Tonsil Stones - What Are They?
Tonsil stones can be a source of chronic bad breath and discomfort. People with tonsil stones often complain of actual pain and discomfort from these little hardened clumps that lodge in their throats. In addition to the pain caused by tonsil stones, the stench is awful, and often the cause of bad breath.
Understanding what tonsil stones or tonsilloliths are can help us to understand why they smell so bad and cause discomfort. Tonsil stones are tiny, hard stones that form in the pocket or crypts of the tonsils. They contain high quantities of sulfa and bacteria, and when crushed, produce the sulfuric smell of rotten eggs. The odor is truly horrible and it gives people who suffer from tonsil stones really bad breath.
Tonsil stones give people the sensation of something being caught in their throat, as those little hard stones are actually caught in the folds and tissue of the tonsils. Many sufferers resort to drastic measures to remove their tonsil stones, including using various instruments, cotton swabs, fingernails, and more to scratch them out. Unfortunately, they end up damaging the soft tissue of the tonsils, and breaking open the stinky tonsil stones.
Most dentists and physicians recommend using a water pick and salt water gargles to remove tonsil stones, and nothing else. Usage of foreign objects can cause scarring and discomfort. It just isn’t a good idea to jab pointed objects into your throat to pick out the stones. The water pick will send a gentle stream of water to push or wash the stones out of the crypts, without crushing them and releasing the foul smell.
Of course, smelly little tonsil stones will also leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. Strong mouthwashes that are certified for use in eliminating bad breath, not just freshening bad breath, may be helpful to eliminate the bad taste as well as reducing the bacteria that cause the bad breath.
Many people who suffer with tonsil stones will find a white film builds up on their tongue. This is caused by too much bacteria and mucous. It may be useful to use a tongue scraper to gentle scrape away the film on the tongue itself, to reduce the cause of the bad breath.
Tonsil stones will only grow in the tonsils, so those individuals with chronic problems may benefit from a tonsillectomy. This surgical procedure is, of course, a last resort, and many physicians will not even to do it unless there are other serious symptoms and problems associated with recurring sore throats. It is worth discussing with your doctor.
While harmless in themselves, tonsil stones are an irritating, smelly problem for people who get them. They form in the crevices of the tonsils and are often hard to see, and not so easy to remove. Good hygiene, rinsing with a water pick, and salt water gargles can help eliminate the tonsil stones, and reduce the bad breath that they create.
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I am 15 and i have had tonsil stones for a long time now. I have realized that milk and sweet things cause them to act up. I have stayed away from them and i have been scraping my tongue and using a water pik and it works great. Tonsil Stones are horrible but in order to try and get rid of them you have to stay away from a lot of foods and stick with natural sugars and soy milk. I have ordered the Therabreath kit and i will let you guys know if it works or not but if you don’t want to buy the starter kit you should spend a little more money and buy the Therabreath Toothpaste and Mouthwash it really makes a difference
U poor thing. Ive had these nasty stones since i was about ur age, im 22 now. I try to stay away from foods that cause them to occur more. But, ive come to the realization that i cant chew mint gum for the rest of my life (jaw problems) so…im demanding my ear nose and throat doctor to remove them alltogether. Hope this works.
The way I used to get them out was by, getting my finger to push them out but I would almost make myself sick so, unusually I’ve found the way to get them out is by sucking your tongue to the tonsil to push the stones out. It may land on your tongue so spit it out.
I got one stone 3 weeks ago and spent the next 3 weeks trying to get it out using all sorts of implements. I got very frsutrated not being able to get it out - finally i decided the onely way was to stick my finger in and gently push on the tonsil. To my surprise about 6 stones came out one after the other. However it has left a foul taste in my mouth. Does the smell taste not go away when the stones are removed?
This just saved me a whole world of trouble… Thank you! :)
que hago para sacarme esas piedras de mis garganta es horrible por fa ayudenme..
esas cosas en las amigdalas son feas y apestan porfa que me recomiendan gracias
Oh, and I just wanted to suggest something to those who have a lot of stones or something.
I personally use a piece of gum, usually trident, and put it on the end of my finger. Then I use that to massage the stones out. This way is much more comfortable than using a finger or cotton swab, plus you can feel the folds.
Don’t worry, most people get these. Get a water pick and use the plastic curved tip. Hold it up against the tonsil and swallow hard. They will pop out pretty easily. Then use half water/half listerine and very gentle setting with the waterpik, stick the tip in the hole and blast the little ones out. You will see they get more infrequent after every week and eventually go away. The holes I found out from a very old anatomy book grow bigger as we age, then get so big they won’t hold things in. Hope it helps, don’t worry it will work out if you find the right treatment.
is 22 considered a young enough age to demand a tonsillectomy?
I’ve had tonsil stones for a couple of years now and generally I would just impatiently wait for them to work their way out and if they didn’t I resorted to wetting a q-tip and popping them out (it works but be warned it is mildly traumatic). I’m officially fed up with them so I went online and tried to find a solution. I ended up ordering the Therabreath Tonsil Stone Starter Kit and it should arrive in the next couple days (I pray it works because if not I’m going to my ENT and demanding a tonsillectomy). I’ll let you guys know how the starter kit works.
so did it work?
I found that if I flossed daily I don’t get the tonsil stones, and if you smell the white gung that comes out from between your teeth it smells exactly the same as the tonsil stones do, my advice floss more for sweeter breath and less stones
How did the starter kit work for you?
I always had this problem and dealt with it with a lot of different mouthwashes,strong ones.I wake up all in the morning with a lot of white stuff on my tongue and I always smelled something stinky deep down my throat.I had been complaining to my Dentist and in fact I blamed it on my tooth and wanted one out but the dentist always refused to do it for he sees no reason.Then just yesterday somebody asked me if I ate a rotten egg.I could not sleep thinking about all of this.Then I saw on the news just this morning that St.Luke is now doing the laser kind of treatment to kind of close the pocket which I gather has a very good result.Thank you so much for the information,I feel much better thinking there really is a diagnosis to all of this…