Do you get frequent sore throats? Have you ever looked inside your mouth in a mirror and noticed your tonsils seem swollen? Do you sometimes feel like there is a foreign object caught in the back of your throat or occasionally cough up small, white, stone-like growths? If this is the case and your tonsils have not been removed, you may have what’s known as cryptic tonsillitis, a form of tonsillitis.
Tonsils are the two masses of tissue located inside the mouth (near the back of the throat) on both the left and right. Located near the entrance to your airways, they act as part of the bodies immune system by filtering viruses and bacteria that enter the body through either the nose or the mouth by “catching” the germs.
You’ve probably heard of the medical condition called tonsillitis before but what exactly is it? By definition, tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils. This is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection of some kind. Since the tonsils act as a germ filter it is very easy for them to become infected. In some cases tonsillitis may lead to chronic cryptic tonsillitis. Cryptic tonsillitis occurs when the tonsils contains small pockets and pits called crypts. These crypts may trap food particles and form small white-colored growths called tonsilliths (more commonly known as “tonsil stones”). Tonsil stones are thought to be made up of bacteria and dead cells and usually have quite an unpleasant odor.
Cryptic Tonsillitis is usually not a very serious condition. The most common symptoms of this condition include mild sore throats which are caused by prolonged infection due to a build up of bacteria, discomfort in the back of the throat as a result of having tonsil stones lodged in the tonsils, and bad breath which is also a result of the foul-smelling tonsil stones. In more severe cases, cryptic tonsillitis can cause problems with breathing, make it difficult to swallow, and even cause frequent choking due to tonsil stones hidden deep within the tonsils which continue to grow over time, causing the tonsils to swell and block your airway and your esophagus.
There are several temporary solutions to remove or prevent tonsil stones. One such solution is to gargle with salt water. This cleans out the crypts in the tonsils and helps prevent tonsil stones from forming. Another is to attempt to dig out tonsils stones from the tonsils using something that will not scratch the tonsils such as a cotton swab. This method is difficult for many as it activates the gag reflex and may cause you to cough or feel as though you’re going to throw up. There are also several products such as Therabreath which combat the bad breath caused by cryptic tonsillitis.
Unfortunately, the only way to permanently remedy this condition is by having a tonsillectomy (having your tonsils removed). This solution is quite expensive if not covered by your insurance and can be risky for adults, especially adults middle-age and higher. If you’re having some of the more severe problems caused by cryptic tonsillitis such as difficulty breath, you may want to consider this option but in most cases a tonsillectomy is not recommended as a solution to a mild case of cryptic tonsillitis. There also exists a much less common surgical procedure which uses a laser in order to smooth the surface of the tonsils thus removing the crypts which trap particles and create tonsil stones. However, this procedure is even more expensive than a tonsillectomy and doesn’t always work.
