Weekly ear cleanings are no help

Question
I have a three year old female cocker who has had ear discharge problems since we got her at 6 weeks old.
We use Oticalm and Chlorhexiderm weekly. Sometimes more and nothing seems to help.
Her inner ears are clean but there is always a smelly discharge on the outer ear canal.
Any ideas on what to do next.
Her vet says to just keep cleaning them and we do, to no avail.

Answer
I'd order the Zymox line of ear products.
They have a cleaner and two different meds.  Normally you'd only need the Zymox otic Hydrocortisone-Free med.  The other one has 1% Hydrocortisone and is only used if the ear is red or swollen and only until that settles down (no longer than a week) and then you switch to the H-Free med.

This stuff is genius for stubborn ear problems and it's not expensive and you don't need a prescription.

The cleaner you use as you do any cleaner.  The med you do NOT clean out - fill the canal, let dog shake head, and just wipe off the inner ear flap. Do daily for a week - do not use cleaner during treatment.  It's safe for long term use and some dogs with chronic ear issues need a once a week treatment to keep things calm.

I order mine from EntirelyPets.com.