- 1. Gargle with warm water and salt or mouthwash
- 2. Removing with a cotton swab
- When surgical treatment is needed
- Signs of improvement
- Signs of worsening
The white small balls in the throat, also called caseous or caseum, appear very frequently, especially in adults who have frequent tonsillitis, and result from the accumulation of food debris, saliva and mouth cells, being responsible for bad breath, sore throat and, in some cases, difficulty in swallowing.
To remove the chaps that get stuck in the tonsils, you can gargle with warm water and salt or with a mouthwash, about two to three times a day or remove it manually with the help of a cotton swab, for example.
1. Gargle with warm water and salt or mouthwash
To gargle with warm water and salt, just mix a glass of warm water with a tablespoon of salt and gargle for about 30 seconds, 2 to 3 times a day.
As an alternative to saline, gargling can also be done with an oral rinse, which should not contain alcohol, as this substance increases the dryness and dehydration of the oral mucosa, increasing the desquamation of cells, which leads to an increase in the formation of leathery. The rinse must also contain oxygenating substances, in order to prevent the development of anaerobic bacteria, which contribute to the formation of skin and bad breath.
Some examples of mouthwashes with these characteristics are Oral-B Complete Natural Mint, Oral-B Complete Mint, Colgate Periogard without alcohol or Kin Cariax, for example.
However, if these treatments do not relieve symptoms after 5 days, you may need to see an otolaryngologist.
2. Removing with a cotton swab
You can also try to remove the cases with the help of a cotton swab, pressing gently on the regions of the amygdala where the cases are housed. One should not exert too much force to avoid damaging the fabrics and, in the end, the ideal is to gargle with water and salt or with a suitable rinse.
Check out other homemade options to remove caseum from the throat.
When surgical treatment is needed
Surgery is only used in a few cases, when the drugs are not able to fight the appearance of the case, when there is a constant development of tonsillitis, when the person feels a lot of discomfort or suffers from halitosis that cannot be treated with other measures.
In these cases, the surgery used is tonsillectomy, which consists of removing both tonsils. The postoperative period is not always easy, as patients can remain with many sore throats and ear for several days. Learn more about this type of surgery.
Another option is the use of laser, which is a technique known as tonsillary cryptolysis and that closes the cavities of the tonsils, which are a kind of holes, preventing the formation and accumulation of yellow balls in the throat.
Signs of improvement
The signs of improvement in caseum can take up to 3 days to appear and include a decrease in the number of small balls in the throat and reduction of bad breath.
Signs of worsening
These signs are more frequent when the treatment is not done correctly or there is no good oral hygiene and include worsening sore throat, difficulty swallowing and fever above 38º, due to the frequent appearance of tonsillitis.
