Tonsil stone remedy

Hello all! I have been online for the last 3 days looking at what I think I have-tonsil stones (yuck). My question is about using the water pik to clean out my tonsils. It seems to me that spraying water in my tonsil crypt is probably just gonna push the stones further down into the crypt. Does it make sense that it would push them out or further in? I don't want to give mysefl an infection (or do any other kind of damage), but i want to try to get rid of these things and keep them gone! And the water pik idea is mentioned frequently.

[LauriewithMAD]

Hi Jamie
I have had tonsil stones for about 8 months, and I am constantly trying to get rid of them....only problem is... they do keep coming back.  I use a syringe to get mine out, or a dental pic.  If I had a water pik, I would surely use it!!!
I have seen an ENT, and he said that they dont go away.  People develop a tonsillar crypt, and food and debris do get caught up in there, and then develop a tonsil stone in this crypt.  He said just to gently ease the stone out, and gargle with salt water.  Sadly, they never go away.  
Hey, it could be worse, you could have xerostomia (dry mouth that never goes away) along with tonsilliths.  (I do, and its a royal pain !)

[Petuay]

So how do you get these out without totally gagging yourself or vomitting...I can't even put a q-tip or anything back and my tongue reacts and covers up the crypt hole, making it impossible for me to get to it.  Also when I finally do get back there to remove it, I start to vomit...any suggestions?

[alienshadow]

My wife had them the best thing she did was had them removed.. That solved the problem for her...

[Aegwynn]

I have been online searching for weeks now for remedies and effective ways of treating the ongoing problem of these darn tonsil stones. It seems like the most effective route is removal of tonsils. The next thing I'm finding is a load of preventative measures. As for figuring out what works best it's hard to say. I have read on many sites, blogs and forums that people use those dental water pick things to gentle spray them out. It seems to work for a lot of people. That's just the way to get it out but not prevent them from coming back. Unless you get the tonsils removed you've got to find a regimen that works for you. It seems like people are mostly saying stay away from dairy and alcohol. They say that gargling with warm salt water helps or a mixture of half water and half hydrogen peroxide. The other popular remedy seems to be gargling with a mixture of water and grapefruit seed extract. I'm not sure what works best but these are my findings. I'm trying as many of them as I can. I have tried the half water half peroxide works to loosen them up and get them to come out. I'm too afraid of my gag reflex and fear using the water pik. Good luck!