What causes sticky discharge from ear with awful smell?
Patient: I noticed when I kissed my son on the cheek that something smelled awful. Later I noticed his ear was full of a sticky discharge that was a very dark brown. I cleaned out the part that I could see around the outside of the ear canal and it was definately the source of the smell. It smells bad and was very goopy. Could it be an infection? Doctor: Hello. Yes, it certainly seems like he has an infection in his ear. i would advise you to see a pediatrician/ENT specialist and do a culture of the sticky discharge to see what organism grows. They could also look into his ear with an otoscope and see if there is a hole in his ear drum. Usually bacterial infections are accompanied by pain in the ear, fever and yellowish pus.If he had just a mild amount of brown discharge that was not so smelly, we could have attributed that to ear wax, but lets not take chances in this case.Hope this answers your query