Why does my breath smell like rotten eggs? Causes of pathology, diagnosis and treatment

Causes of bad breath

Problems with bad breath can have two causes. The first is an unhealthy lifestyle , which involves unhealthy eating, bad habits and poor hygiene. The other lies in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract , respiratory organs, teeth or gums.

• Nutrition . Consumed foods are broken down in the mouth with the help of saliva. They then enter the circulatory system and are expelled through exhaled air. Some foods have an extremely strong aroma and take time to be eliminated from the body, so they may cause bad breath;
• Bad habits . The development of bacteria is promoted by smoking and alcohol. They change not only the smell of your mouth, but also the color of your teeth;
• Hygiene . Need I say that a person who regularly forgets to brush his teeth will suffer from bad breath?

Common Causes of Odor

Why does he appear? According to medical statistics, in 90% of cases the cause of putrid odor from the mouth is dental problems. The remaining percentage is due to deviations in the digestive organs and some other factors.

The main reasons why rotten or rotting breath occurs:

• dental problems - the presence of periodontitis, periodontal disease, stomatitis, carious lesions, oral dysbacteriosis, tartar and deposits, poor hygiene. In addition, a rotten smell is provoked by dentures, difficult eruption of wisdom teeth, and pathologies of the salivary glands;
• disorders of the digestive system. Rotten odors are emitted against the background of gastritis, colitis, enteritis, pathologies of the esophagus, diseases of the gall bladder, liver, pancreas, helminthic infestations;
• disorders in the respiratory system - with tuberculosis, lung abscess, pneumonia, bronchiectasis, rhinitis, bronchitis;
• nicotine or alcohol addiction;
• dangerous eating disorders in people suffering from bulimia and anorexia. Systematic adherence to unbalanced diets, regular overeating, especially before bedtime - in such a group of people, it may not be just a putrid smell, but a heavy smell of feces;
• harmless reasons not related to diseases are the consumption of onions, garlic, hard cheeses and other “fragrant” products;

Many female representatives have repeatedly noticed how during menstruation the freshness of their breath changes, far from for the better. In this case, there is no need to talk about pathological causes, since the condition is caused by changes in hormonal levels. Everything returns to normal after the end of menstruation.

Diseases in which this symptom occurs

Constant bad breath can indicate a number of diseases. Much in diagnosis depends on the nature of the smell.

• Smell of hydrogen sulfide (“rotten eggs”). It is a symptom of problems with the gastrointestinal tract. The cause of this smell may be rotting protein food in the stomach. It may be accompanied by mild nausea, belching and even pain after eating. This may indicate the development of gastritis with low acidity, pyloric stenosis, diverticulum of the esophagus or stomach;
• Bitter smell . May be associated with liver or gallbladder diseases - hepatitis, gallstones, and so on. Another sign of such diseases is the appearance of a yellowish coating on the tongue;
• Sour smell . May indicate ulcers, problems in the esophagus and gastritis with high acidity;
• Fecal smell . An extremely unpleasant phenomenon, indicating dysbiosis, intestinal obstruction or dyskinesia;
• Sweetish smell and taste in the mouth (similar to acetone). This phenomenon may be accompanied by diabetes mellitus and a number of pancreatic diseases;
• Urine odor . In this case, it is worth checking whether everything is normal with the kidneys.

Dentures

Despite the fact that a person eats food every day throughout his life, teeth are the only component in the body that is not prone to self-healing.

Therefore, sooner or later, to one degree or another, people are able to use prostheses. They can partially or completely replace teeth. But can they cause bad breath?

You can do a completely simple test at home. To do this, you need to remove the dentures and place them in a closed container.

Leave them for a few minutes. Then open the box and determine if they have a bad odor.

Bacteria accumulate on teeth and tongue and can similarly accumulate on dentures. To eliminate this unpleasant condition, dentures must be cleaned in a timely manner.

Diagnostic features

Those who suffer from an unpleasant odor can get used to it and stop noticing it. Another person can evaluate it objectively.

There are also special devices that determine the concentration of various substances in the air that a person exhales.

Diagnostics aimed at determining the causes of halitosis in a medical facility may include the following measures:

• 
  Examination of the oral cavity. Inflammation of the mucous membrane of certain structures is accompanied by plaque and redness;

• Blood examination for the presence of inflammatory changes and high glucose levels;
• Determination of diuresis - the daily amount of urine excreted, as well as a clinical urine test, which can confirm renal failure;
• Examination of the digestive system, liver and bile ducts. Gastroduodenoscopy and ultrasound can be used;
• X-ray of the nasal sinuses to determine inflammation in them;
• Additional research helps to pinpoint the cause of halitosis and take measures to combat it.

Additional recommendations

As the underlying disease is treated, the patient will make his breathing much more pleasant by comprehensively following effective recommendations:

• systematically and thoroughly care for the oral cavity - brush your teeth for at least three minutes twice a day, be sure to remove plaque from the tongue, especially at the base, use dental floss to remove food stuck in the interdental space, rinses aimed at fighting microbes.

• It’s worth reviewing your hygiene products - replacing regular toothpaste with gel or medicinal toothpaste with fluoride or calcium, purchasing a high-quality toothbrush. It is recommended to rinse your mouth with plain water or herbal infusions after each meal;
• It is necessary to maintain a drinking regime and avoid dehydration; for the same reason, it is not recommended to abuse diuretics without a doctor’s prescription;
• An important aspect is the correction of eating habits and a review of the diet as a whole. As practice shows, even refusing to overeat before bed gives a positive result already in the first days of treatment, especially if this is supported by compliance with the above rules. It is advisable to exclude from the diet all foods that are difficult to digest, which cause fermentation and rotting in the intestines: baked goods, confectionery, fatty foods, sausages, fast food, meat in large quantities. Meals should be small and light, and the last meal should be 4 hours before the night's rest.

Considering that chewing gum and caramel candies do not have the best effect on the condition of teeth, you can, as an alternative, resort to natural remedies that temporarily freshen your breath - chew fresh mint, parsley, ginger, eat a citrus fruit or an apple. The video below contains many recommendations:

Infusions with lemon balm, sage, thyme, and chamomile have a good antibacterial and refreshing effect. For a glass of boiling water you need to take 1 tbsp. medicinal plant, let it brew for 15–20 minutes, and then use it as a rinse.

Treatment of bad breath

Drugs

To eliminate bad odor, local antiseptics can be used to eliminate bacterial inflammation of the oral mucosa.

A specialist may also prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics, the use of which will help eliminate bacterial inflammatory processes in the mouth or paranasal sinuses. You cannot take them without a doctor's prescription.

At home

To combat unpleasant odors, you can use mint candies, chewing gum, and sprays. They make breathing cleaner, but, nevertheless, do not eliminate the cause of halitosis. Traditional recipes can also be effective:

• Mint infusion. Pour a teaspoon of mint into ¾ cup of boiling water and strain. Gargle after eating and brushing your teeth.
• Celery tincture. Pour two teaspoons of celery root into a glass of vodka, let it brew for two weeks, strain. 20 drops of tincture should be diluted in a third of a glass of water. Rinse your mouth and throat with this mixture twice a day for 7 days.

To eliminate the smell of onions and garlic, you can chew walnuts or parsley. Hot milk helps. Ordinary apples are also great for freshening your breath.

A type of halitosis

There are cases when a person “invents” the presence of an unpleasant odor. First, it is necessary to determine whether a person actually has the disease.

In medicine, there are several types of halitosis:

• Pseudohalitosis. Bad breath appears only with very close contact.
• Halitophobia. This is a person’s obsessive thought that he has bad breath. In fact, there is no reason to worry at all.
• True.

With pseudohalitosis, you just need to monitor the oral cavity in a timely manner, but with true, you need to take measures to eliminate the cause of this disorder.

Stool odor

If there is a smell of feces from the mouth, it is necessary to examine the intestines. Frequent constipation and intestinal obstruction are possible. This symptom can also be observed in the presence of anorexia.

In diseases of the bronchopulmonary system, such a smell is extremely rare.

Putrid odor from the mouth

Occurs when there are disorders in the oral cavity. It can appear due to caries, pathology of the salivary glands, untimely removal of plaque, stomatitis, and periodontal disease.

As well as diseases of the bronchopulmonary system: bronchitis, allergies, sore throat, sinusitis and pneumonia.

This may be a consequence of bad habits or diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. For example, gastritis with high acidity.

Smell of acetone

In most cases, it indicates the presence of acute and serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Kidney diseases. It is this organism that cleanses the body. With diseases such as kidney dystrophy, acute renal failure, an unpleasant odor appears.

Diabetes. This is a disease of the pancreas that does not produce enough enzymes to break down food.

Due to increased blood sugar levels, the number of ketone bodies may increase.

At the same time, the load on the kidneys increases. This organ of the excretory system cannot cope with removing sugar breakdown products from the blood and uses the lungs for this. Because of this, this symptom appears.

If you know that one of your loved ones has diabetes and you smell acetone from them, then urgent hospitalization is necessary. This may be a harbinger of diabetic coma.

Hyperthyroid crisis. If there are problems in the functioning of the thyroid gland, there may be a complication of the disease, which has another name: crisis.

Additionally, muscle tremors, intense decrease in blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm, sharp increase in body temperature, and vomiting occur. In this case, it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance.

Rotten eggs

Occurs when the stomach stops working normally. This can occur with gastritis with high acidity, as well as poisoning with low-quality products.

Sweet

This aroma appears in people whose bodies have insufficient amounts of microelements and diabetes mellitus. Even after natural hygiene procedures, the smell appears very quickly.

This is because the cause of the disease has not been eliminated. In this case, complete restoration of the body is necessary.

Sour

The presence of this “aroma” may appear in the presence of chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

For example, with pancreatitis, gastritis with high acidity and heartburn with the appearance of nausea. Also, this symptom is the presence of a disease of the esophageal opening.

Prevention of bad breath

The main measure to prevent bad breath is proper oral hygiene. Children should be taught to brush their teeth regularly from an early age. In addition to your teeth, you need to brush your tongue and cheeks.

It is recommended to use floss - a special dental floss, which is an important part of prevention.

Proper nutrition plays a role. It is recommended to include foods high in fiber, vegetables, fruits, herbs in the diet, and additionally take vitamins and microelements. It is worth giving up bad habits and visiting the dentist regularly.

How to remove odor

High-quality treatment is only possible when the primary causes are eliminated. The simplest and surest step to removing an unpleasant odor is to visit the dentist; most often this method eliminates persistent unpleasant odors.

The doctor will:

• professional cleaning of the oral cavity, after which the teeth will be freed from supragingival and subgingival deposits that emit a stench;
• sanitation – will cure carious teeth, change fillings, if necessary, replace incorrectly installed dentures, treat periodontal inflammatory processes;
• regulate reduced salivation using therapeutic methods;
• will teach the rules of good hygiene.

After the procedures, you should monitor the freshness of your breath, and to make sure there is no or no smell of rot, you can ask your loved ones about it.

If a complete examination of the body has been carried out, treatment is prescribed by an appropriate specialist.

Forecast

The prognosis in this case will depend on whether correct and timely measures were taken to identify and treat the condition. One cannot talk about any positive prognosis if a person ignores his foul-smelling diet.

Then this problem can worsen and lead to consequences such as chronic diseases of internal organs, nasopharynx and tooth loss. In most cases, a visit to the dentist and certain hygiene procedures help restore clean and healthy breath.

How to eliminate bad breath

Respiratory diseases and bad breath

Many people who suffer from diseases of the bronchopulmonary system and bad breath are interested in whether there is a connection between these diseases.

For example, when you have a runny nose or sinusitis, nasal discharge enters the oral cavity and can cause an unpleasant odor.

Also, with diseases of the nasopharynx, a person needs to breathe through the mouth. In this regard, dryness appears in the oral cavity, and this discomfort appears.

In addition, medications that are used to treat this disease can cause dryness and only worsen the situation.

How to get rid of it?

In order to get rid of sweet breath, it is not enough just to remove the external symptom, that is, the smell itself. First of all, you need to find out the reason for its occurrence. It is not possible to do this yourself without medical knowledge.

For this reason, the best solution would be to see a doctor, especially if this symptom accompanies you constantly. It is possible that there is a disease behind the symptom. Its timely detection and further treatment according to prescriptions and instructions from doctors will be most effective.

Symptoms of diaphragmatic hernia

The esophagus at the junction with the stomachs is delimited by the diaphragm. The growth of a hernia in this area leads to the specified hole increasing in size. As a result, part of the stomach and esophagus move into the chest. In this condition, conditions are created for the return of hydrochloric acid and food debris.

What to do if your teeth are bleeding and you have bad breath

The presence of a hernia can be determined by the following phenomena:

• the appearance of heartburn;
• decreased taste;
• pain localized in the chest and upper abdomen;
• difficulty breathing during the night.

Treatment of a diaphragmatic hernia is recommended in a timely manner, since in rare cases it leads to death caused by suffocation.

Dental diseases

An unpleasant odor is often observed in patients with oral disorders. The cause may be not only caries, but also gum damage or excessive plaque. The main dental lesions include:

• tartar. Despite the solid nature of the deposits, they can give off a foul, sour or putrid odor. The formation of stone occurs from plaque if it is not completely cleaned off during oral hygiene. Gradually it becomes mineralized due to the components of saliva. The smell from deposits appears at any time of the day. Even brushing your teeth with a regular brush and toothpaste does not change the situation. In most cases, the patient cannot feel it, but the stench is well identified by others. Let us note that neglected tartar can cause not only an unpleasant odor, but also the development of such serious pathologies as chronic generalized gingivitis or periodontitis;

You can get rid of tartar through professional ultrasonic cleaning.

• inflammation of the gums. Gingivitis and advanced periodontitis cause sour or putrid odor from the mouth. Usually, bleeding from the gums, pain when brushing teeth, swelling and intense color are added to the stench. The teeth become mobile, and sometimes pus is released from the pulp. If left untreated, these pathologies can lead to complete tooth loss.

Causes

The appearance of sour breath is caused by damage to the gastrointestinal tract. The most common causes of this phenomenon include:

1. Gastritis. With this disease, the level of acidity of the stomach increases, as a result of which belching becomes more frequent, along with which incompletely digested food remains enter the oral cavity. The latter emit an unpleasant odor.
2. Chalazia cardia (cardiospasm). The latter refers to the process of relaxation of muscle fibers located at the junction of the esophagus and stomach. With chalazia, backflow of food occurs, which leads to the appearance of a sour odor. Similar processes occur with diaphragmatic hernia.
3. Gastroesophageal reflux. The disease often occurs simultaneously with gastritis.
4. Peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.

How to quickly and permanently get rid of bad breath

Also, sour breath occurs against the background of dental pathologies:

• caries;
• stomatitis;
• gingivitis;
• periodontitis.

The reasons that provoke this phenomenon include:

• long-term use of antibiotics, hormonal and antihistamine medications (they provoke a decrease in salivation);
• nervous overstrain;
• smoking.

The nature of the smell may indicate the true cause of the problem:

1. The smell of sour cabbage. It indicates a metabolic disorder in the body caused by a certain pathology.
2. The smell of sour milk. Occurs when there is a sudden change in diet. The source of the odor in this case is ketones, the amount of which increases as the level of sugar in the body decreases. The latter is often due to the transition to a diet based on protein foods.

The accompanying symptoms can help identify the true cause of sour odor in an adult.

Causes of halitosis in children

A sour odor from the mouth of a newborn does not always indicate the presence of a disease; rather, it is associated with dietary habits, because the main diet of an infant is milk and fermented milk products. There are more acidophilic bacteria in the mouth of an infant than in the mouth of adults; fermentation of milk begins here, and a milky smell appears.

The child's salivation decreases during sleep, creating a favorable environment for harmful bacteria. Therefore, the baby's breath may smell bad in the morning.

A sour smell in a baby occurs with sinusitis and a runny nose, the child breathes heavily, this provokes halitosis.

A common cause is insufficient hygiene. When the first teeth erupt, try teaching your child how to brush them.

If the smell does not subside for a long time and is accompanied by other symptoms, for example, heartburn and pain, this becomes a sign of a number of diseases: ulcers, gastritis, etc. In such a situation, get examined by a pediatrician, who will identify the disease or refer you to a gastroenterologist.

What makes your breath smell like rotten eggs?

There are cases when the breath smells unpleasant due to certain foods that a person has recently eaten (onions, garlic, smoked fish) or due to non-compliance with hygiene measures - then the bad breath can be easily eliminated, and the fetid amber will no longer bother the person. However, this category does not include the regularly occurring smell of rotten eggs from the mouth - a very serious symptom that indicates abnormalities in the functioning of the body.

The reasons for the appearance of this symptom may lie in the improper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and gallbladder . Less common causes include advanced dental problems or chronic diseases of the tonsils. Stomach problems are often accompanied by rotten breath, be it the taste of rotten eggs or meat.

The nature of the pungent odor lies in the reactions of the stomach, as a result of which hydrogen sulfide vapor . The characteristic smell of rotten eggs appears in the human body during the breakdown of protein.

If a gastrointestinal disease has been developing for some time, even the safety valve, which is located at the entrance of the esophagus to the stomach, will not protect you from bad breath. And if in the initial stages the symptom can manifest itself only in the form of foul-smelling belching, then later the smell of rotten eggs comes from the mouth chronically, and no hygiene products help get rid of it.

What diseases and disorders does rotten breath indicate?

The most obvious reason why a person develops this smell is regular overeating . The stomach does not have time to process food, so there is often a large amount of food left in it, which goes bad before it is processed.

Another reason is enzyme deficiency, or insufficient production of gastric juice. With this deviation, the process of fermentation and rotting of food in the stomach also occurs.

These seemingly harmless deviations may be followed by more serious diagnoses:

• Atrophic gastritis with low acidity - when the gastric mucosa becomes thinner and there are fewer and fewer working cells. In these cases, the disease cannot be started, since a malignant formation may appear in the dying walls of the stomach;
• Polyrostenosis or pyloric stenosis is a disease in which the passage of food into the intestines from the stomach is disrupted due to a narrowing of the lumen of the outlet. Typically, those patients who suffer from peptic ulcers are at risk;
• Dyskinesia or gastric atony is a lazy stomach syndrome, in which gastric motility is impaired, that is, the motor activity of the walls of the organ;
• Stomach ulcer;
• Esophageal diverticulum is a disease when a pouch or blind tube appears in the wall of the esophagus as a result of deformation, in which food can be retained and rot;
• Liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver;
• Diseases of the gallbladder, such as: cholangitis, biliary dyskinesia or chronic cholecystitis ;
• Neoplasms are benign or malignant.

The symptoms accompanying the smell of rotten eggs from the mouth will tell you which organs may not be working properly, which will help the doctor quickly identify the disease and begin to treat it:

1. Bloating;
2. Abdominal pain;
3. Nausea and vomiting;
4. The color of the urine becomes dark;
5. The color of the stool becomes unclear;
6. Yellowed whites of the eyes.

Why does a child smell like rotten eggs?

This unpleasant phenomenon occurs not only in adults, but also in young children. If parents notice the smell of eggs from the mouth when a child burps , who often asks for fried or boiled eggs, then there is no deviation in this, you just need to diversify the children's menu in the future.

If there are no obvious reasons for the appearance of a rotten odor from the child’s mouth, then there may be several prerequisites for this:

• Failure to comply with hygiene rules - if a child rarely brushes his teeth and does it incorrectly, unpleasant breath due to food debris decomposing in the mouth will constantly accompany him;
• Gum diseases - periodontal disease, periodontitis and gingivitis provoke the appearance of the smell of rotten eggs from the mouth;
• Caries of milk teeth;
• Dry mouth, often caused by a constantly stuffy nose;
• Fungal diseases of the oral cavity;
• Mucus, saturated with a large number of bacteria, which is found in the nasal sinuses of a sick child;
• Residues of food stuck in the tonsils, which begin to decompose in the recesses of the organ, after which rotten breath appears;
• Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• Liver failure.