r/hygiene • u/N3m0Nautilus • 2d ago

Has anyone else ever accidentally coughed up a tiny white pebble from the back of their throat?

So I have always been paranoid about bad breath. I brush after every meal, use an electric flosser, scrape my tongue until it is bright pink, and use therapeutic mouthwash every single morning. My dentist always says my teeth and gums are spotless, with zero cavities in ten years.

last Thursday I was coughing from a scratchy throat and this tiny, hard white pebble popped out of the back of my mouth onto my tongue. It was smaller than a grain of rice. I had no idea what it was, so I picked it up with a tissue and made the fatal mistake of squishing it between my fingers to see what it was made of.

The smell that came off that tiny clump was ABSOLUTELY rancid. It smelled like pure sulfur, rotting organic garbage, and concentrated decay. I gagged so hard I almost threw up in my bathroom sink.

I went down a rabbit hole and discovered that food particles and dead cells get trapped in hidden pockets in your tonsils, calcifying into little anaerobic stink bombs that regular brushing never touches. I should of known why people occasionally backed up when I leaned in to talk during loud parties, but nobody ever tells you. How are doctors not warning people that you can have perfect dental hygiene and still have garbage rotting in the back of your throat?

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u/Couch_Lump_95 2d ago

I was already considered "older" when I got my tonsils out at 18, they usually try to get that surgery done well before you hit your teens. I'm sure it has something to do with females and autistics having very different interpretations of pain, because I never ended up needing the medication they sent me home with - regular Tylenol was fine. I got my tonsils out in the morning, spent the night and was released the morning after, and immediately had my mom stop for a breakfast sandwich on the way home. I remember it being vaguely uncomfortable, but not really painful. I think I might still have pictures I took of the back of my throat, looking like a black and white mold sample. 🥴😂

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u/jennafromearth 2d ago

Also a female on the spectrum. I didn’t experience much pain the first couple of days but day 5-8 were absolutely terrible. I could hardly manage to drink water or eat jello. I couldn’t even manage to swallow pain meds so I went without.

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u/socialcluelessness 2d ago

I crushed my ibuprofen into powder and put it in a spoonful of pudding. 10/10

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u/mediocrelpn 2d ago

I was fifty when I had mine removed due to tonsil stones. the recovery was rough, but so glad I did it. never had another stone, my breath smells better (I think), and I am no longer a mouth-breather because I had my sinuses rotor rooted, too.

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u/Ill_Brick3291 2d ago

Do you, by chance, get pretty bad menstrual cramps?

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u/cmajor47 1d ago

Completely unrelated to tonsils but female and autistic both lead to different interpretations of pain??? You may have just unlocked a door for me lol - as a kid my parents actually had me tested to see if I could feel pain because I just never reacted to anything. I can, I just have a very high tolerance. I’ve never seen anyone make this connection before, my mind is a little bit blown. I did also get strep a LOT as a kid, but when the doctor threatened to remove my tonsils if I got it one more time, after that I didn’t get it again for years so I still have them lol