What to do when body sweat smells bad?

People with strong-smelling sweat should limit eating spices with strong smells such as garlic, chili... - Illustration: THU HIEN

Afraid to communicate because of armpit sweat smell

The smelly skin under her arms sometimes makes Ms. MT (33 years old, Ho Chi Minh City) feel self-conscious and embarrassed when communicating with people.

To limit body odor, Ms. T. often uses perfume and deodorant to cover up the smell of sweat on her body.

However, these measures are only temporary, as using too many deodorants can darken the skin under your arms and turn your clothes yellow.

“I have tried everything, even traditional methods such as using lemon, alum, ginger... or bathing with some leaves, but my body still does not get rid of the smell. Especially when I do a lot of physical activity, the more I sweat, the worse my body smells,” said Ms. T.

Similarly, Mr. HK (Thu Duc City) said that his body had sweated a lot since childhood, and during puberty it became worse, with an unpleasant odor, especially in the underarm area.

Despite thorough body hygiene and trying many deodorants, it was of no significant help.

Mr. K. said that he had been advised by his friends to have an inferiority complex. Many friends often advised him to undergo endoscopic sympathectomy to reduce underarm sweating, but he was very afraid of going under the knife.

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , Dr. Phan Ngoc Huy - Department of Aesthetic Dermatology, Dermatology Hospital (HCMC) - said that there are many causes leading to the condition of smelly body sweat.

The first cause may be genetic, genetics plays an important role in determining how much sweat the body produces and what the sweat is made of.

People with active sweat glands or sweat containing a lot of saturated fatty acids are more likely to have stronger body odor.

In addition, diet, eating spicy foods, garlic, onions, red meat... can cause sweat to have an unpleasant odor.

People who use stimulants such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine... cause the body to sweat more, while also increasing the amount of fatty acids in sweat, leading to bad odor.

In addition, poor personal hygiene, not bathing regularly, not changing clothes after exercise... are favorable environments for bacteria to grow, causing body odor.

In addition, some diseases such as diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease... can also cause the body to have a characteristic odor.

Body sweat smells bad, what to do?

To reduce body odor, Dr. Huy recommends keeping your skin clean by showering daily with antibacterial soap. Focus on areas that sweat the most, such as the armpits and groin.

Shaving and waxing underarms allows sweat to evaporate quickly and does not have much time to come into contact with bacteria that cause body odor.

Remember to wash your clothes regularly and wear clean clothes. Wear loose cotton clothes. Eliminate foods that can cause strong odors from your diet: garlic, onions, and alcohol…

Also, reduce stress levels as stress can trigger the sebaceous glands to become activated and cause body odor.

In cases where body odor is too severe and cannot be cured with treatment, you can go to a medical facility to be treated with measures such as: micro-injection of botulinum toxin into the skin under the armpits to inhibit both water and oil sweat glands, surgical intervention such as sweat gland curettage, sympathectomy, etc.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/can-lam-gi-khi-mo-hoi-co-the-nang-mui-20240527174423309.htm