Tonsil stones can be very annoying. If you have found your way to this site
then you may already know what having tonsil stones is like. In either case,
it's safe to say you do not want to get them. I have not yet met anyone who was
excited about getting tonsil stones. The purpose of this article is to help
those of you who are still trying to figure out if that nasty white ball in your
throat is in fact a tonsil stone.
In this diagram, you'll notice the locations of the tongue, adenoids, tonsils
etc. These items have been labeled for reference. If the white ball you are
experiencing is located in the area of the tonsils, then it's most likely a
tonsil stone.
These photos give you an idea of what tonsil stones look like after being
removed.
I too have suffered from tonsil stones. It was some time before I
located a remedy that worked for me. You may need to try different things
before successfully ridding yourself of these annoying things. I went for
several years before discovering Dr. Katz' tonsil
stone remedy.
Be sure to see the other articles on this site
for information on removing tonsil stones and prevention of tonsil stones.
guest commented on 21 Oct 2008, 01:59:46 To Alex: I did the same zip lock bag thing when I first noticed them. They dessicate, and yeah its nasty. They are horrible. I won't notice them for a while, and then an epic one will randomly dislodge itself. Makes me want to yak.
guest commented on 22 Oct 2008, 10:08:58 waterpik them, flushes out loads of the little critters!
guest commented on 24 Oct 2008, 13:46:27 I am one of the many thinking
about getting my tonsils removed.
If you have had yours removed
please post another comment
letting us know whether it
worked for you or not. Thanks
guest commented on 26 Oct 2008, 15:57:42 Oh, thank GOD I'm not a freak of nature after all!!!! I've had these things for the last few years and I thought something was really wrong with me. I was afraid that I had some kind of crazy cancer that hadn't been discovered yet or something. Thank you so much I feel so much better already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
guest commented on 29 Oct 2008, 14:36:51 eww its really grows when cut out agree
guest commented on 02 Nov 2008, 06:14:29 WOW I never knew this existed, thanks so much for putting up this site, I would have never known otherwise, I have noticed this problem for about 2 months now, and I thought I had tosilitis, I think in the begining I did, and because of that my tonsils were swolen and I could see the white stones, I of course at that stage had no idea what it was,
I have suffered with bad breath issues for a long time and am very consious of it I am now going to talk to my dr and see if I can have my tonsils removed, thankyou again I am so greatful for this site
guest commented on 06 Nov 2008, 13:36:42 soo yeah. i have these suckers too.
they are so gross and annoying im
constintly looking in my throat to get them
out becuase they reak! I think im just going
to get my tonsil removed becuase i mean
im only 16 and i dont want them the rest
of my life. there reallyy annyoing!!
guest commented on 09 Nov 2008, 03:17:34 i think they are caused by your bodies reaction to something, kinda like mucos or puss when something is infected.
I cant think of anything else it could be. to get that deep in the tonsil, the stone obviously starts there.
we also have an adnoid in that general area in the mouth. im really suss on that. gonna do some more research on this.
something is the culprit there. not evryone has em, so a dodgey adnoid could be it.
guest commented on 09 Nov 2008, 03:40:19 seems these stones are caused by tonils and adnoids.
i will post this little bit of text which explains a little bit.
i know some people here have had tonsilsed removed and would be curious to know if they had the adnoid removed too.
Chronic tonsillitis is a persistent infection of the tonsils. Repeated infections may cause the formation of small pockets (crypts) in the tonsils which harbor bacteria. Frequently, small, foul smelling stones are found within these crypts. These stones (tonsilloliths) may contain high quantities of sulfa. When crushed, they give off the characteristic rotten egg smell which causes bad breath. They may also give a patient the sense of something being caught in the back of the throat.
COUGHup commented on 13 Nov 2008, 23:17:06 ok really weird! ive been coughing these lil white balls up for about a month or so now & tonight i decided to examine one and i smashed it and it smelled HORRIBLE! i couldnt believe something that small could smell so bad! now i know why my boyfriend tells me my breath smells like milk all the time. sick!! but i dont see anything on my tonsils
peenk commented on 20 Nov 2008, 02:39:26 omg i have these too started noticing them a year ago, i want to get tonsils removed but im scared, i am so relieved to know im not the only one they stink so bad its so embarrassing i hate them,
guest commented on 21 Nov 2008, 08:04:20 Hi all,
Dont be scared about a tonsillectomy. It will seriously help your tonsil stone bad breath. I had bad breath because of the tonsil stones. I did my tonsillectomy 3 weeks ago and already the funky sour taste is gone. My boyfriend also doesnt seem to rub his nose when I talk to him since the operation. before the operation he would rub his nose with every word I would say. I was so embarrassed.Now I feel more confident to move on with my life.
Seriously think about doing the tonsillectomy by two weeks you will be feeling like your old self again and then back to normal.
stupid tonsils commented on 22 Nov 2008, 11:06:38 My tonsils have been swelled up for a week now and there is puss scars all over my tonsils! EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!
and they smell horible!
I'm thinking of getting my tonsils taken out!
Damian commented on 28 Nov 2008, 02:39:01 I just had one last night. I sneezed really hard and a 2in. sized piece came out in the back of my throut. I almost choked on it. I spit it out the window while i was driving and it worried me alot. I have alway had difficulty breathing out of my nose and now i can breath for what feels like the first time. I am so glad to know what they are.
guest commented on 29 Nov 2008, 12:08:14 UGH! I'm so weirdly relieved that I'm not the only one suffering from these nasty globs of crap!! My tonsils are permanently enlarged from several attacks of tonsillitis 3 years ago. Doctors told me I was too old to have my tonsils removed (I was 22), so I've dealt with the "kissing tonsils" but never got these little nasties until this summer. I would get this sensation like I had food lodged way in the back of my throat so I'd hack really hard and these disgusting yellow nuggets would fly across the room. SOOOO VILE!! I thought I was coughing up chunks of my lung or something, and I was a little worried, but didn't really think much about it until my mom said to me one day, "Your breath smells like you've been eating rats!" Being very self conscious of my oral hygiene, I decided I needed to find a solution. I finally did a Google search and discovered that this is apparently a pretty common condition. Who knew so many people deal with this nastiness on a daily basis? I've gotten pretty obsessive about my tonsil stones and at intervals throughout the day I attack them with anything I can find - Qtips, the end of my toothbrush, pens...anything. It's so satisfying to squeeze these little throat zits out!! Since I've been doing this, my breath has improved dramatically, I just have to stay on top of them.
Grosss... commented on 29 Nov 2008, 21:25:34 I am SO happy I found this. They occur quite rarely and randomly for me...and they come simply out of nowhere, at once. It's really comforting to know that others got them...I simply ignored them because I thought it was nothing, and I was the only one. I might consider buying the remedy.
Kate commented on 01 Dec 2008, 00:36:34 Haha my boyfriend got one in the shower last night and we had been talking about them before, and thins time he actually got to show me and made me smell it! I get these too, but only the last 1-2 years! I know my sister got them and I thought she was a freak. LOL
But NOW, I am the freak and this site has made me realise that its "not" so freaky, as it is really common.
My fiance and I looked it up on Wiki and it told us a way to get them out if we get something to pop it out...So i got the backof my daughters baby comb which is curved, and it actually popped out!!! I was SO amazed, i had to run and show my finace and smelled mine because I smelled his. How disgusting.
Dont you think its wierd that we people keep smelling yuck things even though it yuck we have to keep smelling it and reassure that its really gross. (Like when you fart, and say POAAAHHH.... then u have to sniff it again and realise again that it smells like shit.)
Hilarious.
guest commented on 02 Dec 2008, 02:52:38 i used doxycycline antibiotic for a different reason but the result led to these things going away. i used to get them everyday as well til i took doxycline .
greg commented on 05 Dec 2008, 16:18:12 Nice to know I'm not alone... For me, they are associated with exercise. I'm not the most active guy, but when I get inspired to drop some pounds I go to the gym and run on the treadmill. When I was 25, I dropped a lot of weight but one day when I was running I felt like something was caught in my throat. I started coughing violently. It took a couple of weeks (in which I experienced some of the WORST breath of my life) but eventually I coughed it up - but I still felt like something was down there. So I haven't really exercised since, until about two months ago, getting ready for my wedding. Once I began running again, there it was again. But this time, it is making me cough chronically. It is driving me nuts - I can't sleep because I'm coughing so much. It feels like it's deep down in my throat - I have never actually seen or felt one anywhere near my tonsils. It feels like it's at the bottom of my throat. Any suggestions for someone who can't just scrape it out?
guest commented on 07 Dec 2008, 18:41:10 Well, I just finished reading this entire thread.
How weird I have never met anyone with this problem before I am now 33 years old and have been dealing with this “tonsil stones” for as long as I can remember. These things are so disgusting I get goose bumps of disgust just reading about them. It's funny how I share some of our obsessions with these death cookies. I have done many of the same things you have, smelt them, left them out to dry (they get hard), etc... I too am totally self-conscious about my bad breath and have had many complaints throughout my years.
I can tell that they are there by feeling them stuck in the back of my throat, my tonsils being sore, or looking with a flashlight. After several visits with the doctors and the ear nose and throat specialist I finally received the answer that my tonsils simply had large holes now known as Crypts and that food was getting caught in them. I did not believe them as these pieces of tonsil poop were consistently of a white color. If they were food they would be of different colors. I was given antibiotics to treat tonsillitis with no effect.
I would use different tools to remove them from my tonsils from my finger, to shish kebab skewers, to even making small hooks, backside of a toothbrush, or just simply hacking and coughing, but by using these tools they typically make my tonsils soar and bleed. And when I asked my doctor for a syringe to use as a water jet for blasting and rinsing he said the only thing he could suggest is a WaterPik. I have used mouthwash, salt water, and different gargles, these things help but do not remove the stones completely. The best method I have found is a small plastic bottle used for nasal spray. I take this small bottle and fill it with mouthwash and with a flashlight and a mirror I spray a small stream of water squeezing the bottle kind of like a turkey baster. I find that using water is much softer and does a better job than using a tool of some kind. So I am faced with removing these things on a daily basis. I feel so much better once they are removed. Sometimes they leave my tonsils soar for a half a day or so. If I clean them daily I can usually only get a few out, but if I go for a week or two I can sometimes pull out 10 to 15 per tonsil.
Now where do these things come from? I have been told by doctors that I can remove my tonsils. But I refuse to do that as they are part of my lymphatic system. And feel that my tonsils doing good. Some have said milk causes there's, or caffeine, or citrus, in my case these do not affect me either way. As I stated earlier I do not believe it's a food thing. Some suggest that it is bacteria, or white blood cells. I have found that when I get flulike symptoms typically my tonsils are full of the stones. If I keep my tonsils clean I have much better health. Either my clean tonsils keep me healthy or by cleaning my tonsils I stay healthy. Anyway good luck.
Oscar commented on 07 Dec 2008, 21:35:00 A few weeks back I noticed that my breath started smelling alot worse than normal. I also had a weird taste in my mouth. Well today I felt something scratching the back of my throat and I coughed up a tonsil stone. Holy crap! That sucker was almost the size of a penny. Needless to say the smell of it was enough for me to run and flush it down the toilet. That was so nasty!
guest commented on 12 Dec 2008, 22:26:59 Wow! i hate these nasty things. I seriously thought i was weird because i thought i was the only one who has it, but im not alone! I dont see them on my tonsils i only feel it in my throat and ive tried for an hr today trying to get it out but nothing! My gag reflex is soo bad i threw up four times trying to get this sucker out!!! GRRRR!!
bonkerz commented on 16 Dec 2008, 17:01:21 That is so nasty. ewww
Larry commented on 17 Dec 2008, 20:40:27 I just found this page after spending the last 30 min digging one of the little buggers out of my sons tonsil. He was gloating over a game we were playing then he came running into my room and said he just coughed up what looked like a tooth. It freaked me out so I looked at it and being myself I smelled it. That was wrong! It reeked! I then looked into his mouth to find a bunch more lurking in his tonsil crypt. We used a q-tip and some hydrogen peroxide to boil it out. Believe it or not when he gagged from the q-tip they came out much easier. He needs his tonsils removed anyway before they will patch a hole in his ear from a Myringotomy. Thanks so much for you site. It helped us all feel better after reading over everyone else postings
SirChuckle commented on 19 Dec 2008, 04:08:08 iv had a few, but not many, only very small stones. but still me breath is persistently bad. iv read some of yall comments and gonna go prodding the back of my throat, to see what i can do.
guest commented on 25 Dec 2008, 12:15:01 WOW!! my friend told me about this 2 months ago i was like you are so gross don't ever talk about it again!! then a month later i had them!!! i DO NOT want to get my tonsils taken out because of the pain and i don't have insurance!! so i am going to try the spraying the tonsils and the therabreath and hopefully it helps!! I am so self conscious because my breath stinks ALL The time!
guest commented on 31 Dec 2008, 15:51:37 ATTENTION: Use a waterpik to get rid of these anybody who deosnt know what that is just look it up, youd be amazed how much junk comes out of your teeth even after you have brushed. My stones came back after my pik broke.
guest commented on 02 Jan 2009, 17:27:52 I first got these in 1996 when I was 15, right after I contracted strep throat. Now I'm 27 (will be 28 in July 2009) and I still get them! A few months ago I somehow coughed out a large one, almost the size of a jellybean. These things (tonsil stones or tonsiliths) are outright disgusting!
guest commented on 02 Jan 2009, 20:30:49 ive had these for about two years and after trying everything (except Dr. Katz treatment) i found out that if you drink 6-8 glasses of water per day then you are less likely to develop these. Who knew that something so simple could help out so much.
patty commented on 08 Jan 2009, 13:54:41 oh my god i hate those things theycan really lower your self esteem .iam tired of always having to chew gum. back in 1996 i went to a holistic doctor here in chicago and he gave me a liquid to gargle and it was like a miracle i never felt my breath so fresh in my entire life unfortunately my apartment burn down at the time and so did the liquid i didnt even get to finish it now my tonsils have gotten worse i coulf feel something stuck in there and to my bad luck i tried looking for that holistic doctor his name was doctor jairo daza but could not find him i dont know what happend to him iam going to try to find another holistic doctor see what happens i'l make sure i keep you posted.
guest commented on 08 Jan 2009, 18:26:16 I saw on TV where there is now a new surgical procedure to "seal" off the back gaps in the corners of your mouth where these come out of - mine are not bad so I am not looking into it yet
sup commented on 08 Jan 2009, 19:07:50 Im currently 13 I have been having these since I was 11.
They smell really Bad....
guest commented on 10 Jan 2009, 07:44:30 This website is really encouraging, i also thought i was the only person in the world with this! Its sooooo annoying! I've learned a lot from this
Thanks guys!
guest commented on 11 Jan 2009, 23:07:45 I've found that dental picks work pretty well in hooking them out. I discovered these nasty things about 15 years ago... still get them, but not very often anymore (thankfully). Good luck, all.
guest commented on 15 Jan 2009, 09:29:42 Hi all, I have this problem too but out of my whole life, I only coughed up under 10. I watched the Dr's show on NBC in NY and they spoke of it and that is how come I googled it. I thought it was built up like when you floss and white stuff comes from between your teeth, well I thought it was that and thought it either built up in the back of my teeth that the only way to remove it was to cough it up. Wow, this is weird, so I looked at my tonsils and did not see any on them like most of you see. My breath is so bad that I do not have many friends because I am afraid they may smell it. Chewing gum doesn't always help, I just floss and gargle undiluted peroxide as often as i can. BRUSHING AND GARLING AT NIGHTS REALLY HELPS, listen to your dentist and brush after each meals. Take that portable toothbrush package with you at all times. You can find them everywhere.
guest commented on 15 Jan 2009, 23:19:48 I've had these for years. There was only one other person I ever knew who had them. I always called them stinky balls. I get one about once every 3 months. Their so gross. I'm glad I finally found out what they are
DoD commented on 16 Jan 2009, 14:59:42 I can actually remove them with my tongue, it reaches all the way back there. I dislodge one of these every three or four weeks. Sometimes it takes a day or two, but it always seems like I just break of the tip, like it's just the tip of an iceberg. How common are they?
guest commented on 17 Jan 2009, 19:02:12 I have had these for a couple years..or maybe i just discovered i had them a couple years ago. they are not fun at all. My sis gets them too. I take tweezers and use just one end of it and pop it out. Also I have a bad sore throat and took a bobby pin and got some out and they just kept coming! and i poked the bobby pin in there and saw another part of the ball coming through another hole in my tonsil... I must have a bad case. also i made my tonsils bleed..Ouch. Does having that in your tonsils and having a lot of it...can that make you have bad sore throat?
evil03mustang commented on 20 Jan 2009, 16:49:48 Been dealing with mine for what feels like an eternity... Coffee and Caffeinated beverages always seem to get the nasty bastards to show up. That's an issue, however.. I'm in I.T. and as we all know, computer geeks live on caffeine.
Best method? Poke and gag, then poke while gagging. Don't do it at the table. Use your finger.
For god's sake don't smell the things. Maybe smash one between your fingers and have a sibling sniff at it, but don't expose yourself to it. Yuck.
guest commented on 29 Jan 2009, 05:20:11 I thought I was the only one who had this. I didn't even know what it was till I searched Google. I get it worse when I've been drinking coffee. And my having severe allergies doesn't help.
Jeff commented on 31 Jan 2009, 00:31:58 I had a friend who gets these and likes to pop them and then flick them on his enemies. LOL!
Nicky commented on 02 Feb 2009, 13:49:56 So, I have had these things before. I always thought they were just food particles trapped in my throat. My breath used to not stink. I had strep throat in November and after that my breath started to stink. I coughed up a couple of these "Stink balls" as my boyfriend so affectionatley calls them. haha. He saw something on the news about them one day and told me that he thought that is what was wrong with me and why my breath smelled so bad. I researched it a little bit, and read that gargling salt water helps. So I tried that, and it worked. I thought I would be fine and quit gargling and now I have rancid breath again, so back to the gargling of the salt water! If anyone has a better remedy for me...let me know!!!!
guest commented on 04 Feb 2009, 08:39:47 They smell like elephant shit.
guest commented on 04 Feb 2009, 10:15:34 I've had these since forever, more so when I was an adolescent, (28 now) but I can tell when I swallow that I've got some about to pop out because when I swallow, I get that gross taste/smell. I don't want my boyfriend to kiss me b/c it smells. I sucked a couple small ones out with my tongue, but could tell it was still in there, so I just now tried a waterpik, I didn't think it would work. But it did, several flushed out. Then lots of blood. I don't taste rotten corpse anymore, but I hope I don't get an infected tonsil. Lots of blood. But maybe worth it...we'll see.
theo commented on 04 Feb 2009, 18:14:55 these putrid white smelly things me and my mom get them all the time i though they were from smoke inhilation because my mom used to smoke heavily they stink like shit uuuuuuuuhhhhhhh i got one right now in the back of my throat be hind my uvula but for some reason my breath doesnt stink and i cant taste it is gross. thank god im 14 we dont need a nother problem be sides puberty lol
allo commented on 04 Feb 2009, 20:44:23 I have always had problems with my tonsils, but never these nasty things! I had my first one in December and I wanted to barf!
I was really grossed out at first and didnt want to tell anyone, but now they are just a pain!
I'm glad I'm not the only one!
IrEfuSe2HaVeBaDbrEaTh:) commented on 08 Feb 2009, 17:56:44 OMG! These little sh*t balls have a name? I just heard about it Thursday morning 02/05/09 in the news while getting ready for work. I am 49 years old and am as ignorant as they come.....I swear nobody ever talks about it. I was so sure that other people besides myself had the problem because I can smell their sh*t ball breath, it's so gross!! I am obsessed with picking at my tonsils everytime I feel that 'something' scratching my throat. I have had this problem for years and had no idea it had a name. I am glad to know that I am not alone with this annoying problem. I suffer from chronic sinusitis and nothing seems to cure it, my ENT has given me bouts of antibiotics for weeks, changing from one to another, but infections always return, never clear up completely. These tonsil stones appear and my tonsils get swollen, they hurt and I start pushing them out, but if they don't come out, I start taking Motrin 800 for a couple of days and when the swelling starts going down, the pieces of crap start coming out on their own when I clear my throat in the morning. They are disgusting and smell like crap, I always ask 'why don't these things come out of my butt instead?' Please God make them stop!! I have now educated my daughters on keeping their throats clean and scraping their tongues and practicing good dental hygiene and keeping an eye on sore throats, which not always require antibiotics. Thanks for the information, this is great, and thanks for the laughs, keep up the good humor!!!!
guest commented on 12 Feb 2009, 08:55:53 I have suffered from tonsil stones for many years as well. However on closer examination of the food I ate and when the stones appeared I found that when I get constipated my tongue has a white build up and the stones appear.
The simple solution I found was to eat food with high fibre and ensuring that I am not constipated. This resulted in no stones forming and also solved bad breath problem.
This really worked without any medicines. Try it and see what happens
guest commented on 13 Feb 2009, 15:44:58 omg theses things suck ass!! y do we get em again? just the joy of life i guess lol. Coughing up large blobs of farts lol.
Thank god for this website or i would still be clueless lol
Roger commented on 14 Feb 2009, 11:32:39 I removed one of these dastardly lumps and kept it in a jar for analysis. Imagine my surprise when it's foul stench had MELTED the plastic container by morning!
I have suffered from these nasty critters [tonsil stones] for years. I just accepted that I would always have them. However, since using the tonsil stone remedy I learned about on tonsilstones.net, I have not experienced even one tonsil stone. - Mike, Missouri USA
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