to ask if anyone had tonsil stones?

[CoffeeMilkNoSugar]

This is seriously embarrassing. Sorry - long post.

As a child I always, and I mean always, had throat and ear infections. Seriously gross ones with a lot of pus involved. This continued into adulthood, but for some reason I never had my tonsils removed as a kid, despite being permanently ill!

Now I have massive deep craters and folds in my tonsils. All sorts of crap get stuck in there, resulting in those horrible whiteish stones that stink to high heavens, and a permanently irritated throat/enlarged tonsils/post nasal drip.

Of course the worst thing is the smell. Up until about 6 months ago it was quite manageable. I'd take exteme care of my oral hygiene and I'd mechanically remove the odd stone or two.

But then it went out of control. My tonsils are literally covered in the horrible stuff, and my breath is seriously bad. So bad that I now avoid all social interaction. Husband won't understand why I won't kiss him, or talk to him when he's near me, or why I've been avoiding sex.

I feel so isolated. I try not to talk to anybody in case they can smell my breath. I've honestly had enough now, and will be making a Drs appointment tomorrow. I've left it for a long time because, let's face it, I'm a stay at home mum. I run the household, and I put myself last in a way. I don't know if that's what mums do, but it seems like there's always SOMETHING to do, so I end up never having the time to look after my own health.

But now it's just having such a bad impact on my mental health. I don't really know why I'm posting this, I don't know what to say to the doctor to make sure he takes my problem seriously and doesn't just tell me to go buy a bottle of mouth wash.

Has anybody else had this problem? Can anybody give me some useful tips? I'd be eternally grateful!

Nobody said it, but that's because I'm always keeping my gob shut and I don't talk to anyone if standing within smelling distance! I'm a 100% sure that my breath absolutely reeks though :(

I had this. NHS to begin with didn't want to operate (the only way to permanently sort tonsil stones is to remove the tonsils)

After a year or so of begging and tears and (if I'm honest, breathing on my gp and making her recoil from the smell!) they agreed to a tonsillectomy.

Which was horrific. But three years later, and I've not had a problem since. Or a cold for that matter.

You need to be firm with your gp. Demand an ent consultation. Demand an operation. Make a fuss. I know how debilitating tonsil stones are and how self conscious they make you

I have these but not to the same extent and I completely understand how they make you feel. My son (13) also gets them and we are quite open about how horrible tonsils and throats are -can you explain how low it makes you feel. I'm also a regular sufferer with quinsy in my throat and have been hospitalised with those- tmi but they involve revolting fluids in large quantities- so other half is now completely sympathetic, thank God. Hope that your gp might be useful - you need to be really upfront and express quite how much it's getting you down. Good luck xxx

Thank you so much Silly, I am going to be very firm :)

Thanks so much for the reassurance ladies, I really appreciate it, I'm so very anxious about this stinking problem and I honestly can't live the rest of my life without saying another word! :(
The only person I talk to and kiss is my toddler, and that's only because he can't tell me my breath smells yet, haha :D

A quick google shows there are some therapies been offered privately including "tonsilotomy" as a lunch time procedure to remove the craters but not the whole tonsil.

Unfortunately private procedures are way out of my financial reach

I suffer with tonsil stones too....i probably get one every 6 months or so....i am paranoid about my breath too and try not to stand to close to people..you have my sympathies op x

Years ago I had this trouble and was taught how to remove them myself painlessly. Rather that advise you, potentially wrongly, I think you could investigate this yourself and fix the problem. Good luck.

I had the same problem since my teens. Finally at age 38 I got a referral to an ENT specialist on the NHS. I planned to beg him to take my tonsils out but I didn't have to. He took one peek and said "Ew, you don't need those!"

Six weeks later the surgery was done. I used to get tonsillitis and sore throats quite often, but since my tonsils have been gone I hardly ever get ill. The surgery wasn't really bad at all, the recovery was around 9 days. Days 2-5 were not great so make sure you can stay in bed during this time.

See your GP for a referral to a specialist. Be firm because my GP didn't want to accommodate my request. Good luck. I'm so glad I pushed because I honestly felt like I was being slowly poisoned by my tonsils. Tonsil stones are beyond disgusting. I used to hate dealing with them :(

Lord yes it's awful isn't it!

Gargling with salt water is supposed to help and hooking them out is very nasty but strangely satisfying.

But basically, they're vile and the only way they really go is an op lazering the surface to make them smoother, or having your tonsils out.

Weirdly, mine vanished after a year of revoltingness. Now I have none, & I have no idea why?! But I had gone to my gp and he was willing to refer to an ent specialist, but now I've put it off since they've vanished.

He might have referred me due to the threat of seeing photos :) I took videos around the tonsils and exposing the weird stinking white blobs, & photos of the 20+ I was extracting by poking around and using a 'water pic' on the sides of my throat. I find people can pooh pooh them until they smell or see them, then their revulsion helps a lot!

You have my sympathies

Does anyone know if regular (daily) gargling helps at all?

Cross post Misc, specifically salt water? How much salt?

my HB gets tonsil stones - his tonsils are enormous! Less so these days as he now uses Ultradex mouthwash (and the toothpaste) - it's pricey but made a huge difference to his mouth hygiene and breath is nice and fresh. Good thing about Ultradex is it doesn't have a taste - almost like water.

Echoing other posters. Huge scarred tonsils, honking stones, GP referral and ENT were shocked at the size of them [proud]. Tonsillectomy and I hardly ever get even a cold now. From having to spend 7-10 days in bed (unable to lift my head) every six months or so.

Don't underestimate tonsillectomy though. It hurts. A lot. A lot.

My daughter ended up using ear buds to get the buggers out. She had her tonsils out in the end.

I've never heard of tonsil stones! Now I'm really paranoid that I have them and I don't know. Would I know if I had them?

They're yucky white lumps that reek to high heaven! Cant miss them.

Steff - you'd know.

Search on YouTube if you have a strong stomach and you'll see how substantial they can be.

Good luck at the doctor's, OP. If you're lucky you'll get a sporner who'll prod with a tongue depressor or similar and get the worst ones out for the short term.

I used to have them quite regularly about 15 years ago. I would put pressure under the stone with my finger and kind of lift/ooze them out. Some were quite big and would feel uncomfortable and kind of spiky in my throat. All of them reeked! They have stopped coming now but I still have big crypts/holes in my tonsils that cause problems in other ways. Now I quite often get stuff stuck in my tonsils - black pepper, bits of herbs (rosemary is a bugger) and toothpaste can catch in them making me cough loads. Bloody revolting things.

How can you see if you have them? Is it obvious just from looking in your mouth at a mirror?

Mine aren't too bad - I've only got two. But I did notice that they went away after I took a course of antibiotics for a chest infection and didn't come back for around 6 months.