“Are throat stones serious?”
I saw that I had throat stones while I was flossing my teeth. They're not causing me pain, just a feeling that there's something stuck in my throat. Are these serious, and would I need treatment?
5 Answers
No they aren't serious. tonsil stones are very common. They can be annoying and sometimes mildly sore. If you want them to stop, go see an ENT and they can remove the tonsils. Otherwise, you can try lots of things to get them to stop, but usually they will continue to form. Some people make them and some people don't...
Tonsil stones (aka tonsilliths) are not serious. They can represent colonization with a bacteria known as actinomyces. If you aren't really bothered by them, no aggressive therapy is warranted. Gargling with water salt water or non-alcohol based mouthwashes can be beneficial. Gentle manual/digital pressure can help to remove these as well. Avoid putting anything the back of your throat that you could swallow and get stuck in your throat or end up in your stomach such as a toothbrush/Q-tip etc.
No. They cause localized inflammation/infection, and bad breath. They can be teased out with a curette. Gargling with diluted salt water sometimes loses them. Some cases require tonsillectomy.
In the absence of throat pain, redness or swelling, those "stones" are most likely benign and do not require any treatment.
Stones are not serious, but can be troublesome. But they most often are the result of large tonsils with deep crypts. Food particles, bacteria, and dead cells accumulate in the crypts and some calcify causing the stone. These can be irritating and a cause of recurrent inflammation. Other symptoms included bad breath, a bad taste in the mouth, and a sense of a lump in the throat. Treatment is mechanical cleansing, usually by manipulation. If the problem is severe and persistent, removal of the tonsils is the definitive treatment.
