What is the treatment for foul smell from the nose?

Question

Hello doctor,

My girlfriend has recently noticed a foul smell coming from my nose. It is hard for me to tell, but she says the whole room will smell like that in the morning. I sleep with my mouth closed. Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

You have mentioned the foul smell coming only during exhalation of breathing. I want to ask you a few follow-up medical questions to know your medical history related to it.

For how long have you had the above problem?
How have you tested and confirmed it?
Any difficulty in breathing with mouth closed?
Do you have any on and off nasal discharge?
Any mass or nasal secretion you would feel on palpating the nose?
Any chronic cough or ear problem with secretion?
Do you clear your nose with some viscous material that smells foul?
Any headache or sinusitis-related problem?

Please reply to the above questions to assess the possible cause of the foul smell and guide you accordingly.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

It cannot be due to the garlic food which you had for dinner. I meant that you feel any mass in the nasal area on touching or palpating the nose. A foul smell for about a month means there would be some nasal secretion retention, or this might be your subjective perception of foul smell until the doctor confirms it on examination. Deviated nasal septum usually manifests as obstruction of one or both nostrils, noisy breathing during sleep, and a preference for sleeping on a particular side of deviated nasal septum, severely obstructing one of the nasal passages. Chronically and rarely deviated nasal septum can cause nasal secretion retention, which could lead to a foul smell, but this is not the reason in your case. I am unsure until a nasal examination has been done to rule out the usual suspects.

I suggest you do nasal irrigation and visit an ENT (ear-nose-throat) doctor for a nasal examination to rule out usual suspects like nasal polyp, small foreign body in the nostril, and any nasal mucosal inflammation. Do not worry about it, but do visit the ENT doctor as you have complained of foul smell for about a month which needs medical attention to get rid of it.

I hope this information will be helpful.

Thank you.