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I've used an old rounded soup spoon before. Did it for a few months, but fell out of the habit. It did seemingly remove a whole bunch of ick when I did it.
Also, don't forget to flush tonsil stones! Those things are nasty.
How?
I think gargling with warm salt water is the best way to do it, just don't use a water floss, trust me!
I feel like gargling doesn't let the liquid actually reach my tonsils, like I close my throat too much. Maybe it does more than I think.
I was just about to put water flossing them on my todo list, haha! Why not?
Me too, gargling doesn't really hit the sweet spot, but that's what my doctor told me to do.
Water flossing, for me, felt like someone was stabbing my throat and was way too harsh on it, it was sore for a few days afterwards. Not a fun experience!
Gargling can help prevent them or flush really tiny ones, but I have trouble gargling without choking and swallowing...double yuck.
You can use a syringe/water flosser set veeeery low to flush the tonsil pockets, or you can poke them out with a cotton swab or other soft poking device that you are unlikely to swallow if you gag yourself.
I don't find any of the methods really fun, but the few times I've done it, I thankfully have found very little in there, so I don't do it often.
You can get good pictures/videos easily on how to do it, but I don't even like looking at them, too big a tryptophobia and slimy germiness combo for me. It's pretty simple and quick though once you find a way that you can tolerate. The manual syringe or one of those bulbs for flushing your ears is what's I'd recommend for the best balance of control and effectiveness with least discomfort.
I feel ya, I'd also rather avoid looking at pictures or videos if i can avoid it. I have two kryptonites: heights irl and holes online.
Do you know if the holes are just pockets or tubes with entrance and exits, meaning you can push/flush down into the tonsils or have to scrape up/flush to overflow?
I have had to battle mine occasionally recently and I've just been trying to push them up and out by scraping upwards with a utensil. I've also tried with the toothbrush bristles (surprisingly painful) and a toothpick (risky). Nothing feels particularly right or easy.
They are pockets, unfortunately. I actually just skimmed a reddit thread and someone mentioned a tonsil stone vacuum! I checked Amazon, and they seem to have a plethora of specialized tools. The battery-operated vacuum mentioned, what is essentially a straw on a bulb syringe for a manual vacuum, and specialized tonsil stone picks. Just search up tonsil stone remover and you may find something that looks tolerable.
If it's a persistent problem or something painful, it may be worth it to see an ENT to see if you should have your tonsils removed or if they can offer a solution that works. Things like mouth breathing, post nasal drip, and not staying hydrated can worsen accumulation of stones, so treating any of those conditions could also alleviate some of it.
It's only an issue like once or twice a year. Thanks for calling me out on my dehydration issues, lol. But thank you for real for your exhaustive replies!