White chunks in throat

Today, the left side of my throat was sore. I looked at it in the mirror and thought I had a puss pocket/infection. I always have post-nasal drip and seem to battle with halitosis.

Instead of running to the doctor, I decided to do some Internet research.
I learned about the tonsil stones & thought it might be one. I poked at it with a q-tip and my finger & it fnally popped out. It looked just like all of the pictures on the web.

I'm going to try to keep it irrigated by using salt-water gargles and perhaps investing in a water pik. I don't want to resort to surgery.

Thanks for all of the posts and information!

Yes that is exactly what mine look like! What are they and where do they come from!! I notice them by feeling something "tickle" the back of my throat and then I "clear" it out and that is what it is... I too have been getting them on and off for a few years now. Boy do they stink! lIke a severe halitosis! I was acually just on the net researching them and came across this post. If anyone can help identify the cause of these and what exactly it id please le me know!! thank you!!!

hmm. water and sea salt. thanks, ive been suffering from this for about 2 years, and have been terrified it was cancer. i mentioned it to a doctor and because they couldnt see anything they just said, "thats your tonsil" uk health service for you!
the problem did go away for a while, but recently i have coughed up a chunk most days, its not alcohol based, as i drink rarely due to be ing a night worker.
i will give the mouth rinsing a go, thankyou!

Like other posts, I'm shocked that others have the same issue! One of these things just came out, and I was in front of my computer so I googled it!

I haven't gotten one in a long time, but I feel like they are in my throat. It's definitely here and there for me, and started developing the past few years. No wonder I'm prone to sore throats!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll be sure to try all of them!

They are called tonsil stones. I had the same problem for a while. Believe it or not, my dentist noticed them and explained them. They are gross yes, but good oral hygene usually keeps them under contol. Then again, if you have deep "pits" in your tonsils as I do, it's just unavoidable. If you do have the urge to pick at them, use a clean qtip or a water pick, becuase your tonsils WILL get infected if you pick at them with dirty hands or objects!

Ha i just coughed one of these up, i looked at it sniffed it, then squeezed it and smelt an old schoolteachers bad breath wafting from it - was slightly worried so i google'd it and it turns out its some bacterial build up or something, i wouldnt make a habit of sniffing them to see if the smell changed tho.....

I am so surprised to see that so many people are having the same issues with this that I have been having for the last 5 years or so. The only difference that I am seeing with mine is that I don't actually see them on my tonsils. I don't actually see them at all until I feel them in the back of my throat. I usually get them once or twice every few months. Thankfully, its not a daily battle for me like some.
As a teenager, I batteld with many throat infections that have left my tonsils with many pockets/holes, so I do share this with many others but unsure why I can't see them in the pockets of my tonsils.
They started for me around the short time I was using drugs and my boyfriend had them as well during the same time. I have not used since then but these things never went away. Not sure if this was just coicidence or not but mine look exactly like the picture posted on this site.
I thank everyone for their suggestions and comments. I will certainly try to pay more attention to what I eat and try the gargling with salt/water.

These lil stinky chunks are ruining my life, lost many a nice looking girlfriends due kisses gone bad. I thought I was cursed, why would God create such a stinky throat chunk!!!! o.O o.O o.O

I've had this same problem for about 10-12 years now, and it NEVER goes away. I've been to the doctor for it and they have no ideas.. I cough up stuff EVERY DAY no matter what season it is.. I also have a swollen throat ALL the time. Seriously, my throat has been swollen for about 6 years now and I was supposed to have surgery done (cant remember what they were gonna do, but it wasn't tonsils) but I didn't have insurance at the time and I couldn't afford it.

I'll see what I can come up with.

OK ... I'm 40 and have been coughing up these white chunks as far back as I can remember. I also haven't been sick other than noted below in as long as I can remember. The only times that I've ever had a sore throat or fever is when I don't expel the chunks. But then as soon as I do I feel great again.

I once made the mistake of swallowing one of those chunks and was sick (fever and sore throat) for a couple of days ... I'll never do that again.

I have to believe that somehow these white chunks are related to my immune system. As far as it being food caught in my throat ... I don't think so. If that were the case then I would have expelled something that wasn't completely a white chunk at some point.

I just wanted to thank you guys for all the information. ah, the glorious internet can teach us so many things! I noticed yesterday that I had a white spot and the area was sore, and thought perhaps it was a canker sore (i get them once in a while), so i ran an ear swab under warm water, and was like, ew ! stuff is coming out!

i cleared out one part, and then proceeded to pop a little stone out from under the flap! looked just like what I had foudn on the internet also, and smelled putrid! Other than that, my breath has been ok.

I am still continuing to swish with water and stuff, and checked today with a sea salt swab to see if anything else was in there, but now there are just two little holes. How odd! My throat is still a little sore on that side, but only about a 2/10.

Is it normal for your throat to be a little sore from the poking/prodding/stretching of skin?

Thanks again for all the input!

I have had these white chunks in my throat and a few weeks ago I found a way to cough them up.
>
Open your mouth and stick out you tongue. While doing this exhale with all the force can until you hear a gargling sound. I coughed up about 5 of these and have not had any in a month. This really worked well. Good Luck.

As similar to everyone else, I thought i was alone in this problem. My issues really started about 1.5 years ago in the summer before my senior year. I just thought it was a stomach problem, but the only thing that i could have that i did not have the bad taste with was a very acidic orange & cherry juice combination drink. I went to the doctors after it persisted, and was sent to do a barium test (SO not fun) after they thought pockets were opening in my throat and esophagus. tests were negative for anything, so they just thought it was acid reflux and that c**p. But now i know what i have and i am relieved. Even though my sister (4 years older than me) still somethings calls me and my issues 'kangaroo pouches'-which was what my mom and my sister decided to relate my problem to.

p.s. did anyone know that they turn black after awhile out of your mouth? I thought to keep one in a sealed pouch and perhaps get it tested to see what it was, but then i found this site before i sent it (saved me money.Great!)

Thanks everyone for making me and my problem feel normal ;P

wow, so many people! i'm relieved! at least a little. I will try the gargling with salt water. does anyone know if sea salt or regular salt is better? also, how do these pockets and holes form? I am a little worried that I can't see the white things, I see the holes in my tonsils but I cant see the holes. it seems after i cough them out, it feels like something is in the back of my throat, below the tonsils. i'm a little worried about the dude above, CFAN, saying the doctor was worried they are opening in the throat/esophagus, which might be what is happening since i dont feel/see them in my tonsils. any help? i'm 20 and am considering having them removed, and am scared to death of the barium test. any suggestions?! thanx!

When I was a little kid, I remember my brother asking my mom about them, and she said they were dead white blood cells, and that your body is fighting off an infection that hadn't reached "full-blown" enough for you notice, and these were excess cells that your body was secreting. I had NO idea what they were talking about, but sometime in my teens (maybe college?), i started getting them, felt like i'd joined the club! yuck! So apparently it's genetic!?

I will totally forget that i get these things, and suddenly i'll feel one and get them for a couple weeks, maybe every 6 months or so. if I'm during a couple-week run of them, i'm obsessed with prodding my throat with a q-tip.

It's unfortunate that it just sounds like food and bacteria. I'd like to believe they are white blood cells. HOWEVER, i will say, that I think i've had two different types of these stones.

The first type is whiter/creamier, looks like a nerd, smells terrible but is an indescribable smell...looks like all the pictures. I always thought it was the white blood cell thing so i thought i was getting sick and would take better care of myself. To be honest, I don't know if there was ever really a correlation. To me, these do look like a bunch of little cells lumped together.

The second type i've been getting currently is greener, NOT as big and curvy, more round and small, and smells like fecal matter! nasty! (Though I can only smell them after i've popped them out). And as of recently, every once in awhile i'll have this exhale and it will smell like death inside my mouth...like the 60 year old schoolteacher who smoked and drank coffee all the time....and it smells like it's coming from deep inside my body. But it won't turn into constant bad breath. This terrible exhale started after I had a HORRENDOUS hangover and puked my insides out for a day. ANd I don't mean typical puking, this was alchohol-poisoning-bile-excreting-your-body-is-in-survival-mode kind of puking. This episode happened 2 months ago. The terrible exhale happened a lot right after the puking, like once a day. Less so now, maybe once a week, but seems to smell like the whitish/greenish poo smelling tonsil stones...though i wasn't getting those before, and am NOW i'm getting them all the time!

I swear, I don't think I've have bad breath problems in the past...even with the white stones. ANd no boyfriend has ever told me otherwise, other than typical morning breath, etc. Now i'm freaked out that i've had bad breath my whole life and no one's told me!! I mean, I've had the boyfriends with the bad breath and told them...you'd think they'd be like, "well you have it too, honey!"

here's other things that may coincide:

I had a terrible sinus infection about 4 months ago. I was on antibiotics for a month. I still have sinus trouble (have had seasonal allergies my whole life which contributes and general symptoms have been worse ever since moving to nyc), and also my body's effed up from so much antibiotics (digestion and constant, yes, yeast infections, sorry, too much information?).

Other things:
I drink alcohol (obviously), but puking episode aside, no more than any other single 20-somethings
I drink coffee regularly
I eat meat, but not a ton
I don't drink milk, but eat a decent amount of cheese, half n half in my coffee.
I eat too much sugar, probably.
I RARELY smoke pot (like twice a year), smoke maybe one cig a month

SOOOO i'll try gargling...but if it has to do with yeast i'm totally grossed out. I do not have "thrush", i looked it up! Does anybody else find any correlation with your symptoms with what i've described here??