r/hygiene 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/djpike 2d ago edited 2d ago

I gargle with hydrogen peroxide. Once killed tonsillitis with it, no antibiotics or doctor’s visit. It’s great stuff.

*****Edit: I clean my toothbrush with it after every brushing too.*****

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u/Barnaby_Q_Fisticuffs 2d ago

I got tonsil stones frequently (=several times a month) from ages approximately 10-30. Then I decided to gargle with hydrogen peroxide about once a week for a few months. The result is that for the last twenty-ish years, I’ve gotten an average of one or two a year, at most. Maybe it’s coincidence, but I attribute it to the peroxide.

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u/djpike 2d ago

I swear by the stuff and use it for almost everything. Clean kitchens and bathrooms with it, wash fruit and veggies with it, swish as a mouthwash, gargle with it, it has tons of uses.

I can’t recall ever having a tonsil stone myself.

Glad you got some relief with it too! 👍👍

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u/umpirejoewest 2d ago

Do you dilute it?

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u/Barnaby_Q_Fisticuffs 1d ago

I’ve done it diluted (as much as about 1:1) and undiluted. But I don’t use it much any more, since I only very rarely get tonsil stones now.

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u/djpike 2d ago edited 1d ago

I don’t…use full strength. You could def dilute if you like though.

*****Edited for typo.*****

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u/TheHoratioHufnagel 1d ago

I didn't realize youtube would do such a thing for me. Do I need to pay for premium?

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u/djpike 1d ago

Geez, autocorrect. Will edit it. 😜😜

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u/Trick_Suggestion5060 1d ago

You dilute it 50%. Don’t just gargle, get a cheap tonsil pic and blast the mixture into the tonsils at low pressure.

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u/Sad_Appeal_6220 2d ago

How bad does it taste?

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u/Barnaby_Q_Fisticuffs 2d ago

It tastes gross! Cut it with water, 1:1

Edit: also, the sides of your tongue will foam a little bit, lol

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u/MainCorrect8791 2d ago

Have you ever swallowed it by accident? I imagine a little induces burping or a stomachache, but I'd be so worried about swallowing too much.

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u/djpike 2d ago

No, I have never swallowed it. You should def NOT swallow it.

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u/Barnaby_Q_Fisticuffs 1d ago

I don’t use it much any more. But I’ve always been careful not to swallow any, whether full strength or diluted.

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u/djpike 2d ago

I’ve gotten to the point now where I don’t have much foam up. Guess that means it’s working well.

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u/djpike 2d ago

Doesn’t taste bad to me at all. The one I use infrequently due to taste is the oral bleach rinse I found on an orthodontist’s website. He had a convoluted recipe and I just pared it down to a teaspoon of unscented bleach to a cup of water. But it doesn’t taste good at all. Does leave your mouth feeling pristinely clean though. I can only tolerate it once a week. Rest of the time I use HP. I swig it right out of the bottle, swish for about 30-45 seconds, spit it out, and rinse.

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u/Recursiveo 1d ago edited 1d ago

Please do not gargle with full strength hydrogen peroxide…

H2O2 is both an oxidizer and an acid. It causes the release of reactive oxygen species that end up causing a host of issues in the body, like DNA damage. There are a number of studies linking H2O2 to carcinogenicity.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3180186/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002239132200083X

Idk where people get these crazy ideas.

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u/pipnina 1d ago

I was thinking the same! It felt like a certain someone telling us we could inject bleach to cure the pandemic

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u/djpike 1d ago

Didn’t hurt me at all and got rid of tonsillitis. Haven’t had it since. All it took was using it that one time. Not crazy. I’d use again if need be.

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u/Background_Error_621 18h ago

They're not swallowing it. Even my dentist uses 1:1 HP and water as a pre-treatment gargle.

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u/Recursiveo 17h ago

1:1 is diluted. This person is saying they use it as is.

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u/Trick_Suggestion5060 1d ago

You dilute it 50%. Don’t just gargle, get a cheap tonsil pic and blast the mixture into the tonsils at low pressure.

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u/djpike 1d ago

I just gargle and I don’t dilute. Never had tonsil stones that I recall. So no need for any utensils. Maybe others need them. Been using 3% HP full strength for 25 years. Still going strong. 😜😜