Video: What Are Tonsil Stones?

(Warning this article might be a bit gross for some, but it’s interesting nonetheless! Also there’s a photo of one at the bottom of the page.)

Tonsil stones, which are known as tonsilloliths, sometimes form near the tonsils of some individuals. They’re hard and can be painful.

Gross Science recently uploaded a video on the “white lumps in your throat.” They’re one of the most frequent causes of bad breath. 

She says that in a small study of about 150 CT scans, about 24 percent of people showed signs of having tonsil stones.

“Dead cells, mucus, and food” get trapped in the tonsil area and calcify. If they get larger, they can cause ear pain, sore throat, and bad breath.

So, if you have the stones, how does one get rid of them?

To get rid of the stones, gargle with salt water or special mouthwashes, use a water pick, or pop them out with something soft or your finger.

“Your tonsils are filled with nooks and crannies where bacteria and other materials, including dead cells and mucous, can become trapped. When this happens, the debris can become concentrated in white formations that occur in the pockets,” says WebMD.com.

“Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are formed when this trapped debris hardens, or calcifies. This tends to happen most often in people who have chronic inflammation in their tonsils or repeated bouts of tonsillitis.”

"Tonsillolith in mouth" by Glacko2021 at the English language Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -