What is it???!

What is it???

In the back of my throat in the little grooves I get little white chunks. They smell like super bad breath. sometimes they come out on there own and sometimes I kinda push them out,

I use to have to same thing when I had my tonsils, gross I know. My tonsils/throat would kinda hurt and then I would use a Q-tip to push on them and the nasty white stuff would come out and make my throat feel a lil better. They are called 'tonsilloliths' or 'tonsil stones'. The only way to really fix em is to get your tonsils removed. Here's some more info:


Tonsilloliths or tonsil stones are calcifications that form in the crypts of the palatal tonsils. These calculi are composed of calcium salts either alone or in combination with other mineral salts, and are usually of small size - though there have been occasional reports of large tonsilloliths or calculi in peritonsillar locations.

Tonsilloliths are difficult to diagnose in the absence of clear manifestations, and often constitute casual findings of routine radiological studies.

These calculi are composed of calcium salts such as hydroxyapatite or calcium carbonate apatite, oxalates and other magnesium salts or containing ammonium radicals, and macroscopically appear white or yellowish in color. The mechanism by which these calculi form is subject to debate, though they appear to result from the accumulation of material retained within the crypts, along with the growth of bacteria and fungi such as Leptothrix buccalis – sometimes in association with persistent chronic purulent tonsillitis. In other words "Because saliva contains digestive enzymes, trapped food begins to break down. Particularly, the starch or carbohydrate part of the food melts away, leaving firmer, harder remains of food in the tonsils."

Alternative mechanisms have been proposed for calculi that are located in peritonsillar areas, such as the existence of ectopic tonsillar tissue, the formation of calculi secondary to salivary stasis within the minor salivary gland secretory ducts in these locations, or the calcification of abscessified accumulations.


[edit] Symptoms
Tonsilloliths occur more frequently in adults than in children. Symptoms are usually non-specific such as sore throat, chronic cough or otalgia. A foreign body sensation may also exist in the back of throat with recurrent foul breath (halitosis). Treatment is usually removal of concretions by curettage; larger lesions may require local excision.

Tonsilloliths tend to be present in young adolescents and can manifest with bad breath and swallowing pain accompanied by a foreign body sensation and – in some cases – reflex ear pain. The condition may also prove asymptomatic, with detection upon palpating a hard intratonsillar or submucosal mass.

Hope this helps!