I’m not a member of the tonsilstones.org site but I hope you’ll accept my input. I didn’t know what these things that I would keep coughing up were until i came to your site. From some of the posts i’ve read, i figured out a simple tool to help me in removing my tonsil rocks. Attached is an image of some simple wire that i bought at Menards with a small loop on the end to easily retrieve the rock out of the tonsil. This method has worked great for me for over two years, with the help of a small flashlight to help me see.
Thanks!
Ben
May 26th, 2010
I have been on this website several times to get some ideas on how to get rid of tonsil stones. I told myself I wouldn’t post anything until I found something that really works. I tried pretty much everything that has been posted here as far as taking them out once they are formed. I bought a turkey baster, waterpick, the neti pot… what worked best for me was getting a Q-tip and dipping it in oxygen peroxide and pressed on the tonsils until they oozed out. I have been using that method for a couple of years nightly.
About 3 months ago, during flu season, I got a mild case of bronchitis. My mom gave me Canadian Tea capsules (she said they helped loosen phlem and cleansed the lymph glands). After a couple of days I noticed in my nightly routine that I wasn’t getting them as much. After about a week they were gone completely! After two years of pulling them out every single night, I was so happy that something worked. Though, I wanted to test it to make sure it really was the pills that did the job. I stopped taking the pills for a week and they came back. Then, I started taking them again and they are totally gone! So I have been taking them ever since and they are sooo long gone!!! Yaaay!!
I did research on all the ingredients included in the tea because I was also feeling that my mind was clearer and I had more energy, and my bowels were easy and complete. The Canadian Tea pills cleanse the whole body by detoxing. I have seen different kinds of canadian tea products, but I trust this one and have done extensive research on every ingredient in it.
Here it is if you’d like to try it (it’s awsome stuff):
http://lafarmacianatural.com/CANC00.htm
You are supposed to take 1-3, 30 minutes before every meal. I only take two first thing in the morning before breakfast, and two at night before bed and that does it for me 
February 1st, 2009
I’m playing around with a survey software, LimeSurvey. The first survey is up, click here to view it!
July 14th, 2008
Hey everyone! I’ve put a donations link at the top of the page. It’s been a rough year (for everyone, I’m sure) and every little bit helps. Anyway, it’s certainly not required and the page won’t “go away” if you don’t click it, I just thought I’d give the option. I’ll put the money toward the cost of hosting. If you can’t donate, I understand… but you can also click one of the ads over to the side (placed there by Google, I don’t endorse any particular site placed there.)
I’m still thinking of new things to stick on here. First and foremost will be the survey I’ve been promising. I think it would be interesting to see if there are any common threads between us stone sufferers!
Thanks for all your kind comments! Every time someone discovers what those “white bumps” in their throats are from this page it makes me smile!
July 12th, 2008
I have had bad tonsils all of my life. Lots of strept as a teen and in college. I used to use a crochet hook (nice and long, with a hook…but dull not sharp…) to get these things our of my throat. My problem was that feeling of having rocks in the back of my throat all day too. Hated that.
Several years ago, I got a tonsil infection that lasted for about 11 months. I was on every antibiotic known to man, and my body was a wreck because of it. I was told by my ENT in Southern California that the more infections one has, the deeper those pockets in our tonsils become….and thus the harder it is to get rid of infections because they become so deeply embedded. I was about 35 at the time, and found out that it was actually *dangerous* to remove them at this point in my life…I was too old! Having two small children, I definitely did NOT want to take that risk.
About the same time, being as sick as I was for so long, I found a book called “The Fat Flush” by Ann Louise Gittleman. It is basically a “liver cleanse” book, and it changed my whole life. She removes all wheat, dairy and sugar from your diet for 10 days.
During this time, I found information that pointed to a direct connection between chronic tonsil problems and infections and WHEAT. I found that I have a gluten intolerance (studies have actually found this to be a LOT more common in the US population than was previously believed). Getting off wheat had the most profound impact on my health. The first being that my throat healed and I didn’t have another tonsil infection for YEARS…. it wasn’t until I fell off the wagon so to speak, and started eating wheat again that I started to have problems again! We were abruptly relocated and it was nearly impossible to find wheat free alternatives while driving across country.
I can’t find the articles I am referring to, but I remember them very clearly.
If you have chronic tonsil problems, you might want to try taking avoiding wheat and see what happens. It worked for me!
March 30th, 2008
I’ve been dealing with tonsil stones for over a year now, ever since I caught strep throat from one of my students. Luckily, I don’t have the bad breath or unpleasant taste- the stones are completely hidden inside my tonsils. The issue I have is a constant feeling of having something stuck in the back of my throat. I’ve been experiencing this unpleasantness every minute of every day for the past year! If I go digging in my tonsils with a cotton swab, I’m always able to find a bunch of stones, but they seem to be hiding really deep somewhere back there.
I went to see an ENT last summer, who told me I’ve got chronic tonsillitis and that the only treatment would be surgery. He said to come back after I had been experiencing the discomfort for six months, and we could schedule a surgery. Well, I came back, and he changed his mind. He told me I’d have to wait another six months, so that I would have had the problem for a full year, before having the surgery. I left his office in tears!
Just recently, I went back for my one-year visit. We scheduled the surgery, filled out the paperwork, and everything. Then he called me the next day and told me he’d changed his mind yet again, and that I’d need to wait another full year before he’d go ahead with the surgery. He mentioned that he was concerned about “what other doctors might think” of him if they reviewed the case. Aren’t doctors supposed to be concerned about their patients, not their reputations?
I truly don’t know what to do at this point. I know that many people don’t feel the stones until they pop out, but I am aware of them literally all the time. The unpleasant sensation just never goes away. I don’t think I can wait another year!
My question to all of you out there, is if anyone knows of a good ENT in the Boston area, could you post a comment?
Thank you!
March 21st, 2008
I think I was about 29 years old when I first came
across these weird light-green pieces of crap that
seemed to come from nowhere in my mouth.
I became so concerned I actually wrapped them in
aluminum foil to show my Doctor during a checkup I had
scheduled in a few days.
His response?
“I don’t know what those are.”
Great. WTF are these little balls of crap? And,
man… do they STINK. If you mush them up they smell
like raw sewage… and out of my mouth!!! Damn!
As they continued to come out every so often I would
ask friends if they ever experienced such events. One
after another my friends would look at me like I was
from another planet, until….
Chris Walsh. When I brought it up to him he looked at
me without hesitation and exclaimed “Stinkballs.
Those are stinkballs”.
“you get them?”
“yeah, they come from the back of your mouth and they
smell like shit”.
Our friendship had never been made more ironclad.
Eventually, with oral investigations in the mirror
with flashlights I came to learn the origins of the
“stinkballs”. I could see they would form in little
cavities in my tonsils. Sometimes I could dig the big
ones out, but the small ones were always a bitch to
get at. Usually I’d end up making my throat sore and
bloody and I soon gave up on trying to remove them.
Over the years they wouldn’t show up anymore. Only
during colds or if they got inflamed would I see the
occasional stinkball. Still though, I felt like
somekind of an outcast. As far as I could tell Chris
and I were the only people on the planet who seemed to
understand this particular malady.
I’m now 44 years old… and haven’t thought about
Stinkballs for quite some time until, upon browsing
some random article on Wikipedia I see a link for
“tonsillolith” with a vague description.
I think to myself… “no… could it be??”
I click on the link to see not only a detailed
definition, but pictures of the little buggers no
less!
OMG, STINKBALLS!!!
VALIDATION!!! We’re not crazy after all!
From there I see the link to “tonsilstones.org”… are
you kidding?? There’s even a website dedicated to
it?! Way Cool.
Strangely enough, this website is proof of the
incredible power of the Internet. A bodily condition
that most doctors aren’t even aware of… an oral
situation that is both obscure and gross… and a
shared disgust and reverence by a small group of
online geeks for the lowly stinkball/tonsil stone.
Thank you TonsilStone.Org. You rock.
March 5th, 2008
I first noticed tonsil stones about 14 years ago. I have always had issues with my tonsils, very large and prone to tonsilitis. My mom took me to the pediatrician when I told her about this stuff being stuck in my tonsils. We were hopeful that he would agree they should be taken out. Not so much. Instead he laughed at us and told us that he wasn’t going to suggest that they be taken out because ‘food’ gets stuck there.
For many years, it was manageable. I would get them sporadically and I would remove them without it being too big of a deal. Around age 22 though, they started to become a lot more frequent and became considerably bigger. I would have to clean my tonsils out every few weeks or so. This was still manageable at the time, but it became more weary about it because it was common for me to poke a hole in my tonsils trying to get a stone out. It made me nervous when they would bleed. I can remember twice when a (very large stone) would suddenly become dislodged on its own and I would swallow the nasty sucker. The thought that I had swallowed one of the stones made me sick to my stomach. Gross. And when I say large, I am talking the size of pencil erasers. These definitely were the small little specks that I had first noticed 8 years ago.
As time went on, it continued to get worse. For about a year, I was cleaning my tonsils out weekly. What finally pushed me over the edge was that one time (now age 28), after cleaning my tonsils out, I got a really huge sore along the back of my throat. It was EXTREMELY painful and I felt was a result of me always messing with my tonsils. I finally called to make and appointment with an ENT. I made a long mental list about why I needed them out and was prepared to plea my case to her (since I had read on many message boards that ENTs are reluctant to take them out.) Lucky for me, I picked an AWESOME doctor and as soon as I said that I had been having tonsil stones for half my life and wanted my tonsils out, she simply said ‘Okay’. She briefly explained to me what to expect and then had me schedule my surgery.
I am right now 8 days post-op and am so happy with my decision. I was kind of nervous about the recovery because all you read on message boards is about how painful it is. I am here to tell you, it is NOT that bad. Of course it isn’t fun, but it is definitely manageable. I drank LOTS of cold water, which is really supposed to help the healing process, and regularly took my pain medicine. 6 days after the surgery I got lots of pain in my jaw joint after lots of talking or chewing. I took some ibuprofen for that and that pain too then became manageable. That 6th day was my worst day. Yesterday was much better. It was also my post-op appointment. My doctor told my that my tonsils were very nasty. They were full of stones and that I made a good decision to have them taken out.
Today has been great. I have been eating normal foods (not just noodles with sauce that I had been eating). Plus, I haven’t taken any pain meds in 12 hours. I really think (and hope!) that the worst is over. I wanted to share my story so that others who are scared to get their tonsils out, know that there are people out there who have had very good experiences with the surgery and to not put it off. One week of recovery time is definitely worth never having to pick at my tonsils again.
March 1st, 2008
For almost 20 years I thought I was getting food stuck in my tonsils. Just
the other day I decided to lookup “tonsils bad breath”. I felt like I won
the lottery. I finally figured out why after I brushed my teeth I would
still have a bad taste in the back of my mouth. For years I would use my
tongue to get the tonsil stones out. At times I would use a tooth pick.
Tonight I purchased a dental pick.what a waste of money. My wife called it
a jack hammer. I almost drowned! As silly as it sounds.I went through the
kitchen drawer to find something to get back there. Low and behold I found
the good old turkey baster. That was god sent. I first tried to suck the
little stick bombs out. No such luck. I then got frustrated and tried
filling the thing with water and flushing my tonsils. Those stink bombs
didn’t have a prayer.the water flushed them right out of my mouth.into the
sink. The turkey baster is very gentle but forces enough water in the right
spot to do the job. My breath is nice and clean.
I can’t even begin to imagine how many people are having this issue and have
no idea what tonsil stones are. The funny thing is that there are some
people I work with that have bad breath. I found a way to email them about
tonsil stones without telling them they have bad breath. I am one to sent
interesting yet informational email to my friends and co-workers. Trust
me..If you don’t know when your breath stinks..you have bigger problems.
Hopefully they got the hint and will hit the jackpot like I did.
February 28th, 2008
I too am another one who has never heard of these things before I had experienced them myself. I’m now 20, and about two years ago I came down with a cough and sore throat which seemed to dislodge them all from their deep crevasses ( i never get sick so it was a long time coming). I was checking my tonsils to see if they were swollen and noticed a white glob sticking out the back. I was sure it was pus, and my mom (a nurse) confirmed that it probably was and I should go to the doctor to get antibiotics. So I went and she stuck a Qtip down my throat, popped it out, and said it’s just a tonsillith. Like she didn’t realize how much inconvenience they would cause me in the future…She didn’t really elaborate on how to get them out, so I did my own research. At that time there wasn’t much info about it on the web, but Wikipedia had the SICKEST picture of a giant one that scared the bejeezus out of me, ugh. Anyways there were no more that were visible after that so I assumed it was a one-time thing. But for the next month or so I would be coughing up about two a day (big yellow ones, too) and I learned to do this thing where I can kind of suck on my own tonsils (ha) which I had begun to do obsessively which got a few out. They would mostly just pop out randomly while I wasn’t doing anything – I’m sure I swallowed more than I actually spit out. I was shocked that they seemed to keep on coming and refilling AND THE SMELL! Ugh ugh UGH! The more I spit out the more hyperaware I was of the taste of my mouth, the layer of white at the back of my tongue, my breath….I mouthwashed several times a day, was always chewing on gum, constantly looking at my tonsils (I can flex them to make them super visible). One day I decided on a more invasive method – I skipped the qtips and went straight to pushing on my tonsils with my index finger. I read on the web that the best way is to push from the bottom up. Surprisingly I didn”t have much of a gag reflex (and if I did it is COMPLETELY gone after 2 years of doing this every other day) I remember the moment too – god it was gross..I was in my mom’s bathroom while she was lying on her bed reading a book. Almost the exact moment I put pressure on my tonsil a giant colony (that really is the best word) unveiled itself from the part of my tonsils that are hidden. It was the most disgusting event my body as ever put on. At least 15 of them – on each tonsil – were popping out LIKE POPCORN. Giant pieces of yellow, smelly, popcorn. I didn’t know I had that much tonsil hidden away back there not to mention the very deep tunnels going through them where these tonsil stones were apparently hiding. Don’t even get me started on the taste…it wasn’t just an explosion of the stones…I still have nightmares of this you know. I emptied them on to a kleenex and showed my mom who was absolutely disgusted. She doesn’t look at me the same way!!! After that moment I have been positively obsessed with my tonsil stones and fresh breath (which I am extremely insecure of) Along with my pushing method every two days, the perfect tool for the deep crypts in the part of the tonsils that show is an ear curette, which is actually for blackheads on one side and earwax on the other. This tool I could not live without for all three of these purposes. The blackhead side, which is a small metal hoop at the end of a stick, is ideal for digging these suckers out.
Last year after talking with a friend who got his tonsils out due to tonsil stones I went to an ENT to see if I could get mine out too. I was desperate at that point and at the height of my insecurity about it and my hopes were sky high that I could get them out and never have to deal with them again. The guy was so rude (a tiny loud asian man, picture it) telling me that there’s no way I can get a tonsillectomy for these, and he made me cry. I’m still tempted to shop around until I find a doc who will do it but I don’t want to risk, like, dying.
So right now my condition is manageable, and I even enjoy taking them out. In a way, it’s made me closer to myself! I just wish I didn’t have to taste it every morning still. I like to tell this story to my friends (i have no shame) who are disgusted, and in some cases relieved to hear that they are so common. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to check my friends tonsils! Now, whenever I smell someone’s bad breath I know if it’s tonsil stones and I really wish that they knew too. Sadly most people have no idea what they are.
Thank you for reading and I wish everyone the best of luck with this nasty problem…these stories are sort of funny, and it’s fun grossing my friends out, but this has really damaged my self esteem these last 2 years and I am just getting it back knowing that after my routine (picking, pressing, mouthwashing, brushing, tongue scraping…) I’m good for the day. Sigh. Good luck everyone.
February 22nd, 2008
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