My 4-year-old son's ears and nose have a very foul smell. Why?

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

There could be two things that are causing the foul-smelling discharge from the nose and ear.

1. A foreign body - Make sure that the child has not inserted any foreign object in the nose or the ear as this is the most common cause of foul smell discharge in this age group. You can definitely see through a torch if you find any object stuck in the nose or ear and has to be removed as soon as possible.

2. Adenoid hypertrophy - This is another common reason why children present with a discharge from the nose and ear. Usually, the adenoids increase in size at this age and can obstruct the eustachian tubes blocking the ventilation between the nose and ear, thus leading to frequent nasal and ear discharge. Besides, in this case, if the child has enlarged adenoids, there will be some mouth breathing and snoring as well.

You can consider the following treatment.

1. Syrup Augmentin 228.5 mg (Amoxicillin + Clavulanic acid) half teaspoon three times a day after food for one week.
2. Metatop nasal spray (Mometasone) two puff in each nostril for next four weeks.
3. Syrup Sinarest (Chlorpheniramine Maleate+ Paracetamol+ Phenylephrine) half teaspoon three times a day for the next one week.
4. Otrivin P nasal drops (Xylometazoline Hydrochloride) three drops in each nostril three times a day for one week.

Make sure a gap of one hour is kept between medications mentioned in points number 2 and 4. I hope this answers your query. If there is anything more you want to know or enquire about, please do let us know, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Warm regards.