What Can I Do With Tonsil Stones?

It’s time for another Burning Questions part, a column in which I answer health questions that you might not need in Google history. Let me remind you that this is not medical advice and I am not a doctor. Today we are talking about tonsil stones.

Stonsils asks :

Is there a way to displace / prevent tonsillitis? I don’t get them often, but I hate them so much.

You are ahead of most of us Stonsils in knowing what these things are called. Tonsillitis, or tonsil stones, are small, smelly white lumps, sometimes hard like stones, hence the name, that grow out of the tonsils at the back of the mouth.

I get them too, albeit infrequently. You get the feeling that something is stuck in your throat and you try to knock it out with the side of your tongue. (This inevitably happens in public or while zooming, which means that you both worry about what’s in your throat and you try to secretly investigate and / or get rid of it without anyone noticing.)

This usually doesn’t work, so you need to go to the bathroom mirror and poke your tonsils with your finger or a well-chosen instrument like a cotton swab or the smooth end of a toothbrush. You gasp for breath, and if you’re lucky, a stinking stone pops up. Maybe you will swallow. Maybe you spit it out and marvel at how big, strange, or gross it looks. (Typical tonsillitis is about the size of a popcorn kernel, but they vary.)

As we mentioned earlier , tonsil stones are completely normal. They are caused by dead bacteria and cells that accumulate in the inner folds of the tonsils. Fun fact: These tunnel folds are called tonsil crypts . The tonsils themselves are part of our immune system. They can detect bacteria and viruses, make antibodies, and communicate with the rest of the immune system.

So what can you do about them? Unfortunately, not much. If you frequently develop tonsil stones that you consider to be a potential health problem, your doctor may recommend removing the tonsils.

Otherwise, oral hygiene can help prevent tonsillitis or allow you to remove them when they are smaller and slightly lighter. Several things have been reported to help:

• Gargling or gargling with mouthwash
• Gargling with salt water
• The use of an irrigator, which otolaryngologist Jennifer Setlur told Everyday Health, is “the safest non-invasive method” for removing stones.

That’s all for this question, but my inbox is still open to discuss any oddities related to health, medicine, or the human body. Email me at elizabeth.skwarecki@lifehacker.com and make sure the subject line says “FINISHED QUESTION”.

PS. The largest tonsillitis on record in the medical literature was 1.6 inches long.