Tonsil stones
Also called: Tonsilloliths · Tonsil calculi
Small white or yellow lumps that form in the folds of the tonsils and sometimes come out when you cough. They smell bad and feel like something is stuck in the throat. They are usually harmless.
How common
Does this happen to you?
How it works
The tonsils are two lumps of immune tissue at the back of the throat. Their surface is folded into deep pits called crypts2. Food debris, dead cells, mucus, and bacteria collect in the pits. Over time the material hardens with calcium salts into a stone1. Most stones are a few millimetres across4. Rare cases grow much larger1.
The bacteria inside a stone produce sulfur compounds, so the stone smells like rotten eggs. Tonsil stones can cause bad breath1. Other signs are a feeling of something stuck in the throat, a mild sore throat, a metallic taste, and an ache in the ear1. Many people have no symptoms at all. Stones can fall out on their own during eating, drinking, gargling, or coughing1.
How common it is
The two figures measure different things. Up to 10% of people have tonsil stones1. The higher figure, up to 46%, comes from CT scans done for unrelated reasons, which pick up small stones in the tonsil pits4. Most of those CT-detected stones cause no symptoms and are never noticed by the person who has them. People with long-term tonsil inflammation or repeated tonsillitis get stones more often1.
Is it a problem?
No. A tonsil stone is not an infection and it is rarely dangerous1. If stones bother you, a dentist or doctor can help.
See a doctor if:
- swallowing is hard,
- one side of the throat is swollen,
- the throat pain is severe,
- you have a fever.
Those signs point to an infection or abscess, not a stone.
History and culture
The community at r/tonsilstones trades removal methods and, for those who want them, photos3. Removal videos have a large audience online.
Sources and further material
- Wikipedia Tonsil stones
- NCBI Prevalence and imaging characteristics of detectable tonsilloliths on 482 pairs of consecutive CT and panoramic radiographs BMC Oral Health 13:54. Tonsil stones on 46.1% of 482 CT scans. The most common length was 3 to 4 mm.
Missing something your body does? Tell me about it.
Related oddities
Fordyce spots
Tiny pale yellow or white bumps, 1 to 3 mm across, on the edge of the lips or inside the cheeks. They are ordinary oil glands in a place without hair. Most adults have them.
Geographic tongue
Smooth red patches with pale borders that form a map on the tongue and move around over days and weeks. About 2 to 3% of people have it, and it is harmless.
Torus palatinus
A hard bony lump along the midline of the roof of the mouth that grows slowly and is completely harmless. Many people find it by chance and worry that it is a tumour.
Gleeking
Shooting a thin jet of saliva from under the tongue. It can happen by accident, often during a yawn, or on purpose. No survey has counted how many people can do it.