What you should know about tonsil stones

When you say stones grow out of your body, you immediately think of your kidneys since having kidney stones is a very common condition for people. You might want to give that a second thought – tonsil stones are a type of condition wherein stones form on a person’s tonsils. Yes, not only stones grow on kidneys but tonsils as well. The condition is not very common but affects a good number of people so it is best that one should be aware of its symptoms and long term effects. Here are the things you should know about tonsil stones:

What are tonsil stones and what are they made of?
Tonsil stones, also known as tonsillolith is a condition wherein stones are formed on a person’s tonsils. The tonsils are our natural protection against bacteria – they filter what goes into our mouth and prevent the harmful things from coming in, but sometimes they could actually do more harm than good as the things they filter (bacteria, dead cells, mucous) can become trapped and calcify into stones – solid white particles that stick around the parts of the tonsils that carry a lot of symptoms.

What are the symptoms of tonsil stones?
The most noticeable symptoms are the white debris located at the tonsils. Although there are instances wherein these are hidden so one may have to go through a scanning process such as CT scans to find them. Bad breath is also a common symptom for tonsil stones, as well as sore throat, a strange metallic taste behind the mouth and difficulty in swallowing. There are also cases wherein swelling occurs on the tonsils which usually happen when the stones get bigger.

How can you treat tonsil stones?
Tonsil stones are actually not that hard to treat but failure is common as not everyone is aware of how to do it. First off, at-home treatment is possible through removal using a pick or swab. But this method may induce bleeding as there could be blood vessels under the stones which may be affected during the removal. There are solutions that you can gargle to effectively remove and prevent tonsil stones.

How can you prevent tonsil stones?
Gargling the same solution benefits the patient but the key here is to keep the mouth clean by doing your regular dental care routine. You should make sure that you try to get rid of food debris and other materials in the mouth through brushing and flossing regularly.