Bad Smell in my nose

[Peanutter]

For about a month I've had this bad smell inside my nose.  It's getting worse.  It smells like smoke, my eyes will burn and feel dry on occasion.  Sometimes my face will burn.  I don't smoke and not around anyone that does. My cheeks do hurt a litle especially when pressed.  It's driving me nuts and have scheduled a doctors appt.  Just trying to get some education and possible ideas on what this could be.

[National Jewish]

Sinusitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes that line the sinus cavities.  Inflammation of the sinuses could be due to an allergy, an infection, or ongoing exposure to an irritant, such as pollution or smoke.  Symptoms can include a headache or pressure in the area of the sinuses, a stuffy nose, achy teeth, an odor coming from the nose, postnasal drip, cough, sore throat, laryngitis, lightheadedness, constant low fever, and thick, yellow to green nasal drainage.  This inflammation can block sinus drainage and cause increased mucus production.  The mucus can drain from the nose and sinuses down the back of the throat causing a constant or intermittent postnasal drip and sore throat.

The best way to identify a sinus infection is with a sinus CT scan, although sinus x-rays are a decent alternative.  A sinus CT scan will also identify if any of the openings that drain your sinuses are blocked.  If your symptoms are due to sinusitis, they will last as long as the inflammation continues.  Here are some ways to clear up the inflammation.  Please check with your doctor to see which of these would work best for you.  Please read our sinusitis information at http://www.nationaljewish.org/disease-info/diseases/allergy/about/conditions/sinusitis.aspx to learn more.

[Sunny602]

I wonder if this is a sinusitis causing this with you, especially since you say that your cheeks hurt when pressed. It's good that you are scheduling a doc's appt..he or she may order tests such as a xray or even a CT of the sinuses. Do you notice any foul looking mucous when you blow your nose? I wish you luck, Sunny :)

[Peanutter]

Doctor thinks allergies because of my eyes burning.  I'm using a nasal spray and some eye solution to see how it goes.  Next step will be ENT for the scope if this doesn't work.  
Someone told me they had just read article on this and it was a fungus ???? Has anyone heard this? UGH!

[Sunny602]

Actually, I have had yeast in my sinuses...I was on alot of IV antibiotics for a long period of time (2 months), was getting alot of sinus pain and had discharge. The ENT scraped my sinuses, and lo and behold, the yeast was there. I have chronic sinus issues because I have CF as well, but the yeast was more than likely flared by the heavy antibiotics I was on to treat my lung infection. Keep us updated...be interesting to hear what the ENT thinks. Sunny :)

[Sinus sufferer]

I too have BAD sinus odor. I have suffered for more than a year. At first I kept taking showers thinking it was my body. My grandaughter mentioned I smell like "Poop". I started getting paranoid when I had a temp job and heard a girl say" It smells like **** around here". The other girl said she started smelling it on Monday. That is when I started the assignment. I did not return. Now I have a permanant job and I am starting to hear some comments. I just finished taking antibiotics and I am making another appointment tomorrow to have an xray taken. I am so glad to know this is actually a condition. Please e-mail me with any suggestions and comments".

Sinus sufferer

***@****

[david ball]

I to have a bad smell in my nose. It seems like everytime I breathe through my nose that bad odor pops up. it's very uncomfortable for me. I'd really like to solve this problem. please help.

[sadperson]

I'm getting to fustrated about this disorder smell coming out of my nose and sure everyone is too. This started when i was maybe 13 years old and now im 21. We had to be the unlucky ones and perhaps say to ourselves "why is this happening to me" well i know i say that to myself a couple of times and make me realize that Im not worth it.The order comes when im eighter sweating hot, get to nervous, blow my nose and exhale. I can't even sleep comfortable because my husband then sniff in and then im thinking he has smell the bad order and makes me sad.It is so embarrasing by this. This happens about 70% of my time. The only time when i don't have the bad ordor is when im in the club drinking with friends and actually having a good time and forget about my smelly nose. But if i start remembering about it ang getting nervous comes back out again. Im thinking about going to the doctor and tell him about it and i went to walgreens and bought sinofresh antiseptic spray that kills mold and bacteria in your sinus. Been using for about ten days but not really helping a lot. This is sad moment for me cuz sometimes i want to go or do things and i can't. If anybody knows a cure please reply. hope is not permanent disease

[sunshine54]

I too have had a bad smell in my nose at times. For the past year I have been having trouble with a stuffy nose most often. It keeps me from sleeping some nights. Since around Christmas I have had a lot of mucus from my nose.(and when that's not going on, it is stuffy)I am leaning more towards allergies now. (since I put a fuzzy blanket I received at Christmas away in a closet wrapped tightly in a plastic bag)Two days after I put the blanket away I started feeling better!Not totally cured, but may have found one of the allergy triggers.

I finally broke down and made an appointment with my doctor. (I am so tired and disgusted with it all!) This happened when I started wheezing. I think on top of all else I might have a touch of asthma now. Probably brought on by my upset respitatory system. So much stuffy nose and coughing that my chest hurt.

I'll let you all know what the doc says.

[HelpMe777]

YA , this awful odor started when i was about 14 , when im around people they say stuff like " it smells like sh!t around here " i am also embarrased about it. i am 17 now almost 18 and extreamly frustrated . it sounds like our conditions are simular, where do you all live with this condition? and please let me know how to get rid of this stench in my nose so i can live my normal life again.

[so_helpless]

I have also been dealing with this bad smell coming from my nose. I use to think it was coming from my mouth so I went to the dentist and as you know it wasn't my breath.Well since then I've seen an ENT,Allergist,had an CT scan,a nasal scrap. I've
been on so many antibiotics in the last 3 yrs. I can remember half the names.Well anyway I've been reading these articles from this site for about 2 yrs now, and people have been writing about this problem this 1999 and I have't heard anyone write about how they're cured from this. Im not trying to scare anyone I just want to know does anyone have any answers or is something I'll be dealing with for the rest of my life, It seems like even the doctors can't cure it.

[feellikesuicide]

Okay i need help, i go on the bus feeling like my life is going to be over. I have a bad odor coming from my nose and i am  always stuffy. I sometimes feel that there is no cure for this bad crime of bad breath due to my sinuses. Is there anyone that can help me to find a solution to this sinuses wars that is one step forward not backwords.

[Reb57]

I have just recently had the same problem and hope someone can tell me where it is stemming from?  Everytime I breathe in through my nose lately everything smells like "ammonia"!!!!!  I haven't been using any cleaning chemicals, I am a smoker but have never experienced this before!!!!  Help!!!!!!!!

[HelpMe777]

this website sucks. so many ppl have posted their problems and no one has a solution to this bad odor when i exhale through my nose. i NEED A CURE. the docotor and i have tried everything but the smell remains. he now thinks its acid from my stomach, but i highly dought it. I know its coming from my sinus' but the catscan prooved nothing was wrong!!. Help me

[MedHelp323]

Well, I wouldn't say "this website sucks", it's good to see that we are not alone.  But yeah, it does suck that so far no one has found a solution to our problem.  Especially considering some of us have consulted doctors, ENT's, etc.  I plan to go to my doctor for the first time tomorrow.  I have had this problem on and off for a few years.  I'll share with you the things I have tried... some of them are laughable!  I too have a bad odor in my nose and for the longest time, once I figured out it wasn't in my breath, I wasn't sure if anyone else could smell it.  But then a good friend reluctantly brought it up.  I could tell it was something he and my other friends had discusded and were embarrased to talk about, but he finally had to say something to me.  UGH!  He handled it well though.  For me, the smell is chemical like.  And on days when it's really bad, my mouth has a metalic taste to it.  The smell can often give me headaches.  Here is what I have tried:  Initially, I just started brushing, flossing, and gargling with Listerine constantly.  That didn't work.  Then i bought Saline Nasal Spray.  That didn't work.  Then I emptied the Saline out and refilled the bottle with Listerine.  Yes... I sprayed Listerine up my nose.  This can be painful.  That didn't work.  Then I bought "Sino Fresh" which claims to kill mold and bacteria in the nose.  That didn't work.  Then i bought CloSYSII toothpaste and mouthwash, a more expensive oral care product.  That didn't work.  Then I emptied the Sino Fresh bottle and refilled it with CloSYSII mouthwash and sprayed that up my nose several times a day.  That hasn't worked.  Then I bought a nasal decongestant and started using that twice a day, and continued spraying mouth wsshes up my nose.  That hasn't worked.  I've tried Vick's Vapor Rub up my nose and sat in a steam room.  No luck.  And I have even poured various mouth washes into a Conair facial steamer and inhaled the steam from the mouth washes.  That hasn't worked.  And breath assure hasn't helped either.  I have tried a 100 combinations of all these tricks and nothing has helped.

So... my next step is to start with the doctors.  I've read here: http://www.healthscout.com/ency/1/imagepages/003058.html that bad breath can be the symptom of more serious diseases, including renal/kidney failure which can cause an amonia odor on your breath.  

Maybe some of the people that have posted here have found a solution or cure and just didn't come back to update us.  I'll try to keep everyone up to date if I have any luck.  If you want, anyone is welcome to email me at ***@****  You are not alone!

Good luck! :)

[HelpMe777]

damnn man, listernine up the nose.  Thats worst than when i tried salt and water. but yah if u do find a solution please let us know.

[jtex]

Ain't no use squirting ANYTHING up your nose, because you are fighting gravity.  Here is the cure for the bad nose smell, which is an infection of the hardest-to-reach sinus, which antibiotics will never reach. You are my beta-testers, so please let me know how it works for you.  Make saline solution--6 1/2 teaspoons salt to 1 gallon of a freshly opened distilled water.  Pour into a clean plastic squirt bottle.  Get in a hot shower, to loosen mucus.  STEP ONE.Tilt head back, squirt saline into each nostril, and pinch nose.  Set down bottle, and verrry slowly bend all the way down and look through your legs.  BE VERY CAREFUL bending over, cause some people might get dizzy and fall if they are old or have some other problem with balance.  Next, release your nostrils and let saline drain into your sinuses for 30 seconds.  SLOWLY bend halfway back up, so that you are looking straight down.  Close one nostril, blow verrry gently, release, close other nostril, blow verrrry gently.  DO NOT twist head to either side, or toxic schmoo will get in your ear canal.  DO NOT rub water out of your eye, except with the back of your clean hand, or you could get eye infection.    STEP TWO.  Stand erect, repeat step one, except after the water drains into your sinuses, slowwwwwly stand all the way erect before gently blowing each nostril.  Remember, one nostril will always be partly closed by the body, so only one nostril will get to feel cleared.  STEP THREE.  Repeat step two, except let all the schmoo drain slowly from your nose for a minute before you gently blow again.  Then do all the regular hawking, snorting and spitting that you've been doing since you got a undetectable sinus infection. Do this routine at least twice a day, for at least four days after it seems to have gone away.  Remember, always blow one nostril at a time, and press the other one closed.
I had the problem for 7 years, but I have been clear breathing for months.  I also have ways to keep clear and, but that'll be in my book. Good luck.

[me1969]

I had the same problem over a year ago.  My ENT found a Thorwalt cyst on my adenoids.  I had the cyst and adenoids removed.  The smell is gone.  I suffered for about 7 or 8 years.  I did a little research on the internet.  Look up Thornwalt's Cyst/  Good Luck everyone!!!

[sapphire47]

I smell ammonia and have had this problem for about 2 weeks.  I have use nasal sprays, mentholatum under my nose, a humidifier, hot, steamy showers and nothing helps.  I have a post nasal drip constantly.  No colored mucous.  I don't sneeze much.  I am on antibiotics and nothing has helped.  I am sick of the smell.

[sneezy1]

I finally found useful info on
sinuses [dot] com/fungal.htm
The persistent odor problem is likely due to a fungal-ball infection, rather than bacterial. Thus, antibiotics will be of no use.  Most physicians, including ENT's, are apparently unaware of the findings of the Mayo Clinic on this fact. Info on all of this is available at the web addr above. Best luck.

[HelpMe777]

I FOUND THE PROBLEM.  well everyone is different but the smell in my nose that smells like poo, is becuase i have a bowel obstuction.  Ya it doesnt sound like bowels have anything to do with breath but it does.  Poeples odor that smells like ammonia is most likely because they have kidney problems.
check this out

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003058.htm

[SoUnlucky]

I've had "a problem" similar to some of those mentioned. This has bothered me for around 20 years. I've contemplated suicide.

I've been to all the ENT specialists in my hoemtown, Had a LKuc caldwell (basically they bore a hole in your sinus via your mouth an blast out whatewver they can), i've had 3/4 sinus washes. The smell also comes out of a cpped tooth. I can blow air (very minute passageway) goes up somewhere. - an awful smell comes out. all dentists have found nothing untowrd in my gums. When I catch a flight I pray im not stinking the place out...sometimes thinking i hope the plane crashes and puts an end to this agony/mental turmoil.

I take a very small/perverse satisfaction in knowing that there are fellow sufferers. I feel absolutely sympatheeitc to all that has this. I've been to see a psychiatrist. I've done meditation.

Ive a pain in my upper gum and constant blood clot in my inside nasal area. I've photocopied my GP's notes and he thinks i'm imagining it! He thinks I have olfactory hallocinations! Great. Why didn't he have the balls to tell me.

I don't want to be pessemistic - but i fear i may have to live with it. Maybe to should get together and setup a Stink commune -HAHAHA! I've learned to laugh at it all.. its that or cry.

[so_helpless]

I just wanted to know are you sure your odor is from a bowel obsruction,and if so what is you and doctor doing to fix this problem.

[rabia]

Dear everyone
First i want to say that you are not alone, i had a problem with
my breath for 16 years and my doctor couldn't find anything
wrong. I have another appointment coming up soon with my doctor
my breath smells like drains and i think it something to do with
my bowels,i'm sorry to have put you off your food if you happend to be eating whilst reading this. So if your breath smells like
mine then you do have problems with your bowels.
Good luck and i wish you good health.

[rabia]

If anyone knows anything about what causes the breath to smell
like drain, please e-mail me at the address bellow
thank you.
           ***@****