Everyone sweats, but some people sweat more than others. In addition, there are people who suffer from hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, which poses no health risk, but can certainly create embarrassment and insecurity about the odor emanating from their body. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to prevent odor from forming even when you feel like you're sweating more than average.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Don't Neglect Personal Hygiene
Step 1. Shower regularly
Sweat itself has no smell, but acquires unpleasant notes of acidity due to the degradation of bacteria present on the skin. While it's normal to have bacteria on your body, you can get rid of excess bacteria - and especially the acids they produce - by washing yourself every day.
- Pay particular attention to cleaning the hairy areas of the body. The human body has two types of sweat glands. The eccrine glands, distributed variously in the thickness of the dermis, regulate the body temperature by cooling the skin with sweat when it heats up. Typically, the sweat secreted by these glands does not have a strong odor. On the other hand, the apocrine glands are concentrated in the hairier areas of the body, such as the armpits and the genital region. The sweat produced by these glands contains high levels of protein, much loved by the bacteria on the skin, and can quickly become pungent!
- Use antibacterial soap to wash your armpits. Keep in mind that a small presence of bacteria is not harmful, but in excessive quantities they can be a problem, especially in areas most prone to the formation of bad smells, such as the underarm area.
Step 2. Shave your armpits
Hair traps sweat and odor, consequently promoting the proliferation of bacteria responsible for bad odor.
Step 3. Change your clothes regularly
At a minimum, you should change them every day. If you do manual work that makes you sweat profusely or if you exercise, change it more than once a day.
Step 4. Choose clothing made with natural fibers
Avoid garments that tighten and prevent movement, but also man-made fibers, such as nylon. They hinder skin perspiration, increasing sweating.
Step 5. Pay attention to your socks and shoes
The socks must be double, soft and made with natural fibers or, if you use them for sports, they must be designed to absorb moisture. Shoes should be leather, canvas or lightweight mesh uppers rather than synthetic materials.
- Change your socks at least twice a day if your feet tend to sweat.
- Bring a spare pair so you can replace them as needed throughout the day.
Step 6. Use products that allow you to prevent bad odors
Some personal care products can mask odors, while others work by eliminating the root cause of sweat.
- Regular deodorants use scented essences to hide body odor without inhibiting sweating.
- Antiperspirant deodorants reduce the amount of sweat excreted by the body. Typically, they contain aluminum chloride (which blocks the sweating mechanism of the sweat glands). Numerous antiperspirants contain scented essences allowing those who use them to smell good as well as stay dry.
- If regular use of antiperspirant deodorants does not prevent you from sweating, consult your doctor to find out if you can use special products containing a higher concentration of aluminum chloride. Usually these are antiperspirants to be applied in the evening and eliminated the following morning with water. They work during the night (you sweat less while you sleep) by penetrating the sweat glands and blocking sweating.
Step 7. Use a perfume or body spray
Although perfume is not a substitute for personal hygiene care, it can be useful in case of foul-smelling sweat.
- Find a fragrance that works well with your body.
- Keep the perfume or spray close at hand to freshen up throughout the day.
- Learn about perfume rules at work or school. Since some people are very sensitive to artificial fragrances, it is possible that it is not allowed to apply them in certain contexts.
- There is still no perfume on the market that reacts to humidity, but it could prove very useful in the future. Irish scientists have discovered a process by which it is possible to bind a fragrance to ionic liquids that react with water, including that contained in sweat. Once you apply the product, the more you sweat, the more fresh you smell.
Method 2 of 3: Decrease Sweating
Step 1. Keep your weight normal
When you gain weight, your body is forced to work harder, raising your body temperature and producing more sweat. Skin folds caused by excess weight can harbor bacteria, so pay special attention to these areas when washing.
Step 2. Avoid spicy foods and alcohol
You sweat more when you consume these substances and, as previously mentioned, the sweat interacts with the bacteria present on the skin producing bad smell. So, by reducing or eliminating these foods from your diet, you can control sweating and stay fragrant.
Step 3. Use underarm pads
It's not a sweat-reducing tactic, but by protecting shirts and shirts, you'll be able to wear them longer before they give off unpleasant odors. Try using protectors made of absorbent material that can prevent sweat from sticking to the skin and becoming foul-smelling. In this way, you will also avoid the formation of unpleasant halos on the garments.
Step 4. Don't get discouraged
A recent scientific study has shown that chemical signals (i.e. body odor) launched by subjects with a happy mood tend to stimulate a positive reaction in those who are exposed to their smell. In other words, if you are a happy person, the message you send to others conveys well-being, even through your body odor!
Method 3 of 3: Treating Major Health Problems
Step 1. Find out if your sweat smells fruity or bleach-like
The former may be a symptom of diabetes, while the latter may indicate liver or kidney disease. See your doctor if you suspect a major health problem.
Step 2. See your doctor if you think you have hyperhidrosis
Proper personal hygiene should allow you to smell good. If the problem persists, your doctor can suggest more effective treatments to correct the excessive sweating responsible for the bad odor.
Step 3. Ask your doctor for more information on Botox
It is possible to inject a low dose of botulinum toxin into the most problematic areas. This substance blocks the signals sent by the brain to the sweat glands, reducing the production of sweat. This is a temporary treatment that lasts from two to eight months.
Step 4. Consider therapeutic plastic surgery if your body odor problem is getting worse
Before taking such an important step, try the methods described so far. However, if hyperhidrosis seriously impairs your quality of life, surgical solutions exist.
- Often, the removal of a small portion of the skin from the armpit and subcutaneous tissue allows the most problematic apocrine glands to be removed.
- Sometimes it is possible to remove the sweat glands from the deeper layers of the skin by resorting to liposuction surgery.
Step 5. Learn about endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy
This is an extreme measure that consists of an intervention aimed at destroying portions of the sympathetic nerve trunk that controls sweating in problem areas.
Advice
- Store your clothes properly and make sure the house is clean and smells fresh.
- If you like a perfume, try it before you buy it. This way, you will be sure that it interacts well with the smell of your skin.
- Remember that the first rule is personal hygiene. If in doubt, take a shower, change your clothes, or wash the part of your body that is causing you problems.
