My wife started to have a foul ear smell a few weeks ago. It's faint, but it's there. My guess is that it's an infection, or a fungus. Since she's pregnant, it's not a good idea for her to take any antibiotics or antifungal treatments, but the idea that she'll be carrying this parasite or whatever it is all through her pregnancy is not that appealing either.

Any ideas, anyone?

What you describe seems to me like an external otitis, an infection of the outer ear canal (either bacterial or fungal), but that should only be diagnosed by a physician.

Did your wife go to a swimming pool or to the sea (although it's not quite the season, but I don't know where you live) lately? Nicknamed "the swimmer's ear", this condition is likely to occur after having swum (when the ears get filled with water and they can pick up all kinds of harmful microorganisms).

My best guess is that your wife has a mild otitits externa, so she will most likely be given ear drops (such as CIPRODEX, for instance) or an ointment. Ciprodex has not been studied on pregnant women so far, but maybe your doctor knows of a drug that is certainly safe to use during pregnancy.

Keep us posted . Any other ideas from the members are, as always, welcome.

No, she wasn't seen yet by a doctor, but we'll make an appoinment on Monday.

Good luck on your appoinment and come by to tell us how it went.