If you're coughing up small white balls, you likely have tonsil stones (tonsilloliths), hard deposits of food, bacteria, and dead cells in your tonsil pockets, and you can often manage them with saltwater gargles, good oral hygiene (brushing, flossing, tongue scraping), and sometimes water flossers to dislodge them. For persistent or severe cases, or if you experience pain/swallowing issues, a doctor can provide stronger treatments or recommend tonsil removal (tonsillectomy).
Tonsil stones happen when bits of food, dead cells and bacteria get stuck in the small pockets of your tonsils. Over time, this material can harden into small lumps. You may be more likely to develop tonsil stones if you have: poor oral hygiene.
Here are five at-home remedies to get rid of tonsil stones that you can try right now.
Here are some things you can try:
Key Takeaways. Coughing up white mucus can be a sign of an upper respiratory infection or chronic conditions like COPD. Viral infections that cause white mucus cannot be treated with antibiotics, so focus on rest and hydration. Using a humidifier and saline nasal sprays can help thin mucus and make it easier to clear.
Here are three ways to clear your lungs:
Viral infections often develop gradually, such as a cold that starts with a scratchy throat and progresses to a cough and congestion. Bacterial infections, however, tend to appear suddenly and with more intensity. For example, strep throat can cause a severe sore throat and high fever that comes on quickly.
Coughing up clear jelly balls may be due to catarrh, a buildup of mucus in the airways. This may occur due to allergies, infections such as colds or flu, pollution, or nasal polyps. If symptoms continue for more than a few weeks, it is a good idea to contact a doctor to find out the cause and get treatment.
While there's no instant fix for coughing up mucus at night, you can take steps to improve your symptoms.
Preventing Tonsil Stones
Brush your teeth twice a day or after meals: Use an anti-bacterial toothpaste like Crest Pro-Health to better neutralize plaque and limit the spread of oral bacteria into the throat.
Call your doctor within a few days if you have white, yellow, or green mucus that occurs with symptoms such as fever, chills, coughing, or sinus pain. These could be signs of a bacterial infection that requires antibiotics.
Processed foods: Highly processed snacks like chips and crackers tend to leave particles that are hard to remove from the mouth. These particles can get lodged in the tonsil crypts and contribute to stone development. High-starch foods: Pasta, bread, and potatoes can leave residue in the mouth.
Some tonsil stones don't cause any symptoms. If you have symptoms, they may include: Persistent bad breath: Tonsil stones can have a foul odor, making bad breath one of the main symptoms. Sore throat or cough: Sometimes, tonsil stones can irritate the throat and cause a sore throat or cough.
Good oral hygiene reduces the bacteria in your mouth that can lead to the formation of tonsil stones. Tonsil stones are not harmful to your health and are more of a nuisance than an issue. A frequent complaint about tonsil stones is that they tend to cause bad breath due to the bacteria that collect on the tonsils.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:
Coughing up phlegm is a good thing. But if your cough lasts longer than two weeks or if the phlegm is yellow, green, brown, black, white or red, you should schedule an appointment with a healthcare provider as soon as possible.
To help clear mucus, focus on warm, hydrating fluids like water, herbal teas (ginger, peppermint, thyme), and broths, which thin congestion, while avoiding dehydrating drinks like coffee and alcohol; lemon with honey in warm water is also excellent for soothing and loosening mucus. Hydration is key, as it makes mucus easier to cough up, and certain teas offer anti-inflammatory or decongestant properties, like menthol in peppermint or antioxidants in green tea, to further help.
When you lie down at night, however, several physiological changes occur that can make coughing worse: Postnasal drip increases in the supine position, leading to throat irritation. Acid reflux is more likely to reach the esophagus and upper airway.
We may need to conduct a lung scan (such as a CT scan) or consider using a bronchoscopy (telescope examination of your lungs) to enable direct sampling using fluid from your lungs to understand the presence of fungal infections. Special blood tests can also help determine whether you have an infection.
Lifestyle and home remedies
During a severe coughing fit, he expelled what's called an “intact cast” of the bronchial tree — a mold of his lung's airway made entirely of clotted blood. Doctors say blood clots rarely hold together well enough to form such a detailed cast, making this an extremely rare medical event.
Signs and symptoms:
Particularly in the context of the above risk factors and cough, associated red flag symptoms and signs for significant disease include: Weight loss. New coughs lasting over three weeks. Unexplained haemoptysis, particularly if recurrent or persisting. Breathlessness.
Symptoms of a chest infection
Chest infections often follow colds or flu. The main symptoms are: a chesty cough – you may cough up green or yellow mucus. wheezing and shortness of breath.
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