Seriously, it’s making me crazy. It’s huge and I have a tiny mouth. It’s on the right side of my tonsils, half behind a fold of skin.
I’ve tried using a long swab myself and having my SO do it, tried gargling, tried all of the Internet remedies. One of the problems is the aforementioned tiny mouth. Plus I can’t sem to control my tongue - even with a tongue depressor it won’t hold still. It is completely unconscious movements. I try so hard to hold it steady but every time it moves again.
Because of the way my mouth is set up I believe even when it gets a little loose my tongue pushes it back into place. It is GROSS and bothers me every time I swallow. I am at my wit’s end. HELP!
I don’t have tonsil stones, mainly because I don’t have tonsils, but having your SO help you expurgate one seems like one of those things only the most intimate of couples can do.
But I have to say, reading the OP got me strangely aroused.
This is gross, but I’ve had the same problem before and have had luck with using something with a bend in it rather than a straight swab. I have a long, flat metal thing that I bent a little so that there’s little hook right at the end but unfortunatetly I don’t know what it was originally for so that’s not too helpful. However I’m sure you could rig something up - perhaps a bent paperclip? Stick it into the pocket (carefully) and pull forward a little bit, opening the pocket up more. Often that will make the stone just pop right out.
My SO and I have been together for fifteen years and nothing fazes him. It’s kind of amazing, actually - he cleans up the mess if the toilet ever overflows, he took care of the dead, rotting groundhog in the backyard for me, he does all that kind of gross stuff. A mere tonsil stone doesn’t bother him at all. Actually only one bodily function bothers him - me putting in my nose ring.
No way am I sticking a paperclip back there (what if I swallow it?) But I will try the bent item idea; it might be easier.
Doctor? Should I go to my doctor? I mean, I have insurance, it just never occured to me to go for THIS reason! Maybe he could help me. Maybe there’s a way to plug them up permanently.
AARGH!
I can usually loosen them by messing w/ the pressure in the back of my throat with “sucking” movements, but don’t know if that would work for you or even how to explain it any better than that.
I have the most luck tensing up my throat muscles and then just pressing near the stone with my fingertip. Tensing the throat is a crucial factor in getting the stones out. It works better for some crypts than others.
You might also try going to a pharmacy and getting one of those plastic “monoject” syringes:
Should be very cheap or possibly free. You can try squirting the stone with water or using suction to pull the stone out (if sufficiently erupted.)
Buy a brand-new soft-bristled toothbrush and a razor blade. Starting at the handle end, cut off the bristles flush with the toothbrush head until you have a little tuft of bristles at the end about the size of a pencil eraser. Use that to get behind the tonsils and pop out the stone. Works for me. Just make sure you cut the bristles flush with the head, otherwise it’ll hurt like hell.
That’s what I’d recommend. I get little ones from time to time, but not too often, and I can always get them out easily myself. But if yours are large, frequent, and/or difficult to remove, it certainly couldn’t hurt to see your doc. He should have no trouble removing it.
That said, as far as dealing with the issue long-term, I don’t think they mess around with plugging up the pockets; the only treatment I’ve ever heard of is a tonsillectomy. But that’s 100% effective!
Get a really, really thick milkshake, and a straw. Suck until you’re down halfway in the milkshake. That might loosen it.
Waterpik aimed at it.
About 20 years ago, I got my wisdom teeth out. They gave me a squirty-syringe-thingy to clean out the holes. Since that time, I’ve used it to clean out the pits in my throat when they get caught like that.
For the really, really bad ones, I force myself to eat overly-spicy foods. It gets the mucous going, drains my sinuses, and seems to make the holes get bigger.
I’ve removed a few in the office from patients’ throats over the years. If it’s really swollen, I’ll paint a little astringent on the tonsil to shrink it, then pop it out.
So that’s a vote for seeing your doc, unless you’ve someone who’s really confident about doing home excision.
All my suggestions have already been covered. I just wanted to share my sympathies. I used to get tonsiloliths until I got my tonsils out. Totally worth it.
