# (TMI Alert) What are these smelly chunks coming out of my throat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422 "2002-06-11T12:25:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JS\_Princeton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JS\_Princeton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JS_Princeton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/21 "2002-07-18T21:51:14Z")
Gee, **Enola Straight** , glad to have helped, I guess. It must have been pretty satisfying to get rid of so much. Now that you’ve gone back there, there’s no turning back. Soon you’ll be sitting around with your tongue in the back of your mouth, working on extracting tonsiliths during important conversations, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Racer1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@Racer1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/22 "2002-07-19T09:33:49Z")
Damn, I want to learn how to do the “self tongue clean”. Isn’t there a risk of actually swallowing your tongue though? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/23 "2002-07-19T09:44:01Z")
I’ve had those nasties from the tonsils too - my doc called them **inflammatory exudate**. ---
**Author:** ![Babar714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Babar714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babar714)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/24 "2002-07-19T10:17:27Z")
I’ve been hacking these things up for years, but they’ve never been smelly. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/25 "2002-07-19T12:45:05Z")
Squish one, then smell it. ---
**Author:** ![hedra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/779978/32.png) [@hedra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hedra)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/26 "2002-07-19T14:44:09Z")
What, nobody calls them throat smegma? Smegma is described as ‘cheesey pearls’, right? same description applies here. The exudate part of it is the same, but being in your mouth means you get to add bits of things to it that make a merry home for bacteria. hence the smell. The base function, IIRC, is as a lubricant for your throat (as smegma is for… well, look it up if you don’t know the term). Why either ‘lubricant’ would be lumpy, don’t ask me - I just live in this body, I didn’t design it. I find that if I’m drinking enough water, they don’t stink (and they tend to be smaller and more healthy-colored). If I am not drinking enough water, or I am otherwise ill, :eek: . ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/27 "2002-07-19T14:51:58Z")
Tonsil Cheese! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/28 "2002-07-19T14:59:40Z")
Tonsil boogers. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/29 "2002-07-19T15:44:37Z")
Years ago, my doctor suggested occasional warm salt water gargle to prevent this from happening. Tonsils are porous with a surface texture something like the skin of a strawberry, with pits into which food particles accumulate. His explanation was that the salt crystals had the effect of “sand blasting” the tonsil area and cleaned everything out. Additionally, the salt tends to dry out the mouth as you sleep, allowing infections to heal faster. I’ve perfected my agrgling method to the point where I can channel the salt water around my tonsil area with great force. Since I’ve started doing this (about 6 or 8 years), I’ve not had a tonsil turd. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422/30 "2002-07-19T16:37:12Z")
You know how your lips can get “addicted” to Chapstik? I think my punching-bag-thingie-in-the-back-of-my-throat is addicted to tonsil tongue-ing. If I don’t, I get stopped up with thick mucus. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tmi-alert-what-are-these-smelly-chunks-coming-out-of-my-throat/113422.md?page=1)