After reading several postings on this site I scheduled an appointment with my ENT. During my visit he probed my nose with a scope and said no lumps or bumps could be found and nothing else that stood out as a possible reason for the horrible smell that periodically comes from my nose and can be smelled by others. Armed with experiences I had read in this forum I told him I had two theories on where the smell was coming from. The first was the front of my my nostrils. Because my nose is large there is a small cavity on front inside section of each nostril that tends to collect mucous. I told him I started to use a wet Qtip in this area and the problem seems to have subsided. The other theory I postulated to him was that I get tonsil stones from time to time and when the stones come out and I am able to get them in my hand and they smell similar in description to what my wife says the smell smells like.
After giving it some thought he looked in my mouth again and did not see any tonsil stones on the surface so he grabbed two tongue depressors and began digging around the area of the tonsils. After a few moments he pulled out the depressors and had a large tonsil stone that was apparently deep in the cavity where the tonsils reside. He said the smell is likely coming from the tonsils despite there not being apparent stones that can be seen with the naked eye. He also said that there is bacteria that can reside in the tonsil area that can create a sulfur compound which is most likely the source of the smell. Additionally, he stated the smell is likely coming from this area when I breath and is not actually residing in the nose.
His recommendation was a 30 day supply of antibiotics, a morning and evening flush with warm salt water and using the blunt end of my toothbrush to "dig" out the tonsil stones everyday. He told me this would get rid of the bacteria but the issue could come back. I've not started this treatment but will report back when I finish.
One final note...the ENT said this issues is not on his boards to become and ENT and may be something that even a seasoned professional would know to look for when I asked him why others with this problem have mentioned that they could not get a diagnosis.
This discussion is related to
Bad Smell in my nose.