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976511 tn?1248273141

Tonsil secretions

Since I was eight years old, my tonsils occasionally have been secreting white lumps of material.  In some stressful situations, these secretions have been more copiously ejected. A pediatrician once said they were acne, but I doubt that.  Both of my tonsils are well suppurated and are never sore or inflamed.  I just want to know what this is and if there is anything I should do about it.  It has never caused a noticeable problem except bad breath.
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Avatar universal
I would like to second the seeming relation between these things and stress...  

After I have severe bouts of depression, these things show up.  I've consulted two general practitioners and a mental health specialist about this fact for me in years past, but none of them had any literature suggesting there was a correlation.  I keep wondering to myself if it is a chicken vs egg thing...  ie, which comes first, the depression or the tonsillolith.
Helpful - 0
976511 tn?1248273141
Thank you!  This is most probably the condition that I experience.  I use a cotton swab to remove the calculi and clean my tonsils with peroxide or mouth wash.  This condition is not constant, but occasional.  My tonsils eject several calculi during some stressful situations like being asked difficult questions; so  they seem to be produced by the tonsils rather than building up from an external source. No pain or inflammation is ever involved.
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351246 tn?1379682132
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
What you have is probably a tonsil stone. “tonsillolith (also called tonsil stone, tonsillar debris, tonsillar pearl, zot, pebbles, bad breath bead, or calculus of the tonsil) is a piece (or more commonly, a cluster) of calcareous matter which forms in the rear of the mouth, in the crevasses (called tonsillar crypts) of the palatine tonsils (which are what most people commonly refer to as simply tonsils).
Protruding tonsilloliths may have the feel of a foreign object, lodged in the back of the tonsil crypt. They may be an especially uncomfortable nuisance, but are not often harmful. They are one possible cause of halitosis ("bad breath").
You can read more about this on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsillolith#Treatment
Hope this helps. Do discuss this with your doctor and get yourself examined. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

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