What are the horrid white lumps at the back of my throat ?

[Gilli]

Apologies in advance for asking what some might consider a gross question ....

.... I often feel as if I have "something" stuck at the back of my throat. This is particularly noticeable as I swallow. Not painful at all but a little odd feeling and therefore unnerving all the same.

Every so often, after noticing the "stuck" feeling for some weeks, I "bring up" small off-white lumps of "matter" (size of small peas I suppose) which are irregularly shaped. This usually happens when I cough or sneeze.

Most embarrassing of all these lumps smell foul, which obviously worries me though my partner assures me I do not have bad breath !

Told you it was a gross question. Does anyone have any idea what this can be ?

[netibiza]

Wish I could help but as a teenager I also had these revolting smelly lumps.  They seemed to stop after I had my tonsils out but honestly don't know if there was any connection.

[Eastender]

Dont think you need to worry. It sounds like a slight infection in the throat, caused by the tonsils. Book an appointment to see your doctor, he will give you something and put your mind at ease.

[KittyGlitter]

They are called tonsiliths and are harmless. Apparently they are old bits of food and the smell is from the bacteria. Not unlike old bits of food that get stuck in your teeth! I'm not sure what can prevent them, perhaps ask your dentist/doctor?

[KittyGlitter]

After searching on the net, I found a better definition of tonsiliths: an accumulation of saliva, food, and mucus in the tonsils� crevices.

[shaz-rla]

I get these quite regularly and I am 35, I had a lot of throat infections and glandular fever when I was in my teens, I know it is awful if you are talking to someone and one "pops out".  Don't think there is anything you can do about them.  Tonsils out maybe, I didn't have that done and I have lots of "holes" in the back of my throat too.

[Litchick]

I also have that from time to time -- it's nothing but as another ABer said, just a bit embarrasing when one does "pop" out!   Not to worry but do tell your GP so he'll also tell you not to worry.

[smudge]

I used to suffer with this ailment a lot before I had my tonsils removed at aged 13. I still get sore throats, but thankfully, nothing like the old days!

[Sasha13]

I heard that these lumps were made of the same stuff that plaque is - probably nonsense. Anyway, I get them too occasionally and I suppose I assumed everyone else did too! Don't worry too much about it, it sounds like they're normal!!!  

[dmsjps]

Hi Gilli,

My daughter also gets these - has done for as long as we can remember and she's 14 now - and when we took a sample to the doctor several years ago, she sent it off for analysis and the conclusion was, wait for it ...

Dunno, but if you're not suffering in any other way it must be nothing serious!

My daughter says the lumps stink too and that they taste horrible. She often manipulates them by pushing the outside of her throat and then coughs them up when they get to a certain size because they restrict her airway when they get too large. She thought she was the only one until a couple of years ago, when one of her friends told her that he too suffered with the same thing. I don't think it's so common that everybody knows about it, but it seems from the replies here that there are quite a large minority of people who suffer.

I don't know what to suggest and perhaps it's something that will go away or at least ease off in years to come. My daughter did try gargling with mouthwash each morning and night, which was all the doctor could suggest (not the ordinary stuff, but Corsodyl) and it did seem to slow down the problem, but it didn't stop it altogether and as soon as she stopped using it, it was back to normal.

Anyway, even if no one has any answers, at least you know you're not weird!

[PurplePixie]

Me too...I get these vile things. It's a mixture of debris & plaque. I also had Glandular fever as a teenager, which left my tonsils very scarred & pitted..which is where the stuff collects. I have seen a definite improvement by using Dental PH mouthwash, which keeps down the amount of plaque in the mouth, but haven't ever found anything that completely fixes the problem.

[ann_h]

Morning routine - gargle very thoroughly with listerine or whatever, and cough em up in private!

[Gilli]

Thanks all for the replies .... glad to find I'm not the only one. Luckily, have not experienced the embarrassment of getting one in front of others (touch wood), but also find it impossible to "cough them up" in the privacy of my own home .... they just sort of find their own way out after several days of me knowing that there's something "lurking" ......

.... strangely, I've never suffered tonsilitis, or glandular fever, or anything else you might think would damage/scar the tonsils.

[shady_jady]

ahh this makes me so happy to know other people have them! i used to get them every couple of months when i was about 13 or 14. they seem to have gone now, but i havent changed anything about my diet or routine. must just be a naturally occuring cure. i'm now nearly 18 and havent had one for... ooh must be a year now. i guess they just ease off of their own accord. xx

[awdavis55]

i am also very happy to see that i'm not the only one to have suffered through this. i'm 28 and now have hte lumps for the 3rd time, and now there are two of them! I just made a dr. appointment, and then started surfing the web to see what i could find. it was strange because it is never partnered with a fever or redness, or anything like that, just lumps that make you feel like you have food in the back of your throat. i've never actually had one "pop" out, which now disgusts me because that means that i've been swollowing them in my sleep. yuch.

[rickd]

Hi, I get these quite often. Sometimes they come out when I cough or sneeze and sometimes just by themselves. A few years back I had a sore throat for about 2 weeks. It just kept getting more and more painful. Then one day I sneezed and a whole swathe of these lumps flooded into my mouth (sorry to sound gross, just the way it was!) some pea sized but mostly smaller. The incredible thing was that my sore throat instantly disappereared. It was as if I had coughed my sore throat up into my mouth. Iknow, I know...it sounds horrible....but I was quite relieved at the time....nothing to worry about me thinks...

[blue-3]

I had similar bits in my throat for years. I started a candida diet due to lots of other problems and for some reason it made the white stuff in my throat disappear. The candida diet is really harsh and not recommended unless you have candida - however I did notice when I started to re-introduce foods that it was the dairy causing the white bits.

You would need to eliminate dairy for at least a month before you would notice the difference but could be worth a try.

[Finwoodhill]

I have suffered from these vile things for the last 15 years. Doesn't seem to be any pattern to it - I can go for months without one and then get several in the space of days. They don't actually smell that bad until you crush them, but when you do - YUK!! I went through a few years of paranoia about them thinking I had 24/7 bad breath and chewing gum constantly, but my partner says I don't have bad breath any more regularly than the average person. I spent a lot of time researching Tonsiliths and there are products you can buy like water jets to zap them out of the crevices in your tonsils, I've also read about people popping them out with cocktail sticks (apparantly using a car visor mirror gives the best angle to do this!) But apparantly my tonsils are too deeply placed to even try this (I asked my dentist to have a look) Still comforting to know that I'm not the only sufferer

[Bhavi]

Does anyone take steroid inhalers, I always thought these lumps were connected to taking them.

[Sqad]

Bhavi...nothing at all to do with steroid inhalers.

KittyGlitter is quite correct.

[ummmm]

I asked sqad about this a while back. My daughter coughed up one so big it left a crater like dent in her throat...yuk.