Post Nasal Drip Bad Breath

The problem of post nasal drip bad breath is that post nasal drip, a chronic symptom that can be very difficult to correct, provides a constant food supply to bacteria that produce the bad odor we associate with bad breath (halitosis). The drip is a continual flow of mucus from the nasal passages and sinuses that contains proteins and other food supplies for bacteria. The bacteria that benefit from this are frequently those that live on the back of the tongue, many of them anaerobes that produce foul smelling sulfur compounds when they break down proteins.

Contributing to bad breath sinus discharge can also result in tonsiloliths, collections of dead cells and debris that lodge on the tonsils and in tonsillar crypts and grow into pale stone-like aggregates. These "tonsil stones," like the discharge, provide food for bacteria and a place for bacteria to live. Tonsiloliths are usually noticeably malodorous and though they are eventually dislodged, they tend to recur - another troublesome type of post nasal drip bad breath.

The best hope for relief of bad breath sinus trouble, of course, is to treat the sinus problem and hope that the flow of discharge can be decreased enough to cut down the populations of bacteria that are producing the odor. Sinus problems should be evaluated by a doctor and treated appropriately. While many people are able to lessen or get rid of a chronic sinus condition, post nasal drip bad breath will be an ongoing problem for others. It may require a long term commitment to treating the bad breath with a commercial product that fights the troublesome bacteria from a different angle.

Some commercial products directly address the problem of post nasal drip bad breath by producing sinus drops, which can be used in conjunction with an effective mouthwash. The best products for fighting bad breath are aimed at decreasing the populations of odor producing bacteria and then keeping their numbers so low that no odor is detectable on the breath. Bad breath sinus drops are a relatively new product on the market and are not available from every supplier. If you suspect that your bad breath is connected to post nasal drip, you might want to try this approach.