White Bumps In Throat _{Page 61 of 90}

johnadaniels,

Is it rude if I would like to share my situation? I think it's even more disrespectful/rude to tell me to read through several pages in a forum, even after I have already done so. In all the therapies that individuals have given here, nothing really addresses the answer I am looking for- everyone has their own agenda or therapy to to promote.. with what seems to be to their own benefit. We all have a problem here that is obviously stemming from one or more things- in my example, I believe it has to do with demographics as well as diet. Is that your case? Or what do you believe? Better what, what proven method do you have to share that has been beneficial to a mass of individuals with this same problem?

Please don't call me rude because I am trying to contribute and reach out to those with my similar situation. That is just ignorant.

If anyone here, doctor or layman, has a proven or ancient remedy they can share aside from what has already been posted, please do so. Thanks.

Skeerdofa,

I thought your post was very interesting. My tonsil stones did not appear until I moved into a new house. I remember being very congested when we first moved in. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but looking back I wonder if it was all the fumes (VOCs) from the construction.

Once I finally found an ENT who even knew what tonsil stones were, he gave me the option of surgery OR a combination of antibiotic and a prescription mouthwash. Unfortunately, I do not remember what the two prescriptions were for because I did not get them filled. I had decided I wanted the surgery as a more permanent solution. I have not had the surgery yet (due to timing issues) so I am considering contacting his office again to get the prescriptions to try until I have time to have the surgery.

So, you may want to try to contact a few more ENTs because there ARE some out there that will try other things besides surgery.

If I do end up contacting my ENT again, I will post what the prescriptions are for.

Katherine, I have also wondered what happened to Byron. I was not registered at the time, and did not respond to his post, which I really regret. I am hoping that all is okay with him and that he will check in with us soon.

Skeerdofa, that was an interesting post. If you check through the previus posts you'll see that getting the tonsils removed is very effective at getting rid of the tonsil stones - but it only works if you get ALL the tonsils removed.

johnadaniels is proof that it only works if there are no tonsils left after the operation. He's got the stones back as some of his tonsils remained - and tonsils contain crypts which get infected.

Justme (pbuh), like me, is convinced that the crypts contain a low level infection and that's what causes the stones. We've all noticed a reduction in the quantity of stones when we have had a course of antibiotics. I think the secret to getting rid of them is down to finding the exact bug that causes them and having a very long term course of treatment.

Skeedofa, there is alot of info in previous posts on this board, but going thru every one of them would be a daunting task, and JD was not very nice in calling you lazy for not doing so.

My two cents are: I think you could be right about stress playing a part, moving to a different part of the country, etc...but short of moving back to were you were from and deleting all stress from your life..what are you going to do? Antibiotics will work short term, but once you stop taking them, they will come back. That is probably why the ENT's didn't even want to get you started down that road. And you could spend most of the rest of your life trying to keep a diary on every little thing you do, or eat that you think affects the stones.

This is a quality of life issue and totally a personal decision as far as the surgery goes. I had surgery almost 2 weeks ago. So I am not nearly far enough down the road to tell you that I am cured, but feel very good about the decision I made.

If the stones get bad enough for you (as they were for me) you will eventually cut off your right arm to be rid of them. Altho, I am not a patient person and was more than ready to find a permanent solution to this problem. I did not enter into the surgery lightly and it took me a year to make up my mind. For me it was not nearly as bad as what I thought it was gonna be.

I hope you find the solutions you are looking for.
Good Luck!

SkeerdofaTnA, I said I am not trying to be rude.

'Not trying to be rude'

I did not say you are being rude. I think it is great to be able to tell your story. It is like burden lifted from our shoulders to be able to know their are others with the same problem.
Like albert22 said the only way to permanently get rid of the crypts is get all of your tonsils out. Or you can play around with different band-aids.

If you have holes in your throat and you eat food and swallow the food down your throat, what do you think happens to some of that food? Yes, it gets caught in the holes!

What happens to food over time? Yes, it starts to decay.
What happens when food starts to decay? Yes, it starts to smell bad.

ASIgirl, you are entitled to your opinion but SkeerdofaTnA was being lazy and by the way I was not trying to be nice. I do hope SkeerdofaTnA stops being so undeceives and starts listens to her doctors and stop try to find some secret cure because she is scared to get surgery.

albert22, thank you for your reply to my post. I have been to 3 ent and they all could not find anything wrong.

They stuck a camera down my throat and said they could not see anything. Of course they charged my insurance $1,800.00 a pop.

The next time I go I am going to eat a bucket full of nuts so they can get caught in my throat:-)

I wish I could find someone else that had my same problem. About the cryps coming back and how they got it cured by going back through surgery again.

Okay..

I don't know why you guys still feel the need to refer to me as 'lazy' after I have already stated that I have gone through all the posts (in reference to xylitol, different mixtures of peroxide, etc. etc.)!! Please refrain from doing so, I really don't appreciate it.

Secondly.. johnadaniels, what is wrong with trying to find a different method to cure this aside from a tonsillectomy?? Do you feel that everyone should have one just because you did?? The majority of individuals that have posted here think that there is something else going on (please, as I have stated twice before) that should be looked into further.

If your toe grew a little bit of toe fungus, would you automatically cut that off too? What if you had a wart (like another post on this board) on your nose, would you just take a piece of dynamite to it??

Everyone has a right to their own opinion and as ASIgirl has stated (and thank you for being tactful, btw) having the surgery is a personal choice.

johnadaniels, I feel sorry for you and what you have been through- but it's no reason to be so bitter towards everyone else just because of the outcome of your personal choice.

**On a side note.. someone had stated that the stones have something to do with nanobacteria (I can't remember the posters name). In reading through all the threads (yes, john, I have!!).. it seems that there are a few things that are apparent in most of our lives- we have either been in contact with or actually do :

1. smoke (yes, cigarette smoke)
2. mold/fungus
3. dairy products
4. different people/types of bacteria (i.e., moved, changed workplaces, etc.)
5. bad eating habits/oral hygeine
6. lack of exercise

So, in essence, I think its a combination of bacteria(s) that is causing this. We all know that the mouth harbors several different kinds of bacteria in itself, so if we are not brushing regularly or keeping up a proper regimen of mouth cleansing on a daily basis, this must contribute to the problem. Someone had previously mentioned that they think the plaque between their teeth smells like the tonsil stones- I think they could be on to something.

I did a bit more research online last night- and found a few things (try googling 'long term effects+tonsillectomy', or 'history of tonsillectomy', etc.).. I found that this type of procedure dated back to ancient Greece (around 40 A.D.), and they actually had a quite gruesome way of dealing with inflammed tonsils (the physician would simply take it out with his finger!!! I hope there was at least SOME sort of anesthetic for that..yikes) even through the 1800s. We really have had it easier within the past 30 years or so with the types of techniques (especially coblation) to remove tonsils.

The thing is is that, most of the studies that I have found on treatment.. have indicated that those that have had tonsillectomies have done better health-wise (of course, the studies are only 8 months post op). However, in some cases, the inflammed tonsil can indicate a type of cancer. In a case I found, an older woman (around 80), was having tonsillitis, but it turned out she actually had a type of lymphoma.

So.. what do we know? Cigarettes and some types of bacteria, have the ability to cause cancer. (I'm not saying that we all have cancer, but I'm not saying that we don't, either. I obviously don't know the answer to this question.) What I think would be wise would be a few things...

1. There was another individual that had posted that he had taken a swab to his tonsil (by his ENT) and turned in his stone to be analyzed.. which in turn found an 'abnormal amount of anaerobic bacteria(?)', I believe.
2. I recently went to my doctor to have tests done for a CA-125 (cancer test) as well as other tests to rule out any other type of bacteria or infection. Otherwise, all of my other labwork has been fine. She is also running a lab on my TSH (thyroid) to double check. My father had thyroid problems, no one else in my family had them I think.. so it could also be a genetic link (something in the DNA perhaps? maybe a strand or issue with the immune system that we lack to combat certain types of bacteria?).

See very last sentence there- 'a strand or issue with the immune system that we lack to combat certain types of bacteria'...

I think the lightbulb just went on.

If you look previously, I listed smoke, mold/fungus, and other things up there.. there has got to be a certain type of bacteria found in this stuff that we dont have an antibody for. ..

I've been thinking about this.. I want to challenge an ENT/physician to do a lengthy study on this to prove otherwise. If we can do a controlled study of individuals in smoke free environments versus smoke-filled environments.. mold/fungus versus non.. etc.. Or just simply have the bacteria tested from our stones by our ENTs... we might be able to find an answer.

....off to think about this..

SkeerdofaTnA,

'I have gone through all the posts of peroxide, etc. etc.)'

What cure are you talking about? If you have holes in your tonsils how is anything going to cure it? You are going to have to get the tonsils taken out. Maybe they can put plastic plugs into all the holes so food cannot get into them:-)

There is one post in the ocean of post that had a very detailed explanation on why the holes appear in your tonsils. I tried to find it for you SkeerdofaTnA but looking through all the post takes a lot of time. I will look later and repost it if I can find it for you.

'The majority of individuals that have posted here think that there is something else going on'
The majority of the people here are not doctors and do not know what is going on. That is why they are here. They have stinky breath and search on google, yahoo, etc. and find this forum. These people are happy to find others that have this same problem. Like albert22 said, look through the previous posts and you will find that the people that are getting their tonsils out are cured from the white balls and the stinky breath.

SkeerdofaTnA, I hope you are able to become white ball free.

johnadaniels - I completely agree with your honest approach to a wrongly deemed mysterious problem. I truly believe that this is a simple problem that most believe cannot be fixed by a simple solution. Before I had any idea about tonsil stones, I thought nothing could cure me. I just believed it was this horrible thing I would have to live with. I now think that it might be as simple as a cold... as in.. you get sick, you take some vitamin c, you get better. I think it is pretty obvious that any sort of crypt in your mouth that is large in size, ( compared to other 'normal' person without tonsil stones )will trap food, and if the food Isn't removed, it will decay. That is exactly what the doctor told me who will be performing my laser surgery. And if the crypts are DEEP enough, then it makes it even MORE difficult for the food to loosen itself, and of course the result is... more decay! more smell! While I do appreciate 'skeer..''s comments, and I understand the frustration... I think that this is a problem that shouldn't be considered so thoroughly, as all the findings made by others on all possible causes of tonsil stones have proven unhelpful.

Thank you sooo much for replying katherine1.

I do have to say, I agree with you Katherine. I came on to this board and did read everything there was to read.

I was overwhelmed with the many theories and cures and things that people have tried to do to combat this problem.

I was like, 'huh'? You've got to be joking me. I almost think reading all this stuff kinda of pushed me towards the surgery.

I was not about to gargle 5 times a day with peroxide or cut 'this and that' out of my diet or spend oodles of money on Therabreath (which turns out not to be very effective at all). And I was not going to spend precious time digging crap out of my tonsils.

Skeedofa, I do hope you find something that works for you, but I think your attempts are going to be futile.

JD, so you were just 'trying' to be mean...LOL Nice you are so up front about it.

Thank you also for your post ASIgirl.

ASIgirl Wrote:
'I was overwhelmed with the many theories and cures'

That is right on the money! Reading through all the post makes you feel like you are going crazy. I think there was one post that said gargle gasoline at midnight on a full moon.

SkeerdofaTnA, I apologize for calling you lazy. I should have been more tactful and took you feelings into consideration. Go get your tonsils cut out, recover and then go French kiss like you always wanted to!

PS: I will let you guys know what the doctor says about the holes coming back. It's probably like albert22 said; all of the tonsils did not get removed. There are 3 different tonsils you know.

JD, I will be one unhappy camper if those things come back.

'Gargling gasoline at midnight' Snort! Good one.

That might've worked.

And what is the 3rd tonsil?

PS-I am 12 days post op. My throat almost seems like it is back to normal. I am eating virtually anything I want and I feel good about having them out.

It wasn't a walk in the park. The 2nd week was actually worse than the first, but it was not unbearable.

I thought I was going to be bedridden for a week, and that was just not the case.

I talked to my doctor about the 'holes coming back theory'. In my case, with the laser surgery, he said that it is not as if they reform, it is just the fact that some crypts are so deep that they cannot be removed fully. That kind of also explains why just pushing out tonsil stones on a regular basis really does more harm than good. You can't possibly get deep enough to remove all the stones/bacteria with just pushing. I also believe that by pushing out tonsil stones regularily ( which I think is what most of us are tempted to do in an effort to free them ) makes the holes bigger, which obvious has a reverse effect.

johnadaniels, your apology is accepted. Thank you for realizing where I was coming from.

As far as your holes are concerned, do you mean to say that your tonsils have grown back with crypts in them? Where exactly are the holes?

I'm not retracting my previous logic, but I may be inclined to go ahead with the surgery. I've given it more thought (as if I haven't already thought about it for the last year or so), and I just might do it. Honestly, I had scheduled to have one after my 2nd opinion visit with the ENT.. it was scheduled for 10/26- but once again I chickened out. Just something about it I do not feel right about..

Anyway, ASIgirl, how is your health post-op? Any complaints of bad breath still lurking or anything?

Another question I thought of.. if anyone that has had the surgery..

Can it/does it affect your vocal chords in any way post op? Are there still possibilites to sing afterwards?

Just curious.

Skee, I am getting better everyday, and believe me, I chickened out many times before finally relenting.

As far as the bad breath goes, I still have some scabs back there that still need to come off (which hopefully will be very soon)so I think it's very possible I may still have a little undersirable breath (but that is from the scabs and it is normal until they come off). As for the stones, I was really never told I had bad breath from them. (Doesn't mean I didn't tho. I may just be around 'too nice' of people). My decision came more from the constant irritation of feeling like there was something stuck back there, day in and day out. And then I'd get the flashlight and look back there and be grossed out. And I'd try and try to get them to come out (picking, etc..) but they would not. So, that was that. I just couldn't hack it anymore.

My vocal chords were not affected in any way. I could talk the same day I had them out. I think I sounded funny for a few days, but it went away. But, I suppose there is always a chance of them being affected with surgery. That is something you would definitely need to address with the ENT. If you make your living singing you probably might want to think twice. But like I said, mine are fine and no difference in my voice.

I've had this problem forever. Of course it's the reeking smell of death that I really have the problem with.
Just tonight, i discovered a fantastic remedy for those who need a stone out fast. Use a turkey baister, and suction around the pit, and just suck them out. i just did it. worked like a charm. it took about ten or so tries but it finally popped out.

Skee here is the link to the person that had a good explanation about enlarged crypts:
http://www.abchomeopathy.com/forum2.php/2533/19

Skee, there are 3 tonsils that make up the lymphatic system:

adenoids
palatine
lingual

The adenoids are on the roof of the far back of you mouth and do not get crypts(holes)

The palatine is the most widely removed and are on both sides of the back of you mouth where you can see them.

The lingual tonsil is at the very back of your tongue.

My palatine tonsil was removed, but the lingual that is at the back of the tongue I believe was not removed.

I do not get stones in my palatine tonsil anymore because the palatine tonsil was completely removed.

But it seems like I am now getting them in my lingual tonsil. I guess this is the case because when I eat nuts and most food. Nuts being the worst. I can feel them in the very back of my tongue for weeks:-( When I say back I mean so far back I cannot see them.


Here are a few links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsil
http://health.enotes.com/images/medicine/gem_05_img0634.jpg
http://medimages.healthopedia.com/large/tonsils.jpg
http://dentalmedsoft.com/OralPathBookdemo/OralPathText/Chapter%201.htm
(on the above link start reading about half way down)

1. Tonsilloliths (stones in the tonsils)
This is quite a common condition which people often don’t admit to. It can be associated with acute or chronic sore throats, or may simply occur on its own. It is due to the presence of fissures or crevices on the surface of the tonsils – some people have these, some don’t. If you have them, they can trap particles of food, which become organised over time, enlarging slowly. Eventually they extrude from the surface of the tonsil as a cheesy white or yellow lump. These can be picked off using toothpicks or tweezers etc. They are soft and smelly and can be quite off putting. The treatment is mainly surgical, lasers can e used to resurface or remove the crypts so that they can no longer collect food debris. This is a procedure performed using local anaesthetic spray only, and causes very little postoperative discomfort. For more informationm on local anaesthetic tonsil reduction / resurfacing, visit www.llc.co.uk


Tonsillectomy Lingual tonsils
These structures are separate from the normal tonsils we think of in the back of the throat. They sit just above the voice box, at the very bottom of the tongue. They are often the cause of sore throats when patients have already undergone tonsillectomy. They can also cause a variety of catarrhal symptoms when enlarged, in particular throat clearing, tickly cough and a lump sensation at the back of the tongue. The treatment of lingual tonsil problems usually requires thorough ENT assessment to establish the correct diagnosis (which is often missed). A long term combination of anti inflammatory and antibiotic drugs usually controls the condition. If surgery is required, this is quite complex and requires referral to a specialist centre.

Wow! I'm so impressed with the amount of research yall have done, and the information you're able to share. I had no idea I have three tonsils.

One of the posts reminded me of something I'd considered when I first stared reading this board. I was wondering if it would be possible to do an informal survey of posters for similar situations. What I was thinking was that we'd put together a list of questions about lifestyle, background, etc. to see which characteristics we share, and thus, what might be leading to the stones. Someone else might have a better idea of how to do this, but I was thinking I'd create a hotmail account; have people cut and paste the questions off a post; and compile the results. For instance, several posts link it to smoking, but I hocked up my first goober around 10; have never smoked cigarettes; haven't smoked anything in 20 years; grew up in the house with a smoker; but have been completely smoke free for 15 years.

Any thoughts? If you think this might work, we can start by suggesting questions that should be asked. I'll compile them and post them. If you want to get in touch with me directly, or want to suggest questions, you can e-mail me at my hotmail address, yag65. Just make sure to put 'white bumps' in your subject line. If everyone wants this to happen, I'll create a 'white bumps' hotmail address. Thanks all.

I posted here a few times a while ago. I thought it was a good way of getting ideas together but unfortuantely the inevitable arguing starts. I checked back becasue I was very surprised to see so many new posts and wanted to see if the discussion had progressed at all.
The long and short of it is simple:
Are there ways to get rid of this problem?
Yes.
More than one?
Yes.
How do I know what will help me?
Try something, if it doesn't work try something else until you find a solution.
What about getting my tonsils removed?
You have been given free will to make a choice, choose what you will.
Well Darak you seem to be way smarter than us mr.-know-it-all, so I guess you don't have this problem anymore huh?
No I still get the occasional stone, mine come and go based mainly on my diet, Thanksgiving is a time to feast and splurge for me and I did just that, lots of hydrogenated fats, processed and refined chemicals and the like. Also no real physical activity for a few days. So I had a few the other day, but I was able to fix the problem. I find that many of the problems I had go away when I seriously started considering what I put in my mouth.

Bottom line is, find something that works for you, and I mean try it for more than a week to see if it works, don't shortchange yourself. Don't limit yourself to what you find on here either, take some initiative and try something new, maybe you will find simply meditating 20 minutes a day will cure your problem. If you want to have a tonsilectomy, you have the free will to decide that for yourself, let nobody influence you and say what is right or wrong for you.

If you are listening to anything I am saying right now you are missing the point. Don't take any of my advice as law, take what resonates with you and get rid of the rest. If nothing I have said makes sense to you please feel free to ignore it.

I have been dealing with throat problem for quite some time (last 2-3 years). After researching through
Millions of WebPages, visit to at least 2 ENT specialist, physical visit to homeopaths, and trying almost everything which promises a cure, here is
My 2 cents. The root cause maybe some kind of acid reflux/Gerd, even though you might not be aware, may still be having
Acid reflux. As everyone knows that acid reflux damages the food passage simply because the food passage is not acid protected by nature.
In some people, acid backs up to throat while sleeping, that is where you start having throat irritation and hence these white bumps.
Question is why not everyone with acid reflux have throat problem? My best guess is that if you have sore throat/tonsils problem
From your childhood, your already weak throat tissue is more likely to succumb to stomach acid. Since curing acid reflux is not easy task, it is not easy to completely cure
White bumps problem. Best we can do is to take small amount of healthy food free of fat/spice or acid producing ingredient like tomato/onion etc and more frequently to avoid starvation,
regular exercise, mix some amount of exercise which involves jumping (like jump rope or elliptical - exercise for acid reflux) and regular use of acid treating medicine like Nat phos, take meals at least 2-3 hours before sleep etc.

Note: I have no education in any kind of medicine, and above is from my own personal experience, trial and error and advice from various specialists.
I am not cured yet, and do not know if ever will be, But I feel better after following what I have listed above, I feel relief in throat when my acid problem is in control, and it gets aggravated whenever I have bad acid reflux.

jvd- I'm not sure I understand how tonsil stones (not white bumps..)are related to acid reflux. You said that 'acid backs up to throat while sleeping, that is where you start having throat irritation and hence these white bumps'.....How does throat irriation translate to the 'white bumps'??

I was told that persistent throat irritation and/or infection results in pockets in throat which accumulates white material which I frequently get. I am not sure what tonsil stones are ? If you can explain I can try to figure out If I have it or not ? thanks

jvd
I think I can clear up some confusion. The first few posts and the title of this thread talk about white bumps in the throat but the subject went on to something else after that and the vast majority of posts on this thread are dealing with tonsil stones. You are abviously describing something different than tonsil stones, a condition I personally am not familiar with but the confusion exists because most here found this thread looking for information on tonsil stones. It sounds to me you are describing more of an ulcerative condition and possibly a different kind of infection that is not necessarily limited to the tonsils like tonsil stones. If you go through the many pages of posts here you can find a great deal of info on tonsil stones but unfortunately not much on your condition. I hope you find what information you are looking for and your health improves.