“What the heck?”
I stared at the tiny, hard, white and rubbery thing that I had just coughed up in consternation. I didn’t remember eating anything like what I was holding in my hand, and since the offending object had somehow managed to crawl up from the depths of my esophagus without my noticing it until it began its tickle torture on my uvula, I wanted to know what the hell it was before I smooshed it between my fingers and tossed it in the trash. What can I say? After being forced to watch Joe Millionaire last night I was feeling particularly vindictive.
Yeah, I’m petty. So what?
The offending object had the color of dirty milk and, by the way it had managed to ravage my throat as it made its escape from my windpipe, an outer shell made of equal parts sandpaper, old leather and ground glass. It was about the size of half a grain of rice, but squashed flat with a small lump in the center. Kind of like it’s nucleus, so to speak.
Rolling it between my fingers had no effect on its shape.
I started listing everything I had eaten in the last few days in my head trying to figure out what this alien embryo was made of. After about half an hour I found that I was making myself hungry but was still completely flabbergasted and no closer to identifying my mystery throat ejaculate than I had been before I began. Shrugging mentally, I flicked the offensive piece of detritus off my hand and continued on my way, determined to put it completely out of my mind.
But the little bastard was not to be gotten rid of so easily.
All day, no matter what I’ve been doing, thoughts of that unidentified piece of crap have been running through my head. I know I’m not the only person to ever have something like that come out of their mouth because I’ve actually asked people and it seems to have happened to almost everyone. Everyone seems to agree that they’re annoying but no one, and I mean no one, has any idea what the name of the damn things are, or what they’re made of.
Not even my doctor friends.
So, now that I’m unable to sleep because I’ve been too busy doing internet searches for ‘white thingie you cough up’ I figured I might as well ask my loyal readers if anyone else out there has ever had the misfortune of discovering one of these little bastards clinging to the back of their tongue. If so, what the hell was it and what do you think it was made of? Oh, and by the way, I’ve taken the liberty of naming them just so I can stop coming up with clever ways of saying ‘hard, white thingie I coughed up from my throat’. From this day forward these tiny minions of evil shall be known throughout the world as Throat Scabs.
Copyrighted and Trade Marked by The Mighty Geek. Patent Pending.
Just like Pinger©™®.
*** Update ***
Due to the amount of traffic this post has garnered by those who are afflicted with these horrible Throat Scabs, I have decided to no longer allow comments on this post until someone has actual medical knowledge to impart that has not yert been discussed. If you think you have something important to add to this topic, please email geekman AT themightygeek DOT com and I’ll add it for you if it is relevant.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to write about their troubles with tonsilloliths, and their homemade remedy’s.
GeekMan.
*** Update 03/08/04 ***
Thanks to a wonderful girl who seems to like green flowers, and who apparently wishes to remain anonymous, I was pointed towards this article which may help those of us afflicted with this horrid, horrid nuisance.
*** Update 06/09/04 ***
A kind gentleman named Roland from New Zealand sent us a link to this website which carries a product called BLiS Throat Guard that he claims helped solve his Tonsillolith problem. Roland says;
I had this problem for 50 years and finally found something that works. It is called Blis Throat Guard, developed at the University of Otago and on sale in New Zealand, I do not know about other countries. The best I can figure out how it works is like thinking of your throat and mouth as a microscoptic garden with bacteria growing all over it. The first step is to weed out the garden of bad bacteria and then replant with good plants) bacteria. Take a look at the site they have on the net and see if they sell overseas yet.
Thank you Roland!
hahaha! your stories had me cracking up!. i too have those nasty throat chunks. i first noticed them about 5 years ago. i felt something irritating my throat, and when i went home to check, i found a huge chunk surrounding my tonsil. it was the size of my thumbnail, no joke. since that day, i have performed many “surgeries”, probing at my tonsils with a q-tip. nowadays, i kind of look forward to finding those little rascals. its become somewhat of a treasure hunt, and i become dissapointed when i cant find any. the strangest part though, is the fact that i’ve actually hade dreams about them continuously coming out of my tonsils to no end. they’d keep coming, and coming, and coming!
Hey this might help…I found out that the company that makes waterpik has a tonsil attachment that you can buy. I guess you stick it in your throat and it sprays the tonsil stones loose. Has anyone heard of sinus washes? If you are having sinus problems too, you should look up Sinus Washes. I have had the stinky things come out while doing a sinus wash.
this is amazing.. THIS IS SO AMAZING! it’s like finding the cult i was meant to be in. I’m glad there are others out there.
I am glad more people have it, not that I want to doom anyone with the buggers. I get them in my left tansil… fold… thing… there seems to be two holes they come from. I got them after I had strep throat in Basic Training. My excovation continues!
It seems to help to brush your tounge alot, then use Listerene. (significant improvement) I try not to damage my throat to much cause Im afriad it might infect.
Every morning I regurgitate one of these stinky green chunks, which over the days, have gotten bigger. My boyfriend thought I was not only crazy, but repulsive! I am so happy to hear that I am not the only one…
I have been experiencing these gross poop balls for about 5 years now. I too felt like I was dying and thought I had the start of throat cancer. I am SOOOOOOOOOO relieved to have found this site. I am calling my ENT first thing today to ask for his professional opinion. I am 37 and don’t want to have to fight this gross problem the rest of my life. Shine on stink ball brothers and sisters!
I just popped one out last nite. It was as big as my pinky fingernail. I started having stinky white chunks after I realized I have chronic sinus infection. They are very annoying, it is like constant tickle in the back of the throat. I also got it on my left side too… I am theorizing that is because I sleep on my left side??
This is the most hilarious (if disgusting) website I’ve ever seen. I have tonsil stones too — and only on the left side. I don’t think I have bad breath though, which I verified with my husband. I was horrifed to discover these a few years ago but I kept feeling something when I swallowed so I opened wide and saw white. Since then I tend to excavate whenever I get that strange swallowing feeling. When I first sheepishly told my husband about my ailment, he was surprised and said he’s had them for years. But get this – he says he can pick them out with his tongue. No, I’m not married to Gene Simmons. I really don’t want surgery so I guess I’ll gargle and pick with care.
I have had these since I was 16… I’m 36. I’ve been to doctors who had no idea what I was talking about. I’ve searched the internet for years and found nothing until this week. Last year my mom who is an RN had one. She told me they are called Tonsoliths. When she told her doctor about it, he too, said he had never heard of them before.
Is this some kind of new epidemic? Can they only be stopped by having your tonsils removed?
I have been digging them out and flushing them out with needle-less syringes for years. My tonsils are now gapping holes in the back of my throat from tearing away at them to get these little bastards out. It makes your breath smell like feces. They are the most disgusting thing on the face of the earth.
Oh, I also wanted to mention that I’ve flushed them out with listerine, salt water, distilled water, water mixed with acidophilus… you name it ~ I’ve tried it ~ EVEN Thera-breath products. I’ve even gone so far as to numb them with Ambisol and swab them with betadine (which doctors use before surgery). No LUCK!! Just YUCK!!
Now that I’ve got these gapping holes, they are much easier to remove and much smaller, but they still come in numbers.
I have to check them regularly since I can no longer feel them after prodding and tearing away at throat for so many years, but I must say here is nothing on the face of the Earth more embarrassing than talking to someone and having them back up two feet and slap their hand over their nose.
I would give anything to have them go away forever.
Hello Again,
Well, I did it, I had my tonsils out Sept. 11th to try to rid myself from sore throats ,(mainly strep) and these nasty awful things we are all suffering from. But I have to tell you, getting your tonsils out, HURTS!!!! I couldn’t eat for 10 days, and I am still taking tylenol before every meal as of right now, to stop the pain from my tonsillectomy. Everytime I took a drink of water it came running out my nose because my throat was so swollen from surgery. It has been 12 days and I feel a little better and at least I can get out of bed and I no longer have to take painkiller and just take regular tylenol. I am not sure if this is the answer to my problem as of yet though. I will have to wait and see. I will keep you all informed on the final result!:-)People WITHOUT tonsils, I have heard STILL suffer from them…. I am beginning to wonder if our adenoids (located behind the nose and sinuses) also can cause these things. Some people get BOTH tonsils and adenoids out, which, I did not. If any of you do have both out and STILL get the “stink balls” let me know. There HAS TO BE A CURE , THERE JUST HAS TO BE!!!!:-0 maybe together we can come up with SOMETHING. In an age of hi-tech EVERYTHING, we have to gather on the net and talk of these “stinkoids”, sharing information like wildfire,in disgust and shame and no longer (thank God) secrecy, trying to come up with a cure for what should be simplimatic in this day and age. They have Viagra, a cure for a limp penis. but not a cure for something this maddening!!!! Lets keep on the good fight and see what can do!!!!
Boochie;-)
i wonder if it’s possible to collect everyone’s poop balls and make some kind of a chemical weapon out of it… talk about DIRTY BOMB…
I, too have searched everywhere for an answer as to what these chunks are and it is kind of strange to see just how many people have them. Shouldn’t doctors know what these things are? I felt like a misfit because of them until I got uop the nerve to show one to my best friend. She gets them too so I asked my Mom and she also has them. I have since discovered that all of my friends have them too. I’ve been married for 2 years and my husband recently brought one to me and asked if I knew what it was. I said “no, but I get them too and noone knows what they are” He then told me that he only started getting them after he met me. My friends and family live in Canada, my husband and I in Kentucky. My friends are an assortment of Phillipino and Chinese, myself and my family are white. It seemed all these people have in common was they knew me. So, mother, friends, husband (only after meeting me) affected. In horror,I wondered, could I be the cause? But this page calms me into knowing that there are others. Now I will add my own hypothesis for their existence. I now with food allergies you keep a food journal to isolate what the allergy is, so I paid close attention to what I ate and when these little punks appeared. It seems that when I eat alot of potatoes, particularly chips, I get a flare-up. My mom and friends also eat alot of chips and my husband has only started eating them regularly since we met, as they are my faves and are always in the house.
Now for my stats:
I get them on the right side, have never had my tonsils removed, I had bronchitis once, I have never had a recurring sore throat.
I learned something important at this website, and that is the location of the den of chunks. I have been searching for their lair for at least 15 years and have never seen these “white spots” in my throat. But I pressed on my tonsil as someone recommended and one popped out, so the mystery has been solved for me. Thank god I can fight them in their home now.
We must win this war. The chunks must not be victorious!
It is so wonderful to finally have a name for those terrible smelly lumps! I mostly get them on the left side, I have frequent ear & sinus infections, I have had mono, and I have allergies. I have had these monstrosoties ever since having mono 5 years ago. I always thought my tonsils should have been removed, but the doctor never saw any need- He doesn’t have to live with these gross things! It was great to read everyone’s suggestions…I think I’ll try a few.
YES, I too have these little stink bombs. I have been using a flashlight and a metal pick (the kind a dentist uses to clean your teeth) to search my tonsils’ holes daily for the stinks bombs and grab them with a q-tip once they are extracted from their ‘cave’. (after reading all the posts I think I’ll buy stock in q-tips) The metal pick is not so good of a tool for this though since it is sharp…I think the bobby pin bent to do the trick will work better.
It seems they only come out of their caves once they have built themselves up so much they cannot live in there anymore. It makes me happy to find them inside the cave. I hate it when they surprise me by coming out on their own…always at the most unopportune times. I get them on both sides. I don’t know why but I am drawn to sniff them also…as if one day maybe I’ll find one that does not stink. The bigger they are, the more they stink.
WebMD’s site says they are from food particles get caught in little crypts in the tonsils, causing a foul odor. It also says mouthwashes, toothpastes, and other oral products that contain both chlorine dioxide and zinc may help cut down on them. And as suggested earlier gargling with warm water to dislodge the food pieces will help.
I LOVE MY TONSIL CHUNKS!!!!!!!!!! i figured that they serve some purpose, so i’ve experimented and put them to work. i once had hemorroids, and so i rubbed a few tonsil balls on my purple asterisk, and the inflammation seemed to have gone down. i also rubbed a chunk between my fingers to create a paste, and then applied it to a zit. Guess what! the next day the zit was dried up and gone!maybe the counteraction of the bacteria dried it up. who knows, but it worked.try it and tell me if it works for you. let me know if you find other purposes for these chunks.
i read the pevious comment. i just put some throat chunk paste on my zits, and i will let you know if it worked tomorrow.
Hi everyone. Just like most of you I was so glad to of found this site, I have had this problem for a year now and sometimes I have these nasty ass balls a few times a week. I get them only on the left side and pick them out with a toothpick in bright light. I hate the way it makes your breath smell, like SHIT! I wish they would find a cure for this! Good luck to everyone!
Hey everyone, I’m ecstatic! There’s something to this throat curd cure all! I rubbed the paste on my zit, and by this morning the sucker was gone. I recommend this to any and everyone. Try it, it really worked for me.
That zit thing is just disgusting. If you can stand that smell, you’re nasty anyways. And yes, it is the worst smelling substance I’ve ever smelled in my entire life, and I grew up on a farm and have smelled all kinds of animal poop and decaying animals in the hot sun. Nothing compares to the “kick in your face” odor in these little “powerhouse balls”. And then to smash them up and smear them on your body???? I’d rather have the zit. When I’ve have smashed them in my finger before, I had a hard time getting that smell off my finger even with soap and hot water. I can imagine rubbing it on your face. What if you get a zit on your upper lip? Are you going to rub a bunch of poopball paste there too?
I was thinking the other day about how these things might actually be beneficial. Here me out, this is a hypothesis. What if by swallowing these things we are actually keeping our bodies more and more immune to certain bacterias. I told that to my wife and she said, “Well wouldn’t the bacteria just die in the stomach.” Well, No they don’t. Many bacteria can make you sick by you consuming them. OK so yes they stink, but maybe we shouldn’t toss them away when we dig them out. They are already in our mouths so what’s the harm in swallowing them. We can all use these little stinky pills to make us healthier. Hehehehe
I’m going to try DenTek’s Breath Remedy mouth rinse. This product says it neutralizes sulfur producing bacteria, killing bad breath odors. I also bought a tube of antibacterial Biotene toothpaste (supposed to reduce bacteria due to dry mouth). Neither of these products was expensive…about the same as other toothpastes and mouthwashes so I figured I’d try them. Both are available at WalMart…in with the other mouthwash and toothpaste products.
I am soooo relieved after knowing so many people have experienced these mysterious funk balls. I swear they have got to be the funkiest things by far. They only come up when you least expect them. You then reach in your mouth to see what it is and you have a bad feeling that its one of these gross things, but what’s the first thing you do? Smell it. Then try to keep it to study to find out how on living earth can something smell so bad especially coming out of you. I’ve learned a few remedies and personal surgeries to try out. I just recently started really experiencing these poops a while back, so i’m going to try to exterminate some how because I can’t live with funky tale breath.
I was just about to try and figure out how to contact the maker of this website and tell them I know what Tonsil Stones are and that I get them too, when I scrolled down, and saw that everyone else does too! It was sort of …disgustingly satisfying, to find out I wasn’t alone in my stinkiness.
I am an 18yr old female and Ive been having these unfortunate “tonsil stones” for about 3 years. At first I was told they were just “Food paricles” and wasn’t bothered by them, but that’s so wrong! I did a search for “white tonsil gook” and found this page. I have absolutely become possessed by these nasty things! They’re all I can think about and the throat pain is unimaginable. I’m going to an ENT in a few weeks and hopefully he’ll take these bad boys out! For about a week I’ve been attempting to remove these stones with a shary utensil by digging into the tonsil. Please do not try this at home! Good luck to all of you. I find it hard to believe that so many people have this and there’s nothing to be done about it except remove the tonsils. Damn the man.
I used to get these disgusting yucky pieces maybe once every year or so, but in the last couple months if have had them pretty much all the time. And they usually decide to come up when I am in class at school, which is really annoying, because I want to get it them out, but it’s not like I can really do that in class. I had mono a couple of months ago and was wondering if anyone noticed that they started to get them much more frequently after having mononucleosis. I really hope they go away because I never had bad breath and could not stand it if they don’t.
I have had the little disgusting bastards since childhood. Mine are from having bad allergies. My advice to everyone is to minimize allergies, try to quit smoking and for the love of God, go buy THERABREATH MOUTHWASH AND TONSIL SPRAY…that stuff WORKS!
I feel sooooo much better knowing that I am not the only one suffering with yuk mouth, performing these “self-surgeries” in the back of the throat. I too, had mono when I was thirteen, and have noticed them ever since (I am now 26)…..
I have tried salt water, home surgery (with a dentist pik, my finger, whatever will fit back there in the crypts), listerine, and no luck…they go away, and then the shit-boogers are back. There has got to be another solution besides surgery and some doctor’s overpriced mouthrinse!!! Any suggestions?
I constantly fret and worry about having bad breath. My friends think I am losing it because I am worried about my breath all the time. I wonder if my breath really smells bad and they’re just too nice to tell me, or if I am able to get to the “shit boogers” before others notice my breath smelling like a toxic waste dump…..
The fight must continue on…the shit boogers cannot win!!!!
I am at a conflict with myself about my opinions on these tonsilloliths. On the one hand, finding that this condition is clearly very common and seemingly unharmful raises my optimism about whether drastic action is needed. Conversely, having pooled all of your stories and my own personal experience of these critters it seems their onset is arbitrary, that they fluctuate unpredictably between being there or not and can last for the rest of your life. Not to mention the fact that there is no ‘quick cure’. Nor can anyone really put a finger on whether they cause bad breath or not. Evidence suggests that accompanying halitosis is only apparent to the ‘patient’ as it were, rather than anyone else. However, I think you’ll all agree with me when I recall how disheartened I was to search for ‘tonsilloliths’ only to be pelted with a barrage of webpages telling me how bad my breath must be! That was the one thing I was wanting to look up to find reassurance about!
Anyway, I’m 20, I first noticed these about 1 and a half years ago. I thought little of it and mistook what I now know are sulphurous balls of accumulated bacteria for Cous Cous somehow stuck up my nasal cavity! It seems absurd but originally I thought, because when I ‘snorted’ snot from the back of my nose these white balls would appear with it, that I had food debris stuck up my nose. However, I understand now that it was more the suction generated that was pulling them from with my tonsils.
I eventually noticed something white in my tonsils. I had a bit of a dig around and once I got in the flow of things I was harevesting tonnes of them. It was never that bad again. But the tell tale sign of a ‘tonsil remission’ for me is a pus-y (as in pus, not pussy!), sour tasting mucous from the back of my nose and a real unpleasant odour/taste in my mouth. Whether this leads to bad breath is up for debate. Personally I’d rather remain ignorant, because until you’re labelled as having bad breath by a confiding friend you still don’t really know whether you’ve got it.
The only new info I can add to this insoluble problem is antibiotic treatment. In the past I have taken Minocycline antibiotics for a lengthy period to deal with a small amount of acne. There was a definite disappearance of the tonsilloliths during the time I was on these tetracylcine antibiotics. When I stopped taking them, the critters came back. Equally well, I requested from my GP to try a course of Cefalexin (a cephalosporin drug, fairly analogous to penicillins) which indeed slowed down the frequency of tonsillolith production. The most important finding here then is that antibiotics appear only to be a temporary solution. Hence, antiobiotics are limited because no-one should unnecessarily have to take antibiotics and especially not for extended periods of time. They are, after all, ultimately toxins and give rise to resistance forms of your usual flora.
So that was disappointing. I am now going to try making a routine of salt mouthwashes to slow their progress. If this fails, a tonsillectomy is possible but mortality increases the older you get (I’ve seen figures quoting 1 in 16,000 to 1 in 40,000 people dieing in tonsillectomies) and torrential haemorrhages (i.e. a bit of serious bleeding of 2-3% of patients). Not to mention the pain and inability to eat for days to weeks afterwards.
Hope that gives you some insight, if any, because all of your stories really helped me to understand what was going on.
Many thanks
Graham
I found that detroying yourself with excercise dilates something and produces mucus and dislodges them. So go and get your breath rate up!
Believe me, they never go away and will continue to plague you with Bad Breath (yes, you have the worst smelling breath when you have these putrid things festering in your tonsils) until you finally decide you have had enough and get a tonsillectomy like I did 2 months ago…no more crap in my throat and no more bad breath…I am telling you the truth and I am so happy to share this! Good Luck!
Just got a waterpik actually a interplak water pik. I used it on my tonsils and flushed a few tonsilloliths out. Try it! But I hope you don’t have a very bad gag reflex.
The tonsil stones cause bad breath in many cases and if you notice a white tongue, you problably suffer from bad breath as well. The only way to remove the stones forever is to have your tonsils removed:(
Layna
I am collecting all of them. They now take up the better part of the garage in various containers.The big buckets are the best. Sometimes, at night, I hear noises from the garage. When I have enough to fill the garage I am going to put 20,000 volts throught the lot of them. If you hear of a stange disappearance or unexplained event in northern Idaho sometime around mid-Dec then I would not recommend performing this experiment yourself.
Wish me luck.
Billy-Bob
Heh Interesting to find this online. We in spanish call them “Tacos” cool to finally find their english name.
-J
Wow. I am totally blown that so many people have these stinky crumbs in their throats too. Like I need one more thing to be obsessing over. My fiancé used to give me shit as it is because I used to pick at every little blemish on my face before I would come to bed. Now I not only pick at my face, but perform surgery on my tonsils. I did a search for “stinky white chunks in throat” and got this page. I had not idea that I could PICK THEM OUT OF MY TONSILS MYSELF! I was used to the something-in-my-throat feeling, just had no idea where they came from. I am glad that I found this site, but it’s all over now. Having the personality that I have means that I will add another 20 minutes to my before-bed-ritual picking my throat. Better to know than not, I guess.
BTW, I have only found them on the left side, and no, I have not had Mono or any kind of bacterial infection. I have been eating on the left side though b/c of a tooth issue on the right.
Who knows? Just take my damn tonsils.
Wow. I am totally blown that so many people have these stinky crumbs in their throats too. Like I need one more thing to be obsessing over. My fiancé used to give me shit as it is because I used to pick at every little blemish on my face before I would come to bed. Now I not only pick at my face, but perform surgery on my tonsils. I did a search for “stinky white chunks in throat” and got this page. I had not idea that I could PICK THEM OUT OF MY TONSILS MYSELF! I was used to the something-in-my-throat feeling, just had no idea where they came from. I am glad that I found this site, but it’s all over now. Having the personality that I have means that I will add another 20 minutes to my before-bed-ritual picking my throat. Better to know than not, I guess.
BTW, I have only found them on the left side, and no, I have not had Mono or any kind of bacterial infection. I have been eating on the left side though b/c of a tooth issue on the right.
Who knows? Just take my damn tonsils.
Misery loves company and boy do I have a lot of company…u guys just made me feel soo good since I felt soo alone with this problem that is really embarrassing…imagine talking to this hot girl trying to make an impression only to have this nasty thing fly out …eeewwwwwwww ggrossssssss….I wanted to die and nearly did …
So instead of digging a hole for myself I googled it and found this site I’m really happy to know that I’m not alone. I’m going to try the salt tonight …thanks a lot guys
I was at work one night telllin this other waitress about these white yucky things in the back of my toncills and I didn’t understand how to get them out and I didnt’ want to tell someone I got something stinky in my mouth that’s enbarrasin So I said to her about this and she said to me I tak a ball point pen and poke them out and then more come and then I get poke more untill I get them out so I tried it and I couldnt get my pen to work welll the top part of the pen so I started usin a q-tip them big ones really work good because,, it’s no so hard to get to but,, i’m goin to try this water and salt thing and then if that doesnt’ work then I’m goin to go to the walmart and buy some biotene toothpaste antibotic toothpaste and some antibotic mouth wash Detek’s Breath Remedy and try that if Not i’m goin to keep on pickin till there gone no surgery for me and stinky everyone gbu
My first one was the size of an eraser. It has been some months since my last one but because of my bad breath i know they are there. I had my tonsils removed at an early age and so i assumed that it was just collecting in old scar tissue.
THIS SITE is truly a noble cause. peace of mind is not something you can put a price on, unlike many things on the internet. by the way, is it just a coincidence that everyone has a good sense of humor on this site or is everone so fucking relieved that they are not the only one with the stain balls that they just rip out some comic relief?
It’s so obvious that only people with a fantastic sense of humor are inflicted with these funky chunks… They were bugging me so much I asked my daughter to look down my throat using a flashlight. She was grossed out! What she saw were alien-like white clusters hiding on one side. I asked her to pick them out with a q-tip and I forcefully gagged in her face (good thing I hadn’t just eaten). Against my begging, she’s going to tell all her friends about my nasty balls and I’ll be the talk of the entire jr. high… :(
Hi I’m the above person’s daughter (deathbreath) and I didn’t tell my friends about her child abuse (by asking me to dislodge the cluster of funky chunks from the back of her throat) but now that she has done this I just might spread it around my school. HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!
those things are back!!! AHHH!
last night i realized that my right tonsil was swallen, and my throat felt real funny. I looked inside with a flashlight… THEY WERE GONE FOR LIKE 3 MONTHS!!! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO COME BACK?! I tried something new now, someone told me you can dip a qtip in iodine and disinfect your throat that way. I tried it yesterday…now i have a really soar throat. I guess I’ll be going back to salt water. Good luck to all the stinkers out there.
I am so happy I found this website. I was so scared of what these nasty white things were. After picking at it all night i gave myself a sore throat and couldn’t even swallow. As advise from me don’t touch it. It only makes it worse.
WOW, I can’t believe I was able to find out what these things are. My friend brought it up the other day, and I was like, “Yeah, I get those too!!!”
“Tonsilloliths” huh? Weird name. I hate it when they you can feel one cought in the back of your throat (in the holes in back-top of your mouth, near your ugula (that dangly thing)). It’s so annoying that you really sometimes have to take a finger and dig it out while avoiding gagging/choking.
And yeah, they really stink. What a weird phenomenon.
I never knew there were so many people with the “white thing” problem..Im not alone..my doctor thought I was a freak when I told him about it?? The other day i couldn’t see any but I could still smell the nasty smell so I pushed my finger down and then up fairly hard and tons came out..I wish they and then went to a lower spot on the same side and again just like a bad dream i once had about them it was like a never ending whit thing coming out it was so disgusting..I wish these things would go away for good…
touche trapeziums!
holy crap.
i have had these since elementary school, now im a junior in high school. i hate them so much. im constantly chewing gum and gargling with listerine, and i cant seem to get them to go away.
i dont cough them up very much, but i can feel them in my throat, and i have a pretty bad gag reflex so i cant dig very well. my girlfriend sometimes tells me i have bad breath…poor her having to kiss a guy with ‘tonsilolliths’…ugh. that word is just sickening.
first on my christmas list this year- tonsilectomy.
..I also just pick at my tonsils every morning while doing make-up. Mine is also mostly my left side–what’s up with that? My theory is that everyone gets these things, just that many people are just not tuned into their bodies like we are OR theirs just fall out naturally and don’t get huge enough for them to say hey, I have to get a mirror and dig this chunk thing out of my tonsil. My biggest hope is that the smell mostly comes when you break them open—please tell me that my breath does not smell like one of these things or I will have to commit suicide….try this–smell one without squeezing it—not so bad, right? It is mainly when you squeeze it that the aroma wafts…I never had mono but I do think I have a lot of drainage/sinus problems. By the way–most of you seem to have a great sense of humor about this–made me feel better and at least we aren’t gonna die of this.I am also feeling lucky that mine are not all that big….I did a search and found articles in medical journals that documented HUGE tonsilloliths—like 7 centimeters long or more that calcify and can even rupture the side of your tonsil—-there is a guy at work whose breath is so so so bad that I just wonder if he has a rupturing tonsillolith the size of a plum….thanks guys.