I doubt I’d go just for this but if you’re there for some other reason, couldn’t hurt to ask. I was once visiting an ENT for recurrent sore throats, and one of the things he kept trying to do was express tonsil stones using a large swab. My hand kept pushing his away, with my volition - I truly couldn’t help it. Of course I could have gone to the mirror with a flashlight and produced several, easily.
I’ve had a recurrent cough / sinus issues off and on over the past few weeks. Last night, the right tonsil was really sore, so I went into the bathroom with a flashlight and tried pressing on the usual spot. Got some results, but noticed that right in the middle, there appeared to be one that was completely invisible except when I was pressing on the edge of the tonsil.
So I continued pressing - and ultimately managed to get a truly grody amount of stones out. Blech. Can’t say it feels any better this morning, but certainly worse.
The suggestion of using something slightly curved is a good one - and press on one of the sides of the tonsil to hopefully force the nasty out in the other direction.
FWIW, I have one and don’t find it useful for expressing stones. IMHO it causes too much trauma compared to blunter instruments like a fingertip or swab.
On the other hand, it might be useful for the OP’s tiny mouth problem. My wife has that too but thankfully she does not get tonsilloliths like me.
I generally only get them after having had a cold or sinus infection or something along those lines.
That being said, the main thing that dislodges them seems to be when I’m brushing my teeth and tongue, if I brush way back on my tongue and gag a bit, then it seems to squeeze them right out.
That’s weird, I’ve never once gotten a tonsil stone out with a swab. Hence why I got desperate and tried the bent metal tool, and I’ve never done any damage with it. I suppose it probably depends on the size and shape of the pockets you have - they must all be slightly different.
Another waterpik vote. Set on the most gentle pressure, loaded with water and perhaps 10% listerine. Got rid of a big one for me just a month or so ago.
I had an absolutely huge one last year that wouldn’t budge. I could see the tip of it way down in a crypt, but with my tongue I could feel its shape through the tonsil wall, like the base of an iceberg. In the end I got a blunt plastic poker - off a toy or something - and poked at it until I broke the fucker up, then used the poker deep inside the crypt to scoop out the bits. Disgusting but worth it.
I get these occasionally. I can usually get them to pop out with pressure from one of my fingers near the crypt. I’ve also used toothpicks before, but maybe that isn’t so safe?
Whatever is the fastest way to get them AWAY as possible. Honestly, I’d rather spit them out, but as they are so far back often I end up swallowing them before I even have a chance.
All of you people who can reach your tonsils with a toothpick or other short tool, well, I cannot do that. It’s not that the pick isn’t long enough; it’s again the fact of the small mouth, so I cannot get my hand in far enough, plus the tongue moving around. I’d never try a toothpick anyway - I just know I’d end up swallowing it somehow.
It is as far back in my throat as possible without being non-visible, and half the time it isn’t visible. The easiest way to even see it is to hold my breath and sort of push my tonsils forward.
It’s gross. And I am resentful. No god made the human body! If he did there wouldn’t be tonsil stones! : shakes fist :
I’ve never heard of these things but they sound gross.
A part of me would kind of like to have one just once so I can extract it. I imagine it could be even more satisfying than popping of a big spot (zit).
Distilled vinegar is a natural and widely available astringent. Maybe gargle with it to shrink the tonsil before your next attempt?
I never had tonsil stones until a few years ago. My wife has had them all her life and I’m not sure if there was some sort of bacteria she was colonized with that I wasn’t that caused the crypts, or if it was the natural degradation of the adenoid tissue with age. In either case they’re ridiculously annoying given how generally harmless they are otherwise.
Anaamika-
Maybe you should do as another poster suggested and break it up before extraction.
ColdPhoenix-
They are exceedingly gross, and exceedingly satisfying to extract, especially the big ones. When the back of my throat starts bugging me, I secretly hope that it is a big, nasty tosilith for me to squeeze out. It rarely is, but when it happens, oh the joy!
It definitely is. Especially if you smush it afterwards and smell it - it gives off an unimaginably foul odor. Just don’t walk up to your spouse and say “Smell this!”
Once again, the same as with every other thread on tonsilolliths, I find myself retroactively grateful for the repeated bouts of tonsillitis in early childhood that led to a tonsillectomy at age 5.
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