We had a thread on this a long time ago, and I was immensely comforted to know that not only was I not the only person to get these disgusting things but other people were actually much more laid-back about them. I admit I get wound a little tight about gross bodily functions.
So I have a rather large one now and it is bothering the hell out of me. For those of you not in the know, tonsil stones are when food particles and other nastiness fills up the little tiny holes in your tonsils. I asked my dentist about them some years ago who very matter-of-factly explained them to me and told me how some people can expel them on command. :eek:
Usually they work themselves out on their own but I have a small mouth and what looks to me to be big tonsils, and anything touching my tonsils makes me gag (cue blowjob jokes). I tried to poke at it with a Q-tip but it just made me want to upchuck and it certainly didn’t get it out, and I’d rather do almost anything than vomit.
So share your gross stories, or advice, whatever you like. Remind me this is normal.
I get them occasionally and they drive me nuts. It makes it feel like I have an irritation in the bottom of my ear canal. I have somehow figured out a way to “suck” them out by flexing the back of my throat which can create a little vacuum to get them out. However, once they come out I need to immediately wash out my mouth because it’s tough to get the nasty little bits completely out of my mouth.
And they REEEEEEK!!! Like concentrated bad breath. If I smell them, they make me gag something fierce (do not cue blowjob jokes).
I think I may get them on occassion. There have been times when I was sick and coughing and hacking a lot and something matching their description would be produced. So I think I may only get them when sick. I always forget to ask the dentist about them.
I am grateful to have my tonsils - I think they are part of the reason I only ever get a head cold. Literally it never goes into my chest, ever. But tonsil stones are almost not worth it.
I get them. They are nasty. My sister-in-law, a dentist, tells me that it’s not a hygiene issue, and there’s nothing I can do except get rid of them when they show up. I notice that I’m getting one when I feel like I’m getting a wicked sore throat, but only on one side.
I do poke them out, and I buy swabs (the long q-tips with cotton on only one end) from the pharmacy for this purpose. Better leverage than a q-tip. Because these appear in the little pockets in your tonsils, I’ve had much better luck poking the tonsil beside the tonsil stone, which creates pressure and usually expels the tonsil stone onto my tongue, at which point I swill some water and rinse it out. And then I stomp around the bathroom and say YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK YUUUUUUCK and generally act like a three-year old until it’s out of my system. And then my throat stops hurting.
To the OP: I had trouble with gagging at first, too, but the swab-to-the-side method is so much quicker for me that I’ve been able to overcome it long enough to get rid of them.
Ah, I didn’t think of the longer swabs. That may actually work. Part of my problem is that my mouth really is small and it is hard for me to get my hand at the right angle to put the Q-tip back there. (I had to get all four of my wisdom teeth removed because my mouth is so small).
I will look for the longer swabs today. Thanks for the brilliant idea!
I get them occasionally, generally when I’ve got a lot of post-nasal drip going on, like when I get a mild cold or I’m stuffed up for whatever reason. If I feel like I have one, I just put pressure on the bottom of my tonsils, pop them out onto my fingernail, and then wash them down the sink. My mouth opens quite wide (I practically have a flip top head, according to my dentist, even though my mouth looks tiny), so that technique may not work for everyone.
Ew. I just saw on Wikipedia that birth control pills can exacerbate post-nasal drip. Which is weird, because my periods of increased tonsil stone development do seem to correlate with times I was on the pill. Weird! Or confirmation bias. Now I want to do an experiment on myself.
::::note to self, do NOT google this. Not at work, anyway!::::
When I was a teenager I had 'em all the time. Usually only on one side, though.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ll get them at random some times, but other times they appear when I’m feeling like I’m catching a cold - a bit more postnasal drip and / or throat discomfort. It feels like something’s STUCK back there. Oftentimes, a tonsillolith-ectomy will make the other symptoms stop, which is strange. It’s more of a bilateral thing now.
Removal: I usually just use a fingertip - as noted, pressed beside the spot. A flashlight, shined into the mirror and reflected back into the throat, facilitates this. No flip-top head but for some reason, I’m fairly good at holding my tongue out of the way w/o requiring a tongue depressor of any sort.
Is it possible to have them and not know it? Maybe small ones? Is this something I should be hypnchondriacally worried about despite never having heard of it before?
You could possibly have them without knowing. Open your mouth wide, look in the mirror at the back of your throat. Are there little white things poking out? Those are probably tonsil stones. No need for hypochondria, though–even if you do have them, they’re harmless. (ETA: They’d have to be pretty small for you not to notice them with your tongue, though)
I used to get them a lot when I was a kid, but I had a horrible gag reflex so there was no way I was going to let anybody near them. For awhile I was convinced I had a horrible disease of some sort, but I still didn’t tell anybody for fear they’d want to poke around back there. Didn’t find out what they were for years–possibly here on the Dope.
BTW, another name for them is “Tonsilloliths.” Which sounds positively architectural.
I get those things when I’ve been congested or had cold/allergy issues. Usually they feel like something that shouldn’t be there rubbing around when you swallow.
Typically, mine come out the most often when I’m brushing my teeth, and switch to brush my tongue, and gag a little. Out they pop, and I spit them out and rinse.
They’re pretty nasty smelling, although they look mostly like a little chunk of peanut.
I use a drinking straw, open wide and try to target around the lith. If I get really lucky I can pop it directly into the straw =) Straws are long enough to see around as I manipulate it, my hand is not too close to my mouth.
Aaak! I hate these things! I get them really badly sometimes, and it can be almost impossible for me to get rid of them completely. It seems like there’s always more hiding behind the ones that I can get to. I must have really deep tonsil crypts. Whenever I poke around to get them out, my tonsils start bleeding, even if I’m being more or less gentle. Is that normal?
My tonsils also bleed at the rare times that I remove a tonsil stone before its time. Over the years I have gotten used to my tonsils being inflamed, sore, and filled with stones. It doesn’t usually bother me any more, unless one gets big enough that it feels like it’s touching the back of my throat or tongue.
I learned at a very young age how to depress my tongue without a tongue depressor. It really makes life a whole lot easier. I haven’t had strep in about 10 years but I used to get it 2 or 3 times a year throughout my childhood. Not needing a tongue depressor makes the whole process so much less miserable since the last thing you want when you have strep is stuff being shoved into your mouth.
I once asked my dentist if there was anything at all I could do to completely eliminate my bad breath. She said, “you have GERD and nasty tonsils - you’re screwed”. Thanks Doc.
My sister will remove a tonsil stone immediately if it gets big enough that she can feel it. She also bleeds after removing one.
but for some reason, I’m fairly good at holding my tongue out of the way w/o requiring a tongue depressor of any sort.