Apologies in advance for an off-topic question.

Once in a few months I'd cough up one or two stinky solid phlegm balls,
which fit the descriptions of tonsiloliths perfectly. Contrary to the
suggestion of many web posts, I cannot see anything towards the back of
my throat, although the area does feel irritated constantly, and I do
smell the gunk.

My PCP treats me for allergies. An ENT thinks I do have tonsiloliths.
A pulmonologist thought I may have asthma but the tests came back negative.
Chest X-rays and sinus CAT scans showed nothing either.

So I've been thinking of getting my tonsils removed. But all the irritation
and phlegm comes from one side (right), so I was also wondering whether
I can just have the bad one taken out.

A few days ago I found a couple of web sites suggesting the stink balls
may actually come from the bronchial tubes instead of the tonsils. I gather
that'd be much more worrisome, as I have had a few bronchitis attacks and
since one of them that happened 9 years ago I've always been having a lot
of mucous, especially in the morning. (The first couple of spits are yellow
or brown. For the rest of the day it's clear or white and foamy, and sometimes
it's quite difficult to cough it up.) Should I try bronchoscopy? (Neither
my PCP nor the pulmonologist thinks I have chronic bronchitis.)

Things that I find helpful are tongue-scraping, Therabreath's mouthwash,
running, and sauna. It felt great to cough up some boogers after a six mile
jog.

Thanks for any suggestions.

--Yu