Bad body odor has always been a nightmare for a friend of mine since he was a child. He was a little overweight and sweated quite a lot. Everyone did not want to stay anywhere near him because of his ‘body’ natural repellent odor.
He used plenty of deodorant to get rid of the bad smell. No success, unfortunately. So he went onto a number of doctors, skin experts, etc. and guess what no real success.
Now he has provided me with plenty to think about and I can tell you that he was successful in his quest for good ‘smell’. Or smell like the majority of us takes for granted. That is being a normally well-balanced odor-free like a person.
Why is it important to have a good body odor?
I believe you know why, but just in case you ask yourself the question.
Bad body odors can kill your social life. It can kill you working life. Worse than this, it can just get you divorced.
In essence, though we are human, we have still a little bit of animal sense in us. What I mean is that we can ‘smell things’. Whether these are good or bad smells is another mater.
However, we can smell people. And when we smell them, we can even recognize them. So if you think we are different than animals, well not really.
Having said so, I can tell you that you use your sense of smell every day. When you take coffee, you first drink it via your nose. Yes, you smell it first.
Similarly for any food or drink. But you also tend to like people who smell good or smell better than others. Does that tell you something? If you smell good, then unconsciously, your brain tells you that you need to like this person.
Is too much ‘nice’ body odor good for you?
However, too much of what I would call positive smell is also bad. So if you use too much deodorant, then you are in for a shock. You should not use too much perfume or deodorant. NEVER.
The reason: Your brain gets a little too much information and simply repel it. So you may end up having the opposite effect on your colleagues or other people in the room.
Think of it, and take the view that in the morning use too much perfume. Now, you take your care and go to an important meeting with people you never before (strangers).
The brain of these strangers that you are meeting will say:
‘Do not like that person, there is something wrong with him/her. At the end of the day, he/she is trying to hide behind this nice offensive smell’.
So bad odors is not only what you call bad smell, but it is also related to too much smell. Remember this the next time you have a meeting.
What body odor means – what is body odor?
Body odor is associated with as bad hygiene. It is qualified as a highly offensive and very unpleasant smell. It is usually caused by a number of bacteria that are released during sweating.
What you should know is that sweating is odorless. You should also know that your body produces two kinds of sweats. The first one is eccrine and the second one is apocrine sweat.
Eccrine sweat is good. It is a type of sweat that does produce any smell. It also helps regulate your body temperature.
The apocrine sweat is something else. It is a thick smell. You can find it near hair follicles on the armpits. You can also find it in the groin areas and the scalp.
It is the bacteria that you find in your sweat that is the issue. It usually mixes with apocrine sweat and produces some bad and unpleasant smelling.
The most prominent areas you have the bacteria is your armpits and groin. So the cleaner they are, the less odor (or bad smell) you have.
So the first advice I can give you is to keep these two areas clean.
You have a number of reasons why your body odor arises. Factors like poor personal hygiene, bad diet (some food makes you sweat and increase the production of smelly bacteria), excessive perspiration, excess stress, a number of diseases (I’ll come back to this one), heavy medication, etc.
If you are a man, then you are definitely more prone to bad odors than women.
Body odor – How to get rid of it?
What we all do to get rid of bad smell is to either use antiperspirants or a deodorant. Both are different in the way they interact with your body.
Antiperspirants are used to stop the perspiration. They aim at drying the areas where you sweat. That is why you sometimes get a white type drying color on the areas you use antiperspirant. At times this can create cracks on your skin as it becomes too dry. Not a good feeling and also not good for you.
The deodorant tries to hide bad smell by simply generating a high positive smell that we are supposed to like. Both solutions are bad for you. So you need to use these, but not excessively.
Note that you can develop allergies when using these as they use toxic chemicals. As such, you may want to try some natural remedies to get rid of your bad body odor. This is a better and safer option.
How to treat body odor – Natural Home Remedies
There are obvious steps you can take prior to trying one of the below remedies. You may have already tried these, but it is good to provide a quick reminder.
First, bathing daily with appropriate soap could provide a good solution. If it does not work, change the soap, it may be that your body does not like the chemicals that are available in it.
You can try body wash or shower gel too. You can try wearing different types of clothes – say change from synthetic clothes to cotton type. Again your skin may be allergic to synthetic. However, if the issue still persists, then it is about time you try one of the below natural home remedies.
How to eliminate body odor without deodorants
The below solutions are what I would call natural deodorant remedies.
1- Get a dozen radishes. Use a juicer or blender and extract their juice. Now mix it with a quarter teaspoonful of glycerin. When finished, pour the liquid in a spray-top bottle. This is your first ever natural deodorant. Note that it is important that you store it in a cool dry place (maybe best in the fridge).
2- Take an ounce of water. Mix it with two drops of tea tree oil. When done, just pour the solution in a spray-top bottle. That’s it. You can now use it as a deodorant. Of importance, tea tree oil is an anti-bacterial herb. So if your bad smell is caused by the bacteria, the tea tree oil should actively fight it and curb your odor problem.
3- You can use Apple cider vinegar (ACV). What you just need to do is to rinse your armpits with the ACV. That is all. You can also choose to pour ACV in a spray-top bottle and use it as a deodorant. Body odor can be associated with a high pH of the skin. ACV is really good to fight this. You can also use ACV in your food to fight the bad odors from both inside and outside. It is best to rinse your armpits while bathing though.
4- Lemon juice is really good, but you will end up smelling lemon. So maybe best to do this at the weekend. One thing to check is the concentration of the lemon. You do not want to end up with a burning sensation and develop redness under your armpits.
More on how to prevent body odors using natural treatment
1- One of the simplest ways is to apply good quality baby powder or talc on your armpits. If you do this, just forget deodorants.
2- This is a known method for this. If it is very warm, you may tend to sweat a lot. In this case, you can bath two to three times a day. This will not provide an active solution to your problem, but it will definitely reduce the effects. Note that you should also reduce eating garlic too. Add some drops of rose water in the bathtub just before your bath. It will dramatically reduce your bad smell and maintain long-lasting body freshness. You are ready for the day.
3- Use some wheatgrass. What you can do is to use a juicer and produce some wheatgrass juice. Add a little bit of water and drink this every morning. Your stomach must be empty for this to work. What you want to use is about 500 mg of wheatgrass every morning or at least three times a week. This will definitely reduce the smell. If you do not like the idea of drinking wheatgrass, then you can use some of those gel tabs.
4- Now we get into the business of feet and armpits. You can use baking soda for these. Just apply it to the affected areas. And the good news is that baking soda does not smell like lemon juice does.
The last five natural remedies against odors
1- Essential oil is probably my friend’s favorite. He has been applying this for a long time and it works for him. Here is what he does. He takes about 30ml of water. Then he adds 10 drops of essential oil. He then applies this mixture onto the affected area.
2- This one I did not know about and my friend taught me about it. He said that he uses a mixture of methods so that his body does not contract what he calls a bad habit. In essence, he does not want his body to get used to one remedy for bad odors and then he is left with no recourse of action. So he mixes the above solutions depending on the time of year, says summer – winter and the number of times he has used the solution that months. This is a little approximate, but he says this the best way he managed to get results. So now the method. Just get some virgin coconut oil. Apply it on the affected areas. That’s all. Note that coconut oil contains lauric acid. This acid kills the bacteria causing bad odor.
3- Turnip juice is kind of nice. It does not smell and you can find turnip a bit everywhere. So use a juicer, and apply the juice on the affected area.
4- If your main problem is under the armpits, then I have the answer for you. Use some white vinegar. Get a cotton ball and pour some white vinegar onto it. Then wipe your underarms with it. Easy. What is good with this method is that the vinegar smell will clear out after 30 mns. So it is less of a problem when compared to the lemon solution.
5- Ouch the final one. Mix of alcohol or white vinegar and water – my friend prefer white natural vinegar for this. Just rinse your armpits with the mixture. Just do this when you are bathing.
Where to find all of the above products?
There is a lot of products described in the above remedies. Some are easy to find and others a little more troublesome to get. However, you can get all of these from the comfort of your home. Here is how. Just click on the below picture and you’ll be given the option to buy them or to search for other products.
Conclusion
In this post, I gave you 13 remedies that you can use to get rid of bad body odors. All of these are natural and are cheap to use.
I have also told you that bad smell is also caused bad applying too much perfume or deodorant. So if you do this mistake, make sure that you change your habit. This may be the cause of why people stay away from you.
Also, note that many people may sneeze around you. That is because they are allergic to your deodorant or perfume or even the soap you use. So aim to change these till you find the right balance.
Back to you
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See you soon in another Omigy post.