!!! To the person who says just gargle and don't pop them out, Sorry pal, they stink! no mouthwash is strong enough to kill that smell for more then 5 min! Any chance for even short term decent breath means they have to come out! Bottom line, find the underlying weakness in your body (infection etc) that it's fighting, might just be your immune system is getting weak. Also you can have your tonsils out, but that won't fix the underlying reason for the reaction. The reason I am writing about this years latter, my new girlfriend has the same condition, I knew immediately the first time we met, just from the smell when I kissed her. Don't know what her body is fighting but I think she wants to have hers out and then figure out what she's fighting later, I'd do it the other way around only cause once the underlying cause is found the tonsils will likely clear up just fine as mine did. I think she may have a bad yeast infection (she smells REALLY bad there too!) that has been going on unbenounced to her (fairly common thing to happen btw). Bottom line... DOCTORS DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING!!! And some know more then others, and then still others just want their check and you out of there office...

ive been gettin these horrible yellowish white lumps for years and as the same as everyone else pick them out , sometime they are big sometimes there is loads and other times they can be small and just a few but they stink badly,when i went to the doctors she looked at me like i was cookcoo but no i no what they i will be paying the doctors another visit as i wwant rid of them,they cause me to have bad breath which is very embaressing and also once i feel one there in the left side of the back of my throat i have to get it out i cant just leave it there ....i do smoke so wondered if there was a connection but now i dont think there is .....i brush my teeth regulary and go to the dentist regulary and never have problems with my teeth so now im hoping that after years of these little demons i may have a solution ....thanks for all ur advice and glad im not the only one fighting these horrid things ... x

I had these things really bad. I would only have to push on my tonsil and they would come shooting out, and I, too, brush after I eat and floss every morning. It really has little to do with oral hygiene... everyone has pits in their tonsils, food gets caught in there as you eat, and then the bacteria go to town on it. Removing tonsiliths (tonsil stones) became just part of my morning routine, but I often caused inflammation and tonsilitis by messing with them. I couldn't stand it anymore, and saw an ENT, who removed my tonsils. A tonsilectomy is an excrutiating recovery process for an adult, but I'm SO HAPPY I don't have to worry about walking around with poop-smelling particles in my mouth. It has made such a huge difference in breath and being able to breathe and swallow. I no long feel lumps in my throat. If you get these things all the time and they're bothersome, go for the tonsilectomy....you'll be so pleased afterwords@

I have this same problem. All I do to get rid of them is stick my finger or something pencil eraser sized back there and poke it around the stone and it will come up. I do not swallow it cuz I just think it is gross...so i make my self gag a little....not actually throw up..but use my gag reflex to push it up in my mouth so I can spit it out.

I usally pke them out with a q-tip or toothpick. Tonsil stones are very common as you get older. This video might help with some info about tonsil stones.

***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed :D good luck

I found the best removal method is a q-tip, salt water solution and good lighting. I've been getting these for years and have tried the toothpick method (dangerous), the finger method (not sanitary and gag a lot) and the tp on the finger method. Mix up a salt water solution, microwave until hot, place q-tips in the solution once tip is wet gently place tip against the stone and push. It's almost like sqeezing a pimple for lack of better explanation. The tip of the q-tip isn't dangerous like a toothpick, give prescison and the salt water helps keep the bacteria away. Luck.

i have these pesky little lumps all the time not every day but regular since being small and yes there horrible but they allways eventually come up on there own if left alone its more dangerous to poke them around than let nature take its course which is what i do or just gargle with warm salty water which will usaually help dislogde them mine smell just smelly and vile like gone of old snot thats been left but i allways feel them when they come out its like if you had something stuck in your throat and then it comes out  dont chock you t just feels weird a bit so dont worry if your still worrying t just go and be reasured by your own gp to put your mind at rest good luck blossom brown

I'am 28 year old female. Like others I have been had these nasty white things in the back of my throat on and off since I can remember. I don't think I get them when I'am sick but I have suffered with tonsillitis a lot. a few months ago the white nasty things got bigger. I never had to poke them out before but they were so irritating that I used a pencil and cotton bud (Q.tip) In the past they just came out when I coughed. They create bad breath I have otherwise good oral hygiene. I decided to buy and use 'Euthymol' medicated toothpaste a couple of months ago to because of bad breath, I have to say fingers crossed X I have not had another since.

I am SO relieved to find this post! I've been searching for months to try and find out what is wrong with me, and I'm so happy to find I'm not the only one! It's also a relief to find out they are not harmful (apart from the odd throat infection). Given me courage to see my doctor and get them removed for good!

ive had my tonsils removed since i was very young, I don't think that matters cause ive never had them until my 30's , but gunk can get lodged I guess where the tonsils once were also.