Are Tonsilloliths A Danger To My Health?
Those tonsils you’ve sometimes cursed during illness (but mostly largely ignored) are in fact not useless at all. In fact, they’re among the first lines of defense against sickness. They trap bacteria and viruses in the throat, before these carriers of sickness can go further. However, they are perfect and don’t always work as they should. In some cases, dead cells, mucous, or bacteria can get trapped in tonsil crevices, which can lead to small white or yellow-colored stones called “tonsil stones,” or tonsiliths.
Why do they occur? Simply, they come because “garbage” gathers around your tonsils, and when that garbage (things like postnasal drip, food particles, and bacteria) gets caught in tonsil crevices, it hardens into small yellow colored stones that can look like white spots at the back of the throat. Overactive salivary glands and a reaction to dairy products can also cause tonsiliths.
Not long ago, people simply thought these tonsiliths were bits of food or bits of plaque that got caught in the back of the throat — and indeed, they are very small, such that normal physical examinations may not catch them; in some cases, they won’t be seen until a more refined test is used, like a CT scan.
Do you have tonsiliths? That depends; symptoms can be embarrassing and unpleasant indeed. If you have tonsil stones, you can feel as though something is stuck in the back of your throat or that your throat is somehow “tightening.” You may have a metallic taste in your mouth, and you’ll almost always have chronic bad breath.
However, the good news is, there are ways to treat tonsil stones. A thorough gargling and/or brushing routine can help take care of them, as can reaching back with your finger or the back of your toothbrush, for example, to gently scrape them off. You can get rid of them by squeezing them out and brushing upwards gently from the bottom of the tonsil up, pressing gently as you go. Cotton swabs can also be substituted for the toothbrush if you so wish. There are other methods out there; simply Google, “tonsiliths,” or “tonsil stones,” and you’ll come up with a variety of ways to get rid of these nasty but usually relatively innocuous occurrences.
If tonsiliths are particularly severe, surgery may be recommended. Cryptolysis involves having a surgeon remove tonsiliths with a laser, and then smoothing tonsil surfaces so that tonsiliths can’t regrow. Remember, though, even though this may seem like a good idea, when the tonsil surfaces are smoothed, this negate some of the benefits of the rough surfaces’ catching of bacteria and other foreign matter as a means to prevent infection and so on.
A last resort is that you can have your tonsils removed, of course, but this will take care of just the tonsiliths, not the bad breath. Tonsiliths can also reform even so. Surgery can be expensive and painful, and it can take you up to a month to completely recover from it.
There are other ways to help fight tonsil stones, among them diet and good oral hygiene. Cut back on your dairy intake and don’t eat for half an hour before bed to keep food from accumulating. Brush your teeth after you eat and before bed to keep bacteria from gathering, gargle and drink water. Not only will following these tips be good for your mouth and your breath, but good for your body, as well.
Sick and tired of halitosis caused by tonsil stones ? Check out our online overview to prevent tonsilloliths for the exclusive inside skinny on how to get rid of the stones forever.
