how to get rid of tonsil stones

When you hear someone say they have a stone, you automatically think about the kidney area, right? But stones can be found in many parts of the body like the skin and the tonsils and tonsil stones removal can be challenging.

The tonsils are gland-like structures in the back of the throat. Tonsil stones (also called tonsilloliths) are found in the crevices of the tonsils and cause irritated tonsils for many adults and children.

Would you like to find out how to cure tonsil stones permanently and how how to get tonsil stones out? Read on to find out what you can do.

What are Tonsil Stones?

It is dead cells, debris, and bacteria that get trapped in the nook and crannies of the tonsils and then get hardened into calcified pockets. They form stones which are mainly calcium containing matter and white in colour. Tonsil stones removal is not really hard.

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What Causes Tonsil Stones?

Not eating right is of course top of the list of causes but poor dental hygiene and tonsillitis also can cause these stones. Smoking can causes tonsillitis and recurring tonsillitis can lead to tonsil stones. These stones have a foul odour and cause halitosis (bad breath). This is because bacteria feed on the matter (stones) causing the bad odour.

Tonsil Stone Symptoms

Many times there are no symptoms at all. However you can experience ear pain and sore throat caused by tonsil stones as well as a maddening feeling that something is stuck in your throat.

Because tonsil stones are not considered a serious pathological condition few research reports have been done or even published.

How to Get Tonsil Stones Out Without Gagging? 

To be sure an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. So go back to the basics - good eating habits and good oral hygiene will go a long way. Keeping your nasal passages irrigated will help. Brushing your teeth with oxygenating toothpaste and using a mouthwash can lift bacteria from the tongue and the back of the mouth.

You can also irrigate your mouth, especially your throat with an oral irrigator which can help you to remove tonsil stones. Beware of some of the cheap electric ones as they are powerful and can cause discomfort and rupture the tonsils causing further problems and infection.

How to Remove Tonsil Stones at Home with a Waterpik Oral Irrigator

Have you heard about this method of removing tonsil stones without gagging or making it unnecessarily painful? It's very effective and it cleans your entire mouth and the result is that you can enjoy a nice fresh breath without stinking tonsil stones. It involves a little instrument called a waterpik.

A waterpik is a tool that almost every dentist uses to flush out bacteria and debris that gets trapped in various places in the mouth. Besides cleaning your teeth, a waterpik is very effective in flushing out tonsil stones trapped in your tonsils.

You don't have to worry about triggering the gagging reflex or damaging the soft tissue of the tonsils, a waterpik will remove the stones with ease.

The best waterpik for tonsil stones can be found on Amazon and is called Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser.

This particular brand is the Best Seller on Amazon and rated 4.5 stars by over 5000 users. I've added a link so you can take a look for yoursef.

The best feature of this product is that it has 10 speed settings so it can been precisely set for your particular needs.

Tonsil stones tend to recur so if you have a waterpik at home you can remove any new small stones before they grow large and start bothering you.

Waterpik can really make tonsil stone removal to be easy and painless, so don't let the tonsil stones grow too big.

And of course this waterpik is amazing for flossing not just removing frequent tonsil stones so you will get plenty of use out of it. Use it on high speed for flossing and on low to medium speed to remove those nasty tonsil stones without gagging.

Once your tonsil stones are gone keep your mouth clean and bacteria-free. Apart from brushing twice a day use  TheraBreath Dentist Recommended Fresh Breath Oral Rinse.

​TheraBreath Fresh Breath Oral Rinse is alcohol-free, does not burn or sting and has been recommended by dentists for more than 20 years to people concerned about keeping their breath fresh and their mouth healthy.

Praised for it's ability to attack and eliminate embarrassing breath odor, the patented TheraBreath formula uses the power of oxygen to target bad breath causing bacteria deep below the surface of the tongue and at the back of the throat. â€‹â€‹It is also free of dyes, perfumes, detergents, and other harsh additives that can dry or damage the mouth.

I strongly recommend that you make TheraBreth rinse part of your ​tonsil stone removal kit.

How to Get Rid of Tonsil Stones That Are Deep - Other Methods

If you rather not buy an irrigator, then gargling with warm salt water can offer some relief and help to dislodge these stones. You can use a Q-Tip and water to dislodge these stones from the tonsil pocket. Open the mouth and use a flashlight to locate the tonsils.

Close off or flex the throat muscles while sticking your tongue out. Think of being at the dentist and he says "open wide" and while you do this, it tightens the throat muscles. If you do this while holding your breath, like when you gargle you might be able push the tonsils forward enabling you to see them better.

A Q-tip can be used to gently scoop out these stones. Since you are dealing with an extremely sensitive area be very gentle so no bleeding will occur. A little bit of bleeding is normal however. Sticky saliva may form so clear this out first. Drinking water will thin the sticky saliva.

To minimise cross-contamination keep your Q-tip from contact with any germ carrying surface even your hands. This is especially important.

While you may extract what you can see there may still be hidden stones. Place your thumb into your neck under your jaw. Now use your very clean index finger to go into your mouth right beside the tonsil and try to gently squeeze any remaining stones. If you do not produce any be mindful that some crevices are deep and hard to get to so you may still have some stones there.

Remember by the time you see these in your tonsils they will be big enough that you can pick or squeeze them out by pushing gently on the tonsil. Gargling really dislodges them. At this point we can say if there are no symptoms no treatment will be necessary. Gargle daily.

But in the event that nothing works at home and you are having symptoms a trip to your doctor is in order. The doctor can give you antibiotics for severe tonsil stones and he may have some other recommendations.

You also may want to go for cryptolysis is a laser treatment that resurfaces the tonsils to reduce the crevices. This will keep anything from creeping into these crevices again and the problem is thus solved permanently.

There is also a revolutionary new treatment available that has been developed to treat frequent tonsil stones. The technique, known as coblation tonsil cryptolysis, is unique in that it can be performed in most adult patients without sedation using only local anesthesia, much like laser tonsil cryptolysis.

As with laser cryptolysis, pain is significant for only a few days and most adults resume a normal diet and activity within one week. However, coblation avoids the potential risks associated with laser use, including potential airway fire, retinal damage, oral and facial burns.

If bad breath due to tonsillar stones persists despite other measures then you might consider a tonsillectomy.

Diagnosis can be made with a look inside the mouth. These whitish stones are easy to spot. Unless there is a clear manifestation of tonsil stones then these are difficult to diagnose. Usually these are found when doing a routine radiological study or perhaps at the dentist office.

Once again preventing this condition is the key. Since oxygen hinders bacterial growth use a good mouthwash that is oxygenated like the one I mentioned above. Oxygenating mouthwashes are very effective in keeping your mouth clean and your breath fresh without over-drying the delicate membranes.

In conclusion the next time you have a sore throat or pain in the neck or earache consider checking out the tonsils. Perhaps tonsil stones are causing your discomfort.

Share this article with your friends. You will be surprised that probably many of them would also love to know how to get tonsil stones out.

About the Author

Barbara is the founder and owner of www.leanhealthyandwise.com. She is a former research scientist with a serious passion for health. She enjoys writing about nutrition, wellness and lifestyle and empowering people to take control of their health.

  • I’ve dealt with tonsil stones before and one of the ways I liked to get rid of them was with a dental syringe. Because of their bent tip you can get in behind your tonsils making it easier to get rid of stone – you also don’t need to reach as far into the back of your throat.

  • There are so many ways to repel the tonsil stones, but in fact, we have to realize why the tonsil stones can be presented in our body. For some people cleaning teeth and gargling are the 2 very boring thing to do, we have know the most effective way to prevent tonsil stones are cleaning teeth and gargling, this is the main point of these problems.

  • In fact, there are so many ways to repel the tonsil stones, but in fact, we have to realize why the tonsil stones can be presented in our body. Cleaning the teeth and gargling are the most effective way to prevent the tonsil stones and this is the main point of all of these problems, don’t be lazy guys. Thanks

  • Many people are not aware that they have tonsil stones, they usually will be aware when the tonsil stones that they have been enlarged. Well, we know that this problem can be overcome easily if we knew it from the beginning. Some of the tonsil stones characteristics that have been mentioned in this article could be a good reference for those of you who want to avoid from tonsil stones.

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