{"id":2489,"date":"2023-05-04T23:13:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T05:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2023-11-14T17:43:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T00:43:49","slug":"what-are-tonsil-stones-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/what-are-tonsil-stones-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Tonsil Stones, and How Do I Get Rid of Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tonsil stones, also referred to as tonsilloliths, are hard, small white or yellow lumps that form on the tonsils. While they are not a sign of a serious medical problem, these stones can cause some unpleasant symptoms and, in rare cases, become an issue that requires further medical attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a closer look at why tonsil stones develop, as well as what you can do to prevent and treat them.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-tonsil-stones-form\">How Tonsil Stones Form <\/h2>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-thumbnail\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" src=\"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/iStock-1383753946-scaled-1-256x256.jpg\" alt=\"Woman touching her sore throat and grimacing.\" class=\"wp-image-1887\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Your tonsils are small oval tissues at each side of the back of your throat. They work as a part of your immune system to help filter bacteria and viruses that enter through your mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tonsils consist of folds and crevices known as tonsillar crypts. Sometimes, debris can get caught in these crypts and harden or calcify, forming tonsil stones. This debris can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bacteria or fungi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Minerals like calcium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Food particles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"who-is-at-risk-for-developing-tonsil-stones\">Who Is At Risk For Developing Tonsil Stones<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Though anyone can develop tonsil stones, certain things may make them more likely. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Age.<\/strong> Teenagers are more likely to develop tonsil stones.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Size of tonsillar crypts.<\/strong> If you have larger crypts or a greater number of them, it&#8217;s more likely debris can get caught and stones can form.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Infection history.<\/strong> People with a history of <a href=\"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tonsil infections<\/a> are also more likely to develop tonsil stones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-common-are-tonsil-stones\">How Common Are Tonsil Stones?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Pretty common. 2014 examined the prevalence of tonsil stones in the dental X-rays of 1,524 patients between the ages of 9 and 87 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3920671\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and found that 8.14% had at least one tonsil stone.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"common-symptoms\">Common Symptoms<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Not everyone who has tonsil stones experiences symptoms. However, if they do, common symptoms include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bad breath (halitosis)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/?p=180\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sore throat<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trouble swallowing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unpleasant taste in your mouth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feeling as though something is stuck in your throat<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pain in your ear<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Small, white patches on your tonsils<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"prevention-methods\">Prevention Methods<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>You can help prevent tonsilloliths by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Brushing and flossing your teeth regularly, including brushing your tongue<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying hydrated<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gargling with warm salt water after eating<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quitting smoking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"treating-tonsil-stones\">Treating Tonsil Stones<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>If you already have tonsil stones, you can often remove them yourself at home by doing one or several of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gargling with salt water<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Purchasing a water pick at Family Plaza Pharmacy or another local Utah store and using it to dislodge the stones<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using a cotton swab to move the stones. Be careful when doing this, though, and do not use your finger or toothbrush or anything that could scratch your tonsils.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Others have found that tonsil stones come out after coughing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"is-surgery-ever-necessary-for-tonsil-stones\">Is Surgery Ever Necessary For Tonsil Stones?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>In rare cases, surgery may be recommended to remove the stones if they are especially large, causing pain or other problems, contributing to recurring tonsil infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A tonsillectomy may also be recommended if the stones keep coming back and you have repeated infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information or to schedule an appointment to have your symptoms evaluated, contact South Valley Ear Nose &#038; Throat &#8211; West Jordan today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tonsil stones, also referred to as tonsilloliths, are hard, small white or yellow lumps that form on the tonsils. While they are not a sign of a serious medical problem, these stones can cause some unpleasant symptoms and, in rare cases, become an issue that requires further medical attention. Let&#8217;s take a closer look at&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-throat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2529,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions\/2529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southvalleyent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}