When people think of “stones” in the body they almost always think of “kidney stones”. But there’s actually another location that stones can form, inside your tonsils. Chronic sore throats, inflammation, white mucus-like substances coming from the tonsils, are all common symptoms of tonsil stones (tonsilloliths). Inside your tonsils are crevices, and holes (crypts) that can trap bacteria and food debris.

Tonsil stones aren’t just food debris, like some dentists will tell you. They’re a formation of mucus, dead white blood cells, food debris and oral bacteria. A healthy tonsils rule is to protect your mouth from foreign debris and bacteria, and given a culmination of all these conditions your tonsils work to calcify, or harden, the bacteria, food debris and mucus inside your tonsil crypts and crevices. This causes white balls to harden and form inside your tonsils. Tonsil stones are typicall small in size, ranging from 1-3mm, but in rare occasions reaching sizes that cause the patient extreme pain and discomfort.

In a normal case of tonsil stones, you might experience any or all of these symptoms:

Bad Breath: This is the most common of all the symptoms of tonsil stones. The volatile sulfur compounds released by tonsil stones spread throughout the mouth and cause chronic, reoccurring bad breath.

Ear Pain and Pressure: Being connected to the ear pathways, in rare cases patients have reported ear pain and pressure as the results of tonsil stones.

Tonsillitis: This is another common symptom that coexists with tonsilloliths. Symptoms are chronic inflammation and irritation of the tonsils.

Sore Throat: Typically caused either by large tonsil stones, or tonsillitis, sore throats accompany many tonsil stone sufferers.

Bleeding Tonsils: In more extreme cases, bleeding can occur in the tonsil or surrounding region. If you’re experiencing bleeding tonsils you should be looked at by an ENT (ear nose throat specialist) as it could cause infections.

To most people, the worst side effect of having tonsil stones (tonsilloliths) is having chronic bad breath. This is caused by the gases and bacteria that they release when formed. The bacteria from a tonsil stone is so dominant that when not properly taken care of, spreads throughout the entire mouth even down the back of your tongue. This is the reason that tonsil stone sufferers usually brush their teeth constantly throughout the day. Some people don’t experience calcified tonsil stones, but just a white puss or mucus-like liquid coming from their tonsils. In both cases people usually report chronic bad breath.

Tonsil stones CAN be remedied. Somethings to be weary of are the books for sale that say they cure tonsilloliths, when actually they impose very strict diets that are hard to follow. Take Care!