How Do I Remove Tonsil Stones?
It mostly occurs in the crypts of the tonsils, which is blocked for a long time, and the drainage of the secretions is not smooth. Its core can be small foreign bodies, exfoliated epithelial cells or bacteria. Stones often occur around ciliated mycelia.
- Visiting department
- ENT
- Common locations
- tonsil
- Common causes
- Bacterial infections, drugs, age
- Common symptoms
- Difficulty swallowing, difficulty opening mouth, earache, sore throat, bad breath
- Contagious
- no
Basic Information
Causes of tonsil stones
- Age factors, bacterial infections, and drug factors.
- 1. Bacterial infection: Food residues easily cause bacteria. Under the action of bacteria, they will slowly rot, harden and form stones.
- 2. Drug factors : Prescription drugs such as hypertension, painkillers, and antidepressants can also cause tonsil stones. This is because the side effects of these drugs can make the mouth dry, which means that the tonsils do not have enough saliva to flush food and bacteria away. When lumps of calcified food, mucus and bacteria remain in the depressions of the tonsils, tonsil stones can form.
- 3. Age: Adult tonsils are larger, and the surface of the tonsils is uneven. As the tonsils grow, these "pits" become larger, making it easier for food to remain inside and form stones.
Clinical manifestations of tonsil stones
- Common manifestations are difficulty swallowing, difficulty opening mouth, earache, and sore throat.
- 1. If there is a purulent infection around the stones, there may be sore throat discomfort and reflex earache; in severe cases, swallowing is difficult, speech is ambiguous, salivation is increased, and mouth opening is difficult.
- 2. The tonsil stones are tiny, but block the glandular ducts or crypts of the tonsil, causing poor drainage, bacterial reproduction or accumulation of food residues, producing bad smelly eggs and bad breath, which seriously affects patients' quality of life.
- 3. Small white spots appear on the tonsils, but sometimes these small white spots are not visible; difficulty swallowing or accompanied by pain.
Examination of tonsil stones
- 1. Probe exploration: often touching hard objects with rustling sounds, such as granulosis or purulent sinus tracts in the tonsils or the tongue and palate arches.
- 2. Finger palpation: deep stones are easy to detect.
- 3. X-ray examination: stones can be found.
- 4. Tissue section: stones were found during tonsillectomy.
Treatment of tonsil stones
- 1. Small stones: can be removed with a curette or pliers, and individual can be removed with suction.
- 2. Large stones: Incision and removal of mucous membranes under surface anesthesia, but need to prevent falling into the respiratory tract.
- 3. Local treatment: If the surrounding inflammation caused by stone stimulation can be treated locally with anti-inflammatory drugs, such as gargle to eliminate tonsil stones. Or apply the drug directly to the corresponding part of the mandible and the tonsils, so as to achieve the purpose of clearing away heat and detoxifying, swelling and dissolving.
- 4. Resection: For refractory tonsil stones, conservative treatment is not good, you can consider a tonsillectomy to eliminate throat discomfort and bad breath.
Prevention of tonsil stones
- 1. Pay attention to proper rest, to avoid overwork, the combination of work and rest, good rest is conducive to the recovery of fatigue; strengthen exercise can enhance physical strength, enhance disease resistance, the combination of the two can be better recovery.
- 2. Pay attention to a light diet to prevent colds. It is recommended to ban smoking and alcohol. Drink plenty of water and pay attention to maintenance.