Story from reader Jessica
February 22nd, 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.
Entry Filed under: stories
17 Comments Add your own
1. Elizabeth | February 23rd, 2008 at 5:44 am
You can do that with your Finger?? You’re lucky. My crypts face pretty much completely backwards and I currently have one of those “yuckiest situations ever” going on (it looks like a spider laid eggs in my throat).
I am using a Medicine dropper to kind of *suck* them out.
I’ve been working at a bar the passed year and everyone smokes so I lightly smoke now too (like 3 cigs per day) and I’m wondering if that’s why I suddenly have this epidemic?
Before now – I only coughed them up naturally once or twice a year. Now they are like “HEy! We moved in!” back there. . . . grr…
2. Kerri | February 23rd, 2008 at 7:54 am
I too have had this experience for no less than 30 yrs. I’m now 48 yrs old soon to be 49. I just read about this condition in wikipedia….WOW!…..I’m not alone. The pictures are accurate and looks an average size.
This condition can be painful physically and emotionally.
I can feel the onset of these stones. First I get a sinus headache behind one or both of my eyes. My tonsils become mildly sore, swollen and the taste is kind of like a mouth full of pennies (grossly-bitter sinus drainage). The sinus drainage would leave my throat raw, a raspy voice, a chronic cough, thick yellowish foul smelling sinus drainage and a loss of smell to some degree. I assumed, on my own the stones were like sinus drainage that had solidified behind and in the crevasses of the tonsils and back up into the sinus passages.
After I clear out as many of these stones as possible, my tonsils are no longer swollen and I can breath through my nose again.When I breath thru my nose I can feel cool air on my tonsils and I regain my sense of smell instantly!. I will then use (snort) a saline solution. Sometimes if the condition is being stubborn I use an OTC med that contains an expectorant like Mucinex-D or Sudafed PE non-drying sinus. What I’m going for is the active ingredient Guaifenesin 200 mg. This opens my sinus passages and allows them to drain also promoting the stones to loosen and be expelled. This condition occurs when my allergies flare up.
Allergies like pollen, dust mites, mold and danders.
I have an extensive ear, nose, and throat medical history. I have tried to seek medical attention. A couple of doctors have really dismissed me.
As a child I was constantly having sore throat problems, trips to the doctors, tonsillitis, strept infections, ear aches, and even scarlet fever. After that I was obsessed, when I’d get a sore throat I’d get out the flashlight to see if my tonsils were red, swollen and or with whitish spots. One day I had the spots on my tonsils (I was 19 yrs. old “1979″). So I made an appointment with a doctors office. I described my tonsils as having spots like pus pockets or blisters-very sore. When the doctor saw me he questioned me “blisters?”. He looked at my throat and then totally came off on me, that I was a self diagnosing hypochondriac (the stones had dislodged been swallowed and were no longer evident). Not long after that the condition/stones occurred again. I instinctively got a Q-tip and tried to swab the spot. To maybe clean or lessen the mucus looking stuff. I guess I had applied a little pressure and one of these stones dislodged. I freaked out. I fished the stone out. The dam had burst, I could not believe all of this gross stuff was coming out of and from behind my tonsils. There was still some in back behind a tonsil I couldn’t get it with a Q-tip so I found a medicine dropper and tried to suction it out with success. Then I used the dropper with water to flush more out. I didn’t know how or what to call this stuff. I tried to describe it to my mother as chunks of I don’t know what but it smell like infection.
Years later “1992″ I was really suffering and had gone to another doctor. I explained I could actually use a Q-tip to dislodge these chunks from my tonsil of who knows what-that smells of infection. The doctor explained that sticking objects like Q-tips and fingers into my throat was producing regurgitated food, and this isn’t good or right. I felt like I was insulted, humiliated and charged 70 dollars to do so.
Because of these earlier episodes of being treated for tonsillitis etc… I have built an intolerance (allergy) to most antibiotics from over use. I break out in hives, I loose genitalia skin and loose the skin inside of my mouth (extreme pain). I no longer can tolerate penicillin, ampicillin, erythromyicin, cephlexan-(keflex), cipro, and sulfanilamides. Please excuse my misspellings.
This evening I was messing around on the computer and had remembered reading about peritonsillar abscess in an old book of my mothers, “Readers Digest medical Symptom and Illness”. It didn’t go into great detail. This was years before home computers. That memory gave me a clue of what to google. I became excited to find Tonsillolith. I’m reading about the same scary things I’ve experienced….from strangers. Things I am still going thru. I’ve been humiliated and scolded by doctors who wouldn’t really listen. In the back of my mind I think this is a chronic infection. I also know the over use of antibiotics isn’t good. I’ve been battling the flu not feeling great and here goes this tonsil thing again. Currently my right tonsil expels stones, but the left side looks swollen and has a yellowish lump beneath the skin?. It is draining. Last time I went to the doctor for this was Jan. 2006. She said it was a sinus infection and looked like it was draining. She gave me the same thing as Mucinex-D but at a much higher dosage. I travel for a living so it’s rare for me to get a follow-up with the same doctor. I haven’t been home to Idaho since Nov. 1st 2007. Currently in Phoenix AZ. At last I feel I can confer with a doctor with the appropriate terms and a definition. If a tonsillectomy could work I’d do it in a heart beat. My tonsils are huge. the doctors always told my mother “if Kerri has one more episode this year the tonsils have to come out”. My mothers reply was “tonsils are your first line of defense”. Maybe only for the first few years. If they’re rotten and are making you sick they’re no good!. Seriously she wasn’t living with it herself.
I want to thank Jessica and others for submitting their stories which have encouraged me again to try again. To a concerned mother I can remember this feeling as far back as I can remember. I haven’t out grown this. I haven’t been diagnosed with tonsillitis or strep since 1976 but the tonsil stones remain.
Once I learned how to remove these stones it has helped the pain and conditions but there has to be more of a solution. Should we wait till sepsis poisoning, and or use up all the antibiotics we can get our hands on only to have the chronic infection come back. I feel fed-up and happy to hear from others. If some one finds away thru this I’d like to know, like wise if I can learn more I’ll share. YES….GOOD LUCK!….
3. Elisha | February 26th, 2008 at 3:40 am
I have been battling tonsil stones for years and I finally had a tonsillectamy. It was painful for a couple of weeks but it was definitely worth it! My sinus drainage also stopped after the tonsillectamy. Prior to having the surgery I used a waterpik to irrigate the stones out of the crypts . . . Hope this is helpful.
4. Elizabeth | February 29th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Funny story, Jessica! I can definitely relate. I have had tonsil stones for about 4 years now and only today did I do an internet search and find out what they are. I am not a complete freak! Thanks for sharing with us.
5. SuperNinja | March 1st, 2008 at 6:29 am
Can’t believe how many doctors are ignorant about this condition. You would think if anyone was supposed to know about it, it should be them. :-S
6. wendy | April 25th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
what a great writer you are. really! i really was grossed out and fascinated by your story.:)
7. Elizabeth | July 27th, 2008 at 3:19 am
Omg this story was gross but hilarious in parts as well! I read somewhere else something that CRACKED me the hell up! lol big bump on back of gals throat then white thing on top of that…..someone replied
omg the first time I found one, I thought it was the tonsil it was so big!!!! LMAO!!! I took that sucker out at and from that day on I get them and take them out with qtips (actually only the right side cuz the left is very sensitive-I KNOW-GROSS). one day I took one(like it’s alive–LOL) and looked under a microscope and what I saw you would think came from the sea…LOLOLOL!!! I have a feeling its anerobic bacteria (cannot live with oxygen) cuz they shrivel up when out of the body. I’m sorry if I’m grossing anyone out but these suckers are soo fascinating! (I know I’m weird–its that scientist in me) actually what I should try to do is grow the bacteria to see what they actually are. let me tell you about anerobic bacteria–they stink! I remember from my micro class long a go, a guy shouting out, “oh, this smells like dead ass on a hot July day.” LOLOLOL I will never forget that!!! anyway, I feel better knowing that others have the same problem I do.
?
8. Elizabeth | July 27th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Oh I forgot…I too suffer these. I believe I’ve read that they are a mixture of dead cells and dead food that get stuck in the crevices we all seem to have in the back of our tonsils and they pile up till they decide to come out in small bits or large smelly chunks to several at a time to days at a time to none for periods of time. A pediatrician my child saw once said that they were from not drinking enough water. But other things I’ve read don’t say that. “The tonsils usually appear like small, dimpled golf balls set on either side of the back of the throat. Children with large tonsils and deep crypts often do get food particles trapped in there. Because saliva contains digestive enzymes, trapped food begins to break down. Particularly, the starch or carbohydrate part of the food melts away, leaving firmer, harder remains of food in the tonsils. This does not look like the food that went into the mouth.
As you suspect, however, there is more to these hard lumps than just food. The tonsils also trap other mouth debris such as bacteria and old cells from the surface of the mouth’s lining. Some of these cells contain small amounts of keratin, the same substance found in fingernails and rhinoceros horns. Whatever the nature of the debris, it is then attacked by white blood cells. The aftermath of this battle leaves the crevices of the tonsil strewn with hardened remains.
Most people swallow this material without ever noticing it, while it is still tiny. In those whose tonsils are large, however, the particles can lodge in the deep crypts, where they continue to grow. The enlarging lumps are called calculi of the tonsil, or tonsilloliths (tonsil stones). These stones are most common during adolescence.
Microscopic studies of these tonsilloliths have shown them to contain a combination of food particles, bacteria, oral debris, and white blood cells in a concentrically laminated pattern — rather like a pearl. Usually they are small gritty particles found in the center of soft, cheesy flecks. Sometimes, however, they become quite large, appearing as rough, yellow or gray, round stones. At times they reach an extraordinary size. Affected people usually have a history of repeated attacks of tonsillitis in earlier years.
Most people with calculi of the tonsils have no associated symptoms. In that case nothing need be done, except perhaps for brushing or scraping them out, as your daughter does. Gargling, refraining from eating during the 30 minutes before falling asleep, and careful oral hygiene may help minimize their formation.
For some people, however, the calculi can be quite bothersome, causing a constant foreign-body sensation, a chronic low-grade sore throat, recurrent episodes of tonsillitis persisting beyond childhood, or chronic bad breath.
Treatment consists of either removing the tonsils or removing the calculi. Troublesome large calculi that are not easily dislodged may need an ear, nose, and throat doctor to remove them.” From Dr Greene.com
I’m super self conscious of my chronic sinus bad breath….I’ve been told it stinks like poop before.
9. cpc | September 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 am
Oh, here’s a tip.
NEVER do this first thing in the morning. It seems your gag reflex is stronger before you’ve done a bit of swallowing, like eating breakfast.
Do it after breakfast…after you’ve drunk a big glass of water. That seems to help me.
10. Paige | October 6th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Oh my God! Thank you so much for posting this up. I felt like such an abnormal freak having these….throat globules(what I call them). I felt like I was a freak show, and my doctor didn’t even know what they were. I grew slightly worried. I feel them, right now I feel them, in the back of my tonsils slightly stuck in my throat. When I suck my tonsils forward I taste the liquid coming from them, but I can’t pull em’ out! They come out at random, like yours. My pointer finger is my best friend when it comes to pulling out these nasty things, but they are very tiny and don’t like to dislodge.
It’s completely natural to me, and I’m so glad these uglies have a name. I can taste em’ and feel them right now. I’m so glad I know what they are. I only have them in my right tonsil, and they aren’t so common anymore because I’ve been gargling Listerine in the back of my throat. Thank you so much for telling this story- I feel so normal now. I’m about to cry.
~Paige (a much more secure teen)
11. vako | October 10th, 2008 at 12:21 am
i suffered too from tonsil fucking stones,,i discovered something that might help eleminate them,,1)by brushing ur teeth b4 sleeping ,in the morning,after dairy products
2)by making a home gargle which u can prepare at home ,,make a glass of tea n when it gets warm add some salt n lemon,,,keep on gargling till all the stones come out n u ll find other things getting out too
3)put saline drops in to ur nose to ensure hygiene
12. Ninja | March 16th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I just discovered these things a few days ago. I just thought I had a piece of rice, or a sliver of nut back there. Then I looked and actually touched it, and eww! I did not know what I was looking at! So I gargled with diluted hydrogen peroxide and went to bed. The next morning, I gargled again with the solution, and one popped right out! The next one, I touched it and it too popped out.
I’m not surprised I have this condition, as I have always been prone to strep throats since I was little, and more recently uvulitis (when the uvula gets irritated and inflamed. HORRIBLE. It can make you gag!). I really thing my best bet is to get them out, but doctors don’t like to do this anymore I guess? I think it’s too much hassle for them.
Thanks for posting these stories! And try the hydrogen peroxide thing. It helps me with the uvulitis as well as it kills bacteria.
13. kristy | May 16th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Thank all of you soooo much for sharing!!! You are all sharing love to the world wide internet by making your stories public. Very Courageous.
It is currently 4:12am in los angeles california and I woke up at 2:47am firstly because I am bipolar and have sleeping problems and I did not take my ambien and second because I woke up afraid, crying and praying feeling bad for what occurred at 9pm the previous night. Do you want to know what happened that led me to this site of silent letters telling the story of suffering victims of tonsil stones and what I believe was not yet discussed or added as possible reasons behind it;
I have two guy friends (dont waste your time judging me please, just listen
They have both performed oral sex on me. one on wednesday and the other last night which was friday and it is now saturday am so when i woke up in the middle of the night i felt a piece of food on my tonsil that I couldn’t get out in the dark so I got up turned on the bathroom light and opened my mouth to see a white spec; kinda looked like a canker sore; so you know the first thing i thought; yeah you guessed it…….OMG one of those bastards gave me herpes!!!!! so i scraped it a little with my nail…nothing happened….then i gargled with straight up peroxide, spit it out, pushed on it again and OMG this pearly yellow hardened calcium that looked like garlic but smelled like shit was on my finger!!!!!!eeeellll!!! disgusting!!! I have anxiety so you know naturally the mania began of racing thoughts….im gonna go to the emergency room and kill these herpes before i get them full blown….then im gonna kill one or both of the bastards that gave it to me; without admitting guilt or betrayal….. he he shhhh; then im never gonna have sex again, quit smoking black n milds and repent to god for my evil ways; matter of fact i got up and turned on the light so I could read the bible and get a head start!!!! Are you still back at thought number one???!!! lol!!! Just be glad you dont have the same problem and i even had more thoughts but they are too many to share; and then while sharing you might become an anxious bipolar as well and i wouldn’t wish that on my worse enemy…..now back to my story.
So finally i took a deep breath and started to think logically and get back to square one….and just then!! guess what???!!! I realized hey i have a laptop (given to me by one of those trusty guys, the one i like more; but still cheated on…..go figure that one out, cuz i cant) with internet on it!!!!
So here I am!!! ta da!!! kristy here to save the day!!!!
ok really so you know first thing monday morning im going to my doctor in a frenzy and demand a tonsillectomy!!!!! Its my right with health insurance (aetna) to not suffer especially while they are getting paid!!! not on my watch!!!
I do believe however that there has to be other factors involved; yes i had alot of strep in the past and was also urged to get a tonsillectomy, if it happened just one more time….then just one more time…..then just one more time which turned into no more strep thought with big huge nut sacks left in my mouth!!!!! I am on anxiety meds and a stress smoker who is stressed out, sexually active (if you couldn’t already tell) and I believe it should be taken alot more seriously and the public should be made of aware of it and everyone should have their tonsils taken out and we can have a tonsil burning party!!!!! yeah…who’s with me????!!! ( chirping crickets ).
Lets just say im glad to be back on earth and assured that it is not herpes, nothing a caring doctor a little surgery and ice cream for weeks cant cure. Best wishes to the rest of you reading these articles and my hats off to the rest of you for your bravery!!!!
Its a bird, no its a plane, no its a macy day float….no its just kristy signing off!!! g’d day and “Dats all folks”!!!! kisses
14. Goodman | July 14th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
EEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!
bad breath wad popcorns!!!!
I hope I dont have more hidden that I cant see (like you aparently)
Im just glad I dont get them to often, gonna start using mouthwash everyday now :/
15. Suzanne | October 6th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Two words: Water Pick.
16. Mike | April 1st, 2010 at 6:00 am
I have this problem.
For me it is caused when I eat nuts, which are part of my raw food lifestyle.
My problem is much worse as when I get these and don’t notice them right away I get severe skin infections around my chin and corners of mouth……..bad.
I started noticing this pattern of facial infections and these stones and concluded it was due to high amounts of trapped bacteria that was being eliminated through the skin.
I noticed once the stones are removed the infections clear up fast.
They are hard to remove. I found using a plastic bottle with a J-neck tube and squirting water directly into the tonsil will float them out. Not always though. Sometimes they will just pop out on their own.
Yeah they are obviously gross and the smell is horrible.
I now avoid whole nuts and presoak them first and then make them into a patae.
17. Jessica | May 18th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
damn it…it scares me to death reading this article…whew…my tonsil won’t get back to it’s original size….(crying) what will i do? i’m currently drinking antibiotic tablet..hope it could work…damn this problem stresses me/….help me lord!
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