How to remove tonsil stones on your own

Introduction

Tonsil stones are an incredibly annoying part of your life. Some people have to deal with tonsil stones on a routine basis. If you’re looking for a quick solution to these stones, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’re going to learn all about them and how to make tonsil stones fall out. Let’s start off by understanding what they are.

What are Tonsil Stones?

Tonsil stones are hard formations that are located in your tonsils. They are typically white or yellow in color and really firm which is why people refer to them as stones. They obviously aren’t made of actual stone, so it’s not from swallowing rocks or anything like that.

Symptoms of Tonsil Stones

If you’re not sure if you have tonsil stones, here are some of the major symptoms:

• ear pain
• bad breath
• ongoing cough
• sore throat
• white or yellow debris on the tonsil
• swollen tonsils
• trouble swallowing

Smaller stones are more common and they might not have any symptoms at all. You’ll notice that none of these symptoms are especially dangerous – if you’re experiencing dangerous symptoms like bleeding, pus, or incredible pain, then you need to seek medical attention and shouldn’t try to get rid of these on your own.

Causes of Tonsil Stones

Your tonsils are a bunch of little tunnels and pits. They sometimes fill up with food, dead cells, mucus, and saliva which can get trapped in these tunnels. This is the basics of how tonsil stones are made. If you have large tonsils, chronically inflamed tonsils, poor dental hygiene, or chronic sinus issues then will be especially susceptible to tonsil stones.

Preventing Tonsil Stones

Before you learn how to make tonsil stones fallout, it’s a good idea to know how to prevent them in the future.

You should stop smoking, drink a lot of water, routinely gargle with salt water, and practice good oral hygiene. Taking care of your mouth will reduce the number of tonsil stones you see in your life.

How to Make Tonsil Stones Fall Out

Let’s take a look at some different ways to get rid of your tonsil stones. Realize that the method of how to get rid of tonsil stones will depend on your specific case.

The top ways to make tonsil stones fall out on your own are:

• Coughing

• Gargling saltwater

• Using a low-pressure irrigator

• Swishing nonalcoholic mouthwash

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Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these options.

Coughing

For some people, simply coughing is enough to dislodge the stones. A lot of people first discover their tonsil stones after an energetic coughing session. You might cough and feel something hard in the back of your throat or on your tongue. Spitting it out will reveal a small tonsil stone.

Gargling

Gargling with salt water is a known method of making your throat feel better, but it can also dislodge tonsil stones. The salt acts as an abrasive that shakes everything loose in the back of your throat. The salt can also change up the chemistry in your mouth which will reduce the further presence of tonsil stones. If you have a mouth odor along with tonsil stones, then this will help with both.

Dissolve about half a teaspoon of salt in an8-oz cup of water and gargle it.

Low-Pressure Irrigator

If you have access to a low-pressure irrigator like a water flosser, it could really help. Go to your bathroom, stand in front of the mirror, and grab your water flosser. Try to aim the flosser towards the stone and spray it to dislodge it.

When the stone is dislodged, be careful not to wallow it. The stream of water will push it to the back of your throat and might cause coughing, so be ready for that.

You can also use a low-pressure irrigator on asemi-regular basis to help flush out your tonsils and prevent stones.

Nonalcoholic Mouthwash

Mouthwash kills germs in your mouth which automatically helps prevent tonsil stones. The nonalcoholic variety of mouthwash can also help dislodge and remove whatever stones are currently in your tonsils. This method typically doesn’t work as well as gargling in fully removing tonsil stones, but it can help loosen them.

Conclusion

Now you know more about tonsil stones. You know what they are, what causes them, what symptoms to look for, and how to get rid of tonsil stones. If your stones are too large or none of these techniques work, reach out to your doctor for more instructions.

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Tonsil stones. Just the name itself is scary. Now imagine what it’s like to be looking in the mirror and opening your mouth to say, "awwwww", only for it to turn into "ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! What are those?". We're here to help answer that important question.

How They Form

Tonsil stones, also referred to as tonsilloliths, are quite common. They are small, white discharges that form in the crevices of your tonsils. They can be found on either side of the pharyngeal tonsils at the very back of your throat. They occur when bacteria and saliva combine in the small cracks or fissures of your tonsils and range anything in size from a grain of rice to a pea. Tonsil stones start out soft in consistency, but the combination of mineral elements from your saliva and foods you eat can turn them into hard calcium deposits, almost stone-like, hence their name.

You may not even know you have them because they are usually symptom-free. Bad breath from tonsil stones and slight swelling of your tonsil may be your only symptoms. However, on occasion, some people have severe symptoms. These include a persistent sore throat, infection or difficulty swallowing. If you experience any of these, you should contact your healthcare provider to rule out a more serious problem.

Treatment for Tonsil Stones

There isn’t a treatment for tonsil stone other than removal. Often, tonsil stones go away on their own. If they don’t and you do not have any symptoms, your dentist or healthcare provider can remove them without anaesthesia. If they become a recurring problem, and you have frequent sore throats, swelling, swallowing or breathing issues, your healthcare provider may recommend a tonsillectomy. A tonsillectomy is a surgical procedure for removing your two small glands (tonsils) in the back of your throat.

Tonsil stones are common and generally harmless. They are caused by food particles and saliva getting caught in the crevices of your tonsils. Sometimes this forms small hard calcium deposits that look like tiny white stones. If you experience them often and with complications, like chronic sore throats, your tonsils may need to be removed. But don’t worry. They don’t cause any problems most of the time and go away on their own. You may just want to avoid spending a lot of time looking at them in the mirror.

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