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Curious about white patch on tonsils

Everytime I even get a sniffle I get these weird white patches on my tonsils. I know it is nothing serious but they are really annoying. They make my throat all scratchy and sore. Can anyone explain to me what this is. I have had them now for a month. Driving me crazy! Like I said I was just curious. Thanks!!!
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Avatar universal
They might be tonsilloliths AKA tonsil stones. If the white debris smells very foul, they probably are. Look them up on the internet. I know I get them and I remove them, if I can see them.
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Avatar universal
I had this small white patches in my tonsils. I used toothpick to remove them. Every other day I can see them and I did the same thing to get them off from my tonsil. My tonsils has crypt and is stucks there. I've visited my doctor before and she told  me to use Orahex. But still nothings changed. I'm tired of it. How to get rid of this? Does anyone knows how to remove this?

Beb
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Avatar universal
I have had these spots on my tonsils for a very long time (not off and on)...with the constant spots, my tonsils hurt and swell off and on. I know it's nothing serious so I don't go to the doctor. It's true you can scratch them off, I've done it several times. But it seems each time I do, they just get bigger. Maybe I will go to the doctor eventually and have my tonsils removed. It's probably the only way to get rid of them for good.
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Avatar universal
hey guys hopes this helps when i get the white spots i gargle with apple cider vineger from an herb store... put a little in a cup mixed with a little warm water and salt ... they dissapear .... the next day their gone along with any soreness or pain that may accompany it... this also works for just a regular sore throut
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Avatar universal
I have had these for several years off and on....no other cold like symptons, but sometimes I wonder (does anyone actually know)  if they will cause long term damage....they come and go.....
Gargling with salt water helps to get them to come off on their own.....I guess it dries them up enough to fall off....
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695042 tn?1241645262
i had white spots and a sore throat in february, told i had a cold. 2 weeks later i was in the ER with my tonsils swollen together and spitting in a cup. i was put on antibiotics and the white spots went away and my tonsils went down, a little. 3 weeks after that i was back at the dr. with swollen tonsils still and sore throat with white spots again, strep! put on antibiotics. tonsils went down alittle, white spots gone, throat better. 4 weeks after that back at the dr. with still swollen tonsils and sore throat, tonsillitis again! i was sent to an ENT. now it's july, the ENT does a CT scan and says i need surgery on my "pads", deviated septum, "weed wack" my nose. he says when he's done i will breath and smell better and in a few months my tonsils will go down. a month later my left tonsil went down, right one didn't. in september the white spots came back on my right tonsil and i felt like ****. in october, after "waiting in out", i went to my ENT about it and he looked in my throat and said i have food stuck to it, pick it off, people don't get strep over age 20. no other tests, temp, etc. my left tonsil got swollen and acquired it's own white spots and i continued to feel like ****. now it's november and i wake up one morning with all of my muscles hurting and a lump in my armpit. i lay in bed for 3 days and finally go see my pcp instead of my ENT. she does a strep test that is sent away, tells me my lump is a cyst to not be worried about it, and gave me an antihistamine to try and shrink my tonsils that have been swollen for 9 months. this was a week ago. i've been taking the antihistamine and my muscles don't hurt as much but my throat hurts worse and i can't lay on my back or i choke. my doctor's office just called to tell me my strep test was negative for strep, but positive for STAPH!! it's scary how you know there is something wrong with you but the doctors just like to dismiss you easily. this whole white spot thing is confusing as well:
it could be food stuck in crypts
it could be pus
it could be white blood cells and bacteria
i think doctors guess at the first thing with the most common symptoms and if that doesn't work, on to the next thing with those symptoms x's a new one, and so on..................
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Avatar universal
When I feel pain in a tonsil area when swallowing, I inevitably find there's a white lump. It starts going away immediately when I take 2000 mg of vitamin C. Tonsils are an important line of defense against infection and seem actually to signal that the body's C supply is depleted overall by the fight against a virus or bacteria exposure. Take more until the white and swelling is all gone. You will know that you have taken too much (not likely for a while) if you get some diarrhea. Stuffy noses from allergies or beginning colds will also be helped, but you have to take enough, not just something like 100 mg. The 2 gram amount seems to work well.
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Avatar universal
HPM
If you're talking about the small white things on your tonsils that make you feel like you've got a piece of popcorn kernel stuck in your throat, that would be TONSIL STONES. They are bits of food and sinus drainage that collect in the pits of your tonsils. Try getting a q-tip and pressing gently on one of them. You may be amazed at what comes out. Far as I know, it doesn't require treatment, but I haven't had mine checked out.
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Avatar universal
Good God, I don't know if it is more comforting, or disturbing to know THAT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT SUFFER WITH THIS HUGELY DISGUSTING "ALIEN" TONSIL THINGIE, THAT I HAVE GOIN' ON! WHICH MUST MEAN I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO MUST NOT REALLY BE A NATIVE OF THIS PLANET!
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Avatar universal
Hi my wife has same problems. She has white patches on tonsils. I don't know what should we do?
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Avatar universal
Thank you that is what it is! It has been driving me crazy. The scratchy and bad tastes in the back of my throat!! You are awesome. Thank you again.
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Avatar universal
I get these all the time.  When you scratch them off, notice that they smell gross.
Anyway I went to my doc and they told me that they are called "Cryptic Tonsils" - meaning that they have holes.  She said its really nothing to worry about.  
Hope that helps!
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Avatar universal
I get them everytime I get a cold. It is weird because they can be scratched off if I don't gag. They are just annoying. I have had them now on and off, switching sides for a month.
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Avatar universal
Hi If I was you I would go to the doctor and get antibyotics for this because the last time I left mine like that I got glandular fever.  Sorry about the spelling
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Avatar universal
My husband used to get these on his tonsils, they were like little cysts.  He went to the ENT and they actually told him that his tonsils were shot and the best thing to do was have them removed, which he did in Feb. It was a little painful afterwards but he is so much better now.
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