Hello Health Nurse, Around two months ago, I had unprotected sex with someone I met online. (Unprotected: vaginal sex, fellatio on me and analingus and cunnilingus on her). Three days after, I realized my tonsils were red and inflamed with white spots on them and I also had a mild sore throat. I also had a fever of 0.6 degrees the night I realized this health problem but it went away quickly the same night. I visited my doctor and he told me that I have had some sort of infection (it was a long weekend so by the time I visited my doctor it was day 5 and things were starting to get slightly better. Somehow gargling Listerine was helping me). Since I was getting better on my own, the doctor did not give me any medication but I got a requisition for testing. I got swabbed for strep right there and later got tested for Mano/HIV/Chlamydia/Gonorrhea/Syphilis and Hep C after 30 days of my exposure(blood and urine only, no samples from mouth). All my results came back negative. My concern is about my tonsils and those white spots: The tonsil inflammation is basically all healed up now but the white spots are not completely gone. I can tell you when the inflation happened, it opened up my tonsil holes on the wall of my tonsils just outside my tonsillar crypts. I believe these are actually food debris and dead cells that get trapped there. I use a cotton swab to clean them up and they come off easily but they reappear after a couple of days. My doctor told me they are pus from infection though. My question is (we are at 60 days now): what exactly happened to me? Have you seen anything like this? Assuming if I do more tests at 90 days and all come back negative again, that means it wasn’t really an STI and there is no way to tell if it won’t happen again with a future partner since it does not show up in any of the STI tests. Also should I be concerned about the white spots? I seem to be okay. No fever since that night I found out about the inflammation. Despite my doctor’s opinion, I think they are tonsil stones, just outside the tonsillar crypts but on the walls of my tonsils. Your response is greatly appreciated. Regards, AR12

Home / Answered Questions / Hello Health Nurse, Around two months ago, I had unprotected sex with someone I met online. (Unprotected: vaginal sex, fellatio on me and analingus and cunnilingus on her). Three days after, I realized my tonsils were red and inflamed with white spots on them and I also had a mild sore throat. I also had a fever of 0.6 degrees the night I realized this health problem but it went away quickly the same night. I visited my doctor and he told me that I have had some sort of infection (it was a long weekend so by the time I visited my doctor it was day 5 and things were starting to get slightly better. Somehow gargling Listerine was helping me). Since I was getting better on my own, the doctor did not give me any medication but I got a requisition for testing. I got swabbed for strep right there and later got tested for Mano/HIV/Chlamydia/Gonorrhea/Syphilis and Hep C after 30 days of my exposure(blood and urine only, no samples from mouth). All my results came back negative. My concern is about my tonsils and those white spots: The tonsil inflammation is basically all healed up now but the white spots are not completely gone. I can tell you when the inflation happened, it opened up my tonsil holes on the wall of my tonsils just outside my tonsillar crypts. I believe these are actually food debris and dead cells that get trapped there. I use a cotton swab to clean them up and they come off easily but they reappear after a couple of days. My doctor told me they are pus from infection though. My question is (we are at 60 days now): what exactly happened to me? Have you seen anything like this? Assuming if I do more tests at 90 days and all come back negative again, that means it wasn’t really an STI and there is no way to tell if it won’t happen again with a future partner since it does not show up in any of the STI tests. Also should I be concerned about the white spots? I seem to be okay. No fever since that night I found out about the inflammation. Despite my doctor’s opinion, I think they are tonsil stones, just outside the tonsillar crypts but on the walls of my tonsils. Your response is greatly appreciated. Regards, AR12

Hello Health Nurse, Around two months ago, I had unprotected sex with someone I met online. (Unprotected: vaginal sex, fellatio on me and analingus and cunnilingus on her). Three days after, I realized my tonsils were red and inflamed with white spots on them and I also had a mild sore throat. I also had a fever of 0.6 degrees the night I realized this health problem but it went away quickly the same night.I visited my doctor and he told me that I have had some sort of infection (it was a long weekend so by the time I visited my doctor it was day 5 and things were starting to get slightly better. Somehow gargling Listerine was helping me). Since I was getting better on my own, the doctor did not give me any medication but I got a requisition for testing. I got swabbed for strep right there and later got tested for Mano/HIV/Chlamydia/Gonorrhea/Syphilis and Hep C after 30 days of my exposure(blood and urine only, no samples from mouth). All my results came back negative.My concern is about my tonsils and those white spots: The tonsil inflammation is basically all healed up now but the white spots are not completely gone. I can tell you when the inflation happened, it opened up my tonsil holes on the wall of my tonsils just outside my tonsillar crypts. I believe these are actually food debris and dead cells that get trapped there. I use a cotton swab to clean them up and they come off easily but they reappear after a couple of days. My doctor told me they are pus from infection though. My question is (we are at 60 days now): what exactly happened to me? Have you seen anything like this? Assuming if I do more tests at 90 days and all come back negative again, that means it wasn’t really an STI and there is no way to tell if it won’t happen again with a future partner since it does not show up in any of the STI tests. Also should I be concerned about the white spots? I seem to be okay. No fever since that night I found out about the inflammation. Despite my doctor’s opinion, I think they are tonsil stones, just outside the tonsillar crypts but on the walls of my tonsils.Your response is greatly appreciated. Regards, AR12

Hi, thanks for your question. Sometimes the tonsils take a long time to return to their normal size after an infection and sometimes they stay enlarged without causing any problems.
Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are formed when trapped debris hardens, or calcifies in the crevices of the normal tonsil tissue. This tends to happen most often in people who have chronic inflammation in their tonsils from repeated bouts of tonsillitis. I am not able to tell if this is what is causing the white spots on your tonsil.
It sounds like you have already been to see your doctor about your concerns re STI’s and your tonsils. I would suggest seeing them again if you are concerned about any further symptoms. Health Nurse

This answer was posted on October 23, 2017.

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