Do you feel like you have a lump in the back of your throat? However, when you look in the mirror, do you find it hard to see anything?
If so, could you be suffering from tonsil stones?
Essentially, tonsil stones are small, whitish balls of bacteria, debris, and old food that form in the crevices of the tonsils. They can build up to the size of golf balls, so it can sometimes feel like there’s a giant lump in the back of your throat.
Many people assume that a lump in the back of the throat automatically means they have a tonsil infection. This is not really the case. Tonsil stones or tonsilloliths are not an infection and cannot be eliminated with a couple of doses of antibiotics.
They are not that easy.
To determine if you have tonsillitis or not, you need to open wide and see if there are white balls on the back of the tonsils. They may be too hard to see, but if you see something white back there, then you have these stones.
Other symptoms of tonsillitis include bad breath and a sore or itchy throat caused by enlarged white balls at the back of the throat.
The reasons why we get tonsil stones are not exactly known. Some people are prone to them, while others are not. This may have something to do with your oral hygiene or it may have something to do with the bacteria inside your mouth. Some people have larger tonsil crypts, while others are injured with small tonsil crypts. There is no point in questioning why we get them. The main question when it comes to tonsil stones is: how do I get rid of them?
There are a few methods you can use to get rid of these horrible little lumps. First of all, you can try to cough or cut them. You can also use a cotton swab or toothpick and try to pick them up. This can be difficult for those with a poor gag reflex. You can also use a syringe to spray salt water on the stones, which can loosen them.
Keep in mind that the best way to prevent these foul-smelling balls from reappearing is to practice good oral hygiene. Stay one step ahead of tonsillitis bacteria and say goodbye to that lump in your throat.