I have a similar problem. It is only present on one ear. the simple answer has to be bacteria. I find it smells just like my feet, and the conditions are pretty similar in some ways (hot, sweaty, skin fold). It also goes away if I use antibacterial soap on that area, but comes back after a day or two.

Glad it is not just me.

Rather than bacteria, can I suggest yeasts? In fact I think some cheeses actually have smells identical to certain bodily odours due to the fact that they have the same, or very similar, fungi. Can't remember the exact recipe... was it foot odour and parmesan, or was it athlete's foot and gruyere? It'll be somewhere in Google's pages.

It certainly is a combination of your skin secretions of sebum lipids and the bacteria that decompose them. You are by no means alone in this, because everybody, definitely every adult, has this going on in the skin all the time, but mainly in the so-called apocrine organs, mainly in the genital and underarm areas, but also elsewhere, notably the scalp, nose, and various skin hollows, such as the temporo-labial crease between your lower lip and chin.

The microbial digestion is responsible for major components of body odour, not necessarily only the offensive BO, but also the components that permit bloodhounds to tell who has passed through the park or worn the underclothing. Members of the same family tend to share many of the same strains, and therefore do not smell detectably to each other, even if other people with sensitive noses do find their presence obvious in the dark. We are minor performers compared to polecats and mongooses and similar animals with so-called scent glands though; many of them do not produce much of a pong spontaneously, but collect the raw materials in pouches in which what amount to symbiotic microbes settle down to a good meal for the life of the host, and produce their identifying and defensive pongs.

I think what Pete has in mind is that ripe socks (and the associated feet of course) and ripe Limburger produce certain related compounds when appropriately encouraged and cherished. Don't let that put you off Limburger though; I let the Limburger do it without assistance.

Cheers,

Jon

Oh yes, I almost forgot.  I recommend gentle soapy washing of the affected areas daily (or more if necessary, but not every half hour, for goodness' sake!) Do plenty of firm, soapy fingertip massaging to expel as much of the sebum as you can.  You need not use antibacterial soap; on most people's skins a daily wipe with rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol will do nicely to kill a lot of germs without toxicity.  For underarm purposes the currently popular "crystal" alum deodorants are excellent, but possibly a bit irritating for skin elsewhere.

Oh, and Pete has a point with his remarks about yeasts, but in practice you usually find a cocktail of microbes responsible, though not as varied as you might expect. From your point of view, if your skin is healthy you have a symbiotic population of nor mal flora that keep other pests at bay. If it is a problem however, you need to delicately discourage it with assiduous hygiene. If that doesn't work in a month or two, ask your friendly local dermatologist for a lucky charm.

Ciao Niao

Jon

Brevibacterium linens lives all over the skin of human beings. This bacterium is responsible for foot odor. Cheeses such as Limburger use brevibacterium linens to ferment the cheese which is why they smell like cheese. I assume that different skin conditions may cause greater than normal concentrations of the bacterium.