white substance on glands in throat

[bonscot]

i recently felt a strange feeling when swallowing and on investigating my mouth noticed a white substance on the right side glands area beside the 'wee punchbag' looking thing and when iscraped it off with a steralised swob thing and removed it and it felt kind of powdery and smelled like no smell ive ever smelt before (horrible!!). i dont have a sore throat or any pain but i noticed there is a small hole in the gland and the white stuff still comes out when i press on it. im a bit confused as to what this could be ,has anyone else experienced this? or know what it might be?

[Philtaz]

Sounds to me like you've been poking around at a tonsil.  They often become white, scarred and pitted as a result of recurrent bouts of tonsillitis/sore throats.

Pop along to your GP though to be on the safe side.

[ezapf]

I agree with Philatz, see a doctor. Could be infection, cyst, ...... A doctor can tell you, we can not. AC/DC fan from way back?

[ezapf]

Sorry, I meant Philtaz of course. I read it several times and still did not catch my mistake until after I hit "commit," I mean "submit."

[Scarlett]

Yup this is def. tonsillitis. The tonsils react to infection by producing pus, which is the little white bits on the tonsil. I wouldn't go poking them about though. They think they are doing you a favour, by reacting to bacteria/viruses in the throat and trying to kill them before they enter the body! You could get anti-biotics, but I wouldn't bother if your throat doesn't hurt. Gargle some salt water and it will go away on its own.

[smudge]

I used to suffer with this problem, until I had my tonsils out at 13. It sounds like an infection, should visit your GP in case you need anti-biotics.

[smudge]

*you

[soonny]

Usually a case of tonsilitis is caused by viral infections and it causes the tonsils to be inflammed. If you look into the mirror with a flashlight shining into your mouth (don't forget to say "aaaa") you should see red patches just behind the uvula (that little thing hanging). But that's tonsilitis, inflammation of the tonsils.

 

Your case seem pretty weird and rare but I don't think it's tonsilitis considering you don't feel any pain. The white matter you're seeing could be abcess (accumulation of pus), and when that happens it means bad news because the infection is no longer viral but bacterial. Bacteria tends to cause more destruction to tissue and thus there's abcess which are also a collection of dead tissue + some lymphocytes etc etc. Normally you would be accompanied by a fever but you seem okay.

 

Could you elaborate more?

[Snappy]

How on earth can u poke around that far into your mouth without making yourself sick??!!

[PurplePixie]

I think I know exactly what you mean. I had glandular fever years ago & it left my tonsils very scarred & pitted, I kept finding these tiny bits of white stuff coming out of them & wondering what it was. I saw an expert who told me that it was plaque getting trapped. It really would stink if you left it in there. The only way is to step up your mouth hygiene & gargle with mouthwashes that work against plaque..like 'Dental PH' for instance.

I thought it was pus to begin with & find that sometimes the only way to get it out is to push the tonsil gently. It's annoying, and plaque hanging around in your mouth is not a good thing...but there seems there is no magic cure apart from cleaning.

[D.G.W.T.H.]

Do you swallow?  Duh!

[AB Editor]

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[Hyphen]

Gargle with Vodka, works miles better than TCP or anything like that.

[Becci_h]

did you ever find out what this was? I have this exact same thing now! it has happened on both sides of my throat and is exactlly the same as how you descirbe.

[tarquin06]

WARNING...Don't read this if your eating, it's really ew!!!Hello, I've had the same problem of a few years now. I know I haven't always had this yucky and dare I say smelly problem. It isn't always there either. My tonsils are slightly enlarged anyway but I have small pockets in them. I practice great oral health, in fact I'm a dental nurse so I know it's not because I don't look after my mouth. When I've asked friends if they've had anything like this, they all said the same "no way". Even the Ear Nose and Throat Dr hadn't seen it before which left me quite alarmed. I have recently suffered a nasty case of tonsilitis and found that I have more pockets!!! Gross. I think that it may come from the puss finding it's way out of the tonsils then leaving a scar. I hope if you haven't already had them taken out, you read this and find your not alone.

[bonscot]

sorry 4 BIG delay lol
its more or less gone now but it does make the odd rare appearance now and again but maybe it was mouthwash that helped i do that 1 or 2 times per day now ,hope you are clear of it ;-)

[cgardner]

i have this as well (as do all people) others just dont realize they swallow the whitish-yellow "things". i asked my doctor abou them and he said they are food particles that get in the "holes" of our throats. (our tonsils are like sponges) this causes bacteria to gather (causing the BAD smell). i, my self, have to get them out of my throat (i cant stand it) by taking a CLEAN paper clip and pushing (with the round part) against the side of the opening . . .causing the "ball" to fall out! This will not cause you to get sick, however gargling with warm salt water will reduce how often you get them. if it does cause too much of a problem then having your tonsils removed will be the only way to stop it! here is a link to Dr. Hoffman's answer/explanation. hope this helps!!!

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/xlith.htm

[HerbSupplyHouse]

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/xlith.htm
Great explanation.
I had a sore throat today as I do many days. I pushed the white stuff out with a damp q-tip. I had a close-up mirror and a flashlight. I've seen these things before and I've heard of the "bad breath" gland before. I never knew where they came from. I will be clearing out the dead debris and food particles from now on and gargling with salt water. I've never had tonsilitis or my tonsils out. I sell detox kits and will include this bit of information in my leaflets. Thanks for the info.
Carrie Media URL: http://www.herbsupplyhouse.com
Description: (Chronic sore throat ~White Stuff in back of throat