I am a 30-year-old girl suffering from a very smelly breath. People usually avoid talking with me. I have already read the answers for the problems in the same category but my case is a little different. I go to dentist every six month. I have checked my stomach and doctors say that I do not have helico-bactria in my stomach which is one of the causes of this problem. I have a slight sinusitis but doctors say it can't be the cause of this extremely bad smell. I also have had a very slight pain in my throat for 3 or 4 years. I usually breathe with both mouth and noise but during sleeping I just breathe with open mouth.
When I was a child I had a tonsil surgery and they took out my tonsils. Can it be the cause of this problem?

Dear Susan,

I don't think that lack of tonsils would cause any smell, rather removal of tonsils is done as one of the cures. I do think your sinusitis is the problem. I read a study where people had different types of bacteria in their throat like proteus mirabilis or enterococcus feacalis etc. I had similar problem and what helped was antibiotics. So simple right? Ciprofloxacin and cefuroxime, although your bacteria may be different than mine and have different sensitivity. When I did nasal swab it came out clean, as my ENT specialist said it would, because infection is in sinus not in the nose.
This are usually anaerobic or facultative anaerobic bacteria, so regular penicillin won't do.
Another thing: You have to stop breathing on your mouth!!
It even changes your muscle tone of your jaw muscles, not to mention it makes your throat dry, which can cause bad breath itself. Use your nose. If your nose is blocked, unblock it with hypertonic saline or a very low dose of pseudoephedrine and go to your ENT specialist to check whether you have an obstruction (e.g. polyp) and make him check your adenoid (similar to tonsil), which can get infected itself and grow and cause an obstruction.
I know this sound like a lot of advices, but if you don't treat it it will worsen and cause other health issues.
I would also add I was rinsing my nose with saline solution in which I have added a drop of iodine (some people are sensitive to it so watch out) and I have gargled diluted solution of peroxide (0.3%) and brushed my tongue. Everything helped a little, but I wouldn't do without antibiotic. I took it as a last option, but it worked and my nasal congestion has significantly decreased.
I hope this will help you and others reading this blog.

Even I am suffering from this diseases some times I feels better to die , almost 905 I don't talk with anybody , I don't like to friendship for this reasin I don't like to go to college any where I like loneless
:(

But till now I didn't go to doctor , because I thought its only happening to me :( tomorrow I go to doctor :)

Dear Susan,
I am a medicine student and I recently read a few scientific articles and a book about halitosis (bad breath).

There are plenty of diseases wich cause halitosis, even when mouth hygiene is good. For example the aceton smell in the breath of diabetes patients, released from the blood into the oral fluid.

But in your case the answer is quite clear;
The throat part from the mouth all the way to the lungs and stomach is not always as smoothly. A fold in there for example can hold food stains wich can be a feeding ground for bacteria, who create bad odours,and also cause your sore throat.
Since your toncilles were removed, it is most likely that that place is the cause of the problems.

The foldy areas in the throat are hard to clean. But plastic surgery could smoothen out some of the folds.

To be sure the smell is from the throat try;

Breathing out deeply in your hands and that will probably smell.
Then open your mouth, close your throat, hold both of your cheeks then pull then apart and release for a few seconds quickly to get an air flow from your mouth to the ivironment, meanwhile breath in trough your nose. If this doesn't smell/ or at least not the same/ as bad.
The problem is surely not the mouth.

At home you could gargle (listerine etc) daily to at least clean the first part of the throat.
And drink allot of water because bacteria are more likely to grow in a dry throat.


There is a solution to this problem, don't give up! You can't let this affect your life.
Keep seeing different doctor till at least the cause of the problem is clear.

Good luck,
Sincerely Justin

U might have post nasal drip, buy some medication to "dry up" your sinuses. If its coming from your stomach take some probiotics and stomach acid capsules, and digestive enzymes

You may want to get a throat culture and see if there is a large grwoth of Proteus mirabillis, as well as possible growth of Escherichia coli. You may want to follow up with a ENT to rule out any kind of indwellingh wounds such as absess or lesions that maybe causing a fertile envvironment for bacteria to propagate and colonize. Although Escherichia and Proteus mirabillis found vastly ion UTI patients, there is possibillity of contracting bacterial infection when being around areas such as community pools where swimming occurs and possible interaction or aspiration of pool water to bring forth the opportunistic bacteria. Bad breath can be from many different things. Its good though to rule out any major findings first before just saying its sinus, or other illness. Cipro does well in treating these kinds of gram negative bacterias. Make sure your Doctor does a throat culture.

Best of luck

Rashid F.
Bad breath might also be caused by Zenker's diverticulum which is a pouching in the esophagus. That can be checked by a barium swallow test, an esophageal endoscope, or any other way that your ENT prefers. You can also check between the teeth and if there is any pocket underneath or around the wisdom teeth. Good luck.

This is a checklist that I prepared once as a result of researching independently on halitosis.

Let me give you this hint: To find the source of the problem, think about the following:

1. Tonsil stones. 2. The tongue is not scraped. 3. Not to floss between the teeth. 4. Some foods or drinks: garlic, onion, peanut butter, coffee... etc. 5. Smoking. 6. Alcohol. 7. Nasal blockage(when the sinuses do not drain properly). 8. Dry mouth. 9. Gingivitis(periodontal pockets) 10. Gastrointestinal issues... acid reflex, diverticulum... etc. 11. Postnasal drip. 12. Pulmonary infection. 13. Esophageal or Zenker's diverticulum 14. Mouthwashes that contain alcohol. 15. Do you need dental scaling? 16. Are you diabetic? 17. What about the spicy foods? 18. Any food debris hidden underneath or behind the wisdom teeth? 19. Are you on medications? 20. The last one is: Are you halitophobic/hypochondriac or you are sure about your claim that you have halitosis? 21. The best ways to know that you have halitosis is to ask someone that you trust or simply ask a child! Note: Children never lie about the truth. They do not know the civility and the respect that many people use when you ask them about a very sensitive issue like that. Good luck everyone.