Nigeria Health & Lifstyle

BODY ODOR

Body odor is never pleasant, from the person who has to go through the torture of having to stand the smell to the person that actually suffers from it. It is easily noticed in a crammed place, on in a stuffy commercial bus, on the queue or in a busy shopping centre: the smell of stale sweat.

Researchers state that men sweat more than women, so often times they are more susceptible, if they have poor personal hygiene. In the true sense no one is exempted from body odor, whether it is an offensive or lingering fragrance from scented body spray.

Causes
Body odor or bromhidrosis is the smell of a particular kind of bacteria that grows on the body. Body odor is caused by bacteria when it mixes with sweat and not by sweat itself.

It grows when it comes in contact with sweat and decomposes it, causing an unpleasant smell. The body odor of a person can be linked with a lot of factors such as gender, genetics, health, diet, side effects of medication and so on. Some of the areas that are associated with body odor are underarms (“armpit”), feet, anus, pubic hair and skin.



Prevention and Control
Body odor can be prevented and controlled in a lot of ways by simply adhering to some basic rules of body hygiene and paying attention to the troubled spots where the odor comes from.

• Make the use of antiperspirants and deodorants a constant routine. If you sweat a lot use a Roll on, cover your entire armpit area and then carry the roll on with you and reapply as the day progresses. You can also go along with a deodorant spray as well, spray you under arms and clothes during the course of the day. You can go shopping for Antiperspirant that works well for you, since most of the products contain different active ingredients, and you'll find some work better than others.

• Another useful tip is to shave your underarms regularly. Hairs in the underarms provide a greater surface area for sweat to adhere to and give the bacteria a fertile breeding ground.

• It is also essential to wash clothes thoroughly to remove sweat residue and kill the bacteria that may have been transferred from the skin to the clothes; particularly clothing that comes into contact with sweaty areas such as socks, underwear and shirts.

• Never wear yesterday's clothes. However clean your body is, the clothes will retain the smell of yesterday's sweat. Do not repeat the same outfit without washing it first.

• Take your bath twice a day to control the sweat.

Remedy
Here are some quick home remedy for underarm odor, first dilute a little vinegar in water, Dip cotton wool in to it and then clean over the underarm area. Please do not add vinegar to a freshly shaved skin. Dilute baking soda (not baking powder) with water and rub it on to the underarm.