No more body unpleasant odour
Men sweat more than women, so it's no surprise they are the worst offenders.
But is it a case of poor hygiene, or do some people have a medical condition that makes them sweat more than average?
A blind spot for smells
Strange as it may seem, many people with bad body odour are unaware that they smell.
Scientific research has shown that some people cannot detect certain molecules. Their nostrils may be able to register the smell of garlic or curry, but not the smell emanating from their armpits.
What causes body odour?
Everybody sweats. We have to. Perspiration is the body's biological way of cooling down.
Sweat itself does not smell, but it's a wonderful culture for the bacteria that live on our skin.
The bacteria breaks down sweat into aromatic fatty acids, which produce the unpleasant odour.
This means body odour can be tackled by:
· reducing the amount of sweat
· treating the bacteria that produce the odour.
Medical conditions, such as thyroid disease and carcinoid syndrome, can cause excessive sweating, as can the side-effects of some medicines, eg antidepressants.
How can I reduce body odour?
Wash with soap daily, particularly your armpits, groin and feet where there are many sweat producing glands. Washing removes sweat and reduces the numbers of bacteria that act upon it.
Some people have more sweat and oil producing glands than others. If you sweat a lot, you may need to shower two or three times a day.
The use of antiperspirants and deodorants should be routine. It's worth trying a few because they have different active ingredients, and you'll find some work better than others.
Deodorants work by masking the smell of sweat with fragrance, while antiperspirants reduce the amount of sweat your body produces. Roll-ons tend to be more effective for heavy sweating.
Another useful trick is to shave your armpits. Armpit hair provides a greater surface area for sweat to adhere to and gives the bacteria a fertile breeding ground.
It is also essential to wash clothes thoroughly, 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.
Help from the chemist
You can get an antibacterial and antiseptic solution called chlorhexidine 0.05 per cent solution from pharmacies. Applied daily, it significantly reduces the number of bacteria, although it has no effect on sweating itself.
Another remedy you can get without a prescription is 20 per cent aluminium chloride solution, otherwise known as Anhydrol Forte and Driclor.
· You apply to it your armpits, feet etc before you go to bed each night. This is because sweating stops when you sleep, so the solution will be more effective.
· The liquid gets into the openings of the sweat glands causing them to swell up and block.
· You wash it off in the morning, and don't reapply until the next bedtime.
· Never apply the solution after shaving because it will irritate the skin.
· You use the product every night to start with, and then reduce it as you stop sweating to every other night or once or twice a week.
Treatment of severe sweating
There are a couple of surgical options for severe sweating (hyperhidrosis) which can't be controlled by over-the-counter products.
One is to remove a triangular area of skin in the apex of the armpit under local anaesthetic. A small piece measuring 4cm by 1.5cm is cut out, destroying the most troublesome sweat glands.
A modern variation on this procedure is liposuction to suck out the sweat glands from the deeper layers of skin.
Keyhole surgery
Another type of surgery is called trans-thoracic sympathectomy. It's done under general anaesthetic and uses keyhole surgery to destroy the nerves that control sweating.
The surgeon makes an incision in your armpit and passes a fine needle under the second, third and fourth ribs on each side. An electrical current then kills off the nerves.
The success rate is about 40 per cent, but because the body still has to sweat, some people experience increased sweating from their chest, abdomen and back after the op.
It's important to understand this before undergoing surgery, because it cannot be reversed.
Botox
Botulinum toxin is an alternative to surgery. Known as Botox, it's more often used as a treatment for facial frown lines.
Botox is only licensed as a treatment for excessive sweating from the armpit (axillary hyperhidrosis), so it can't be used for sweaty hands and feet.
A small amount of the toxin is injected into multiple sites in the skin at the apex of the armpit.
Although the results only last between four and nine months, it's an effective and safe treatment.
If you're thinking about surgery, you could try Botox to see how effective an operation would be, and whether blocking sweat glands in your armpits causes excessive sweating elsewhere.
Source: netdoctor. co. uk
