Move Over, Pimple Poppers: Tonsil Stone Removal Videos Are The New (And Disgusting) Craze

By now, I’m going to go ahead and assume you already know about Dr. Pimple Popper. Her videos of removing everything from clusters of blackheads to large cysts have been burning up the internet for some time. I will also admit that if anyone mentioned to me 10 years ago that I’d find myself addicted to pimple-extraction videos on YouTube, I’d have gagged in my mouth, and then feared for my future.

But here we are.

Naturally, like anything online, the moment you assume we’ve reached the bottom, the internet finds a new one. Thus, I bring you the new online craze, tonsil stone removal videos.

“What are tonsil stones?” you ask.

Well, I had the same question. According to Mayo Clinic, tonsil stones are “a lump of calcified material in the tonsils, the fleshy pads at the back of the throat.” More or less, they look a lot like a large whitehead zit in the back of a person’s mouth.

I’m a child of the ’80s, so I had my tonsils removed before I can even remember and have never had the pleasure of a tonsil stone. However, I have three children, and they all have their tonsils, and considering tonsil stones are incredibly common, I have a feeling I’ll be dealing with these nasty suckers at some point.

Anyway, these stones are, more or less, a collection of food, mucus, and other nastiness that happen to collect in the tonsils. I can only imagine the smell they produce. Unlike Dr. Pimple Popper, who is, in fact, a dermatologist, tonsil stone removal videos are usually done at home, amateur style. Naturally, there is a Reddit community for these amateur practitioners, because Reddit. And a YouTube channel aptly named Tonsil Stone Man.

I usually have a pretty strong stomach for this sort of thing, but I’d like to pause right now and mention that I’m writing this article at 7 a.m. in a coffee shop. I’m feeling a little queasy looking at all this nasty, and the people around me aren’t touching their coffee anymore. But if you are one of those iron-stomach types, I will do you all the favor of posting two of the most popular removal videos below along with commentary (I was going to post three, but my stomach can’t take it).

Extreme Tonsil Stone Removal

16 Million Views

In this nasty adventure, a stone the size of a small dime is removed. What’s surprising about this one is that you can’t see it at all until the dude starts rooting around in his mouth. Then… bam! There it is.

World’s Greatest Tonsil Stone Removals

6 Million Views

This is a compilation of removal videos. More or less, a greatest hits, if you will. Some are secret stones like the one above, while others looking like a field of mushrooms inside some poor person’s mouth (think about that next time you kiss someone new).

The fact is, just like Dr. Pimple Popper, there’s a really good chance these suckers are going to start appearing on your social media feed. Why? I don’t know. Probably because people are nasty. But the reality is, many of these videos have been viewed in the multiple millions, so I suppose it’s inevitable.

On a positive note, if there is one in all this, many of these videos are pretty educational. In between clips, there is information on how to remove and prevent tonsil stones. Considering there are more than 200,000 U.S. cases reported a year, this is obviously something many people are struggling with.

Regardless, please enjoy. And do yourself a favor, watch them in private. I have a feeling I’m never going to be allowed in this coffee shop again.