To ask why my hand smells?

[FelicityGraceSpoon]

I know that sounds so stupid but I'm really puzzled and bothered by it

It started yesterday. I was sat here on my phone and had my left hand rubbing my face / resting on my chin. Noticed my index finger area smelt funny - couldn't think what it was so just washed my hands and forgot about it

I then noticed it again yesterday evening and thought it was weird

And now I've noticed it again this morning!

It's a smell I can't pinpoint. Not as bad as this but sort of like rotting vegetation (nice!) but also not. Musty and a bit unpleasant. It goes after a hand wash and then gradually returns when I'm just sat here

I shower every day and bath every evening. I wash my hands frequently. I don't have any cuts or sores. I do wear a ring on my third finger but it's a titanium tracker ring and does not smell at all, it's not sweaty and it's cleaned often.

It's nothing under my nails

The smell is concentrated around my index finger on the left hand only. I'm not imagining it.

Any ideas as it's driving me mad!

Something fungal, maybe in the nail bed?

Or jewellery - as you wear a ring maybe it’s getting musty from water etc being trapped there? The ring itself might be ok but maybe the skin underneath it is staying wet when you wash your hands etc.

Thanks - no fungal nail infection unless it literally is invisible! My nails are as smooth and normal as ever

Not my ring - I only wear one and it's a tracker which just doesn't smell and there's no build up under it or anything

Are you fiddling with something and not realising it? Finger in ear or another orifice... Do you suck your finger? Saliva can stink when dry.

Do you clean your phone regularly? If not and you are using it often it could be from that. Something you touch that needs a clean, door handle or similar?

@RestingCatsArseFace alas no. Not fiddling, I don't smell and I don't suck my finger. Phone is clean

Ugh

Have you been prepping any onions or garlic? The smell lingers after washing hands

Rub your hands on some stainless steel e.g. the sink or a spoon and they will be cleansed!

You say it appears when you are just sat there, do you always sit there or do you move and go somewhere else? Work out where you put your hand, or the finger in question, while you sit there. Under a chair to move it, or the chair back?

Every time you move your hand, take note of where you put it, then sniff the place you put it. If you leave the place you are sitting, sniff your way around anything you might touch.

When I read your description of the smell I thought washing up sponge. That wouldn't be specific to one finger though.