My boyfriend just cough up little white stone looking things ?

Ewww my boyfriend just cough up some little whit stones what the hell are they its fingdiscusting he smoke a lot he siad his got swine flu but he hasn't ( idiot) but seriousley what is it?

From what I've read he may have a condition called cryptic tonsils. What that means is, your tonsils have deep groves and pits in them that debris get stuck in. It forms into like a soft, usually foul smelling, white plaque ball. This debris will dislodge and come out sometimes when you cough. If you have a lot of trouble because of this condition, such as a lot of sore throats or throat infections,they'll sometimes take your tonsils out. If it doesn't bother you, then just leave it alone. Eventually, as you get older, it starts to go away. You don't need your tonsils as much and they start to shrink but do discuss with your Dr.

Since he's a smoker, it's probably phlegm. I'm a smoker and sometimes cough up the same stuff. While it isn't good, it is pretty normal. Tell your boyfriend if he quits, in as little as three months his coughing will subside and his lung capacity will be increased by 10%.

wow, some of these answers are very misleading and ignorant..
TONSILLOLITHS/TONSIL STONES:
I just looked it up and it's a debris yes, that is a combination of food, mucus and bacteria that builds up and clings to your tonsils (Why it smells so bad). As you can imagine, its also one of the causes of bad breath. It comes from not only a collection of food but also from bacteria that develops due to poor dental hygiene. (Why it looks, feels and smells like plaque and/or the bottom of a fish tank :s) Brush your teeth after EVERY meal, FLOSS, and try gargling with saline water and/or mouthwash and it should lesson it, if not diminish it altogether.
Note: Common among adults, rare in children and teenagers.

I've always had these things in the back of my throat, too, and I proceeded to find out what they were. Most people have them, or they just dont know it yet. This is something that I read off of tonsilstones.com, hope it helps, cause it helped me!: They are irregularly shaped, whitish/yellow, foul-smelling globs of mucous and bacteria that get caught in the tonsils. They form in the tonsil crypts which are simply small pockets or divots that appear in everyones tonsils. The scientific term for them is tonsilloliths...but they are more commonly called tonsil stones. Many people have reported that their dentists have told them this is food debris, but this is NOT TRUE. Tonsil Stones don't do any physical harm, and sporadically coughing them up doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with you. However they can be annoying.(who wants to cough one up when they are kissing someone!), and sometimes they are an indication that you have bad breath. If you have ever broken open one of those white tonsilloliths, then you know that they smell absolutely terrible! What you are smelling is actually a combination of volatile sulfur compounds(Methyl Mercaptan and Hydrogen Sulfide), post nasal drip, and bacteria (no wonder it smells so bad!)

I have read and found that gargling with a strong mouth wash, such as Listerine, has helped to prevent them. When I have a cold, a stuffy nose or a post nasal drip, I tend to get them more often. So, during this time you should probably gargle more often. Otherwise, they are just a harmless bunch of little smelly annoyances that everyone has to get used to. hope this helped, bye!

I cough up something similar once in a while and was searching for what it was. Mine appear like soft little yellow/white collection of plaque. It smells like it and like bad breath or my plaque. Would this be the same thing you guys are talking about? I think it is. Sometimes I feel like something is caught in my throat and I have to clear it for it to pop out.