No sweat!

No sweat! 1

As you may well know, body odour is a nuisance and can cause embarrassment. Human perspiration contains water, proteins, urea, ammonia, lactic acids and salts, which mix with bacteria to form body odour. The pungent body odour emitted by human adults is unique in the animal kingdom. Why some men’s odours are stronger than others depends on their diet, genetics, hygiene and state of health. Here’s how to keep yours in check.

You are what you eat

You may want to consider cutting out onions and garlic from your diet, as they’re high in sulfuric acid, which contributes to body odour. They also cause foul breath. Need we say more?
Probiotics and prebiotics (which help to restore the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract) reduce your body’s toxicity, which can be released as odour from the skin. So eat plenty of yoghurts, artichokes, beans, and dried plums.

Wash regularly

‘Well duh,’ you might say, but honestly, this is the simplest and most effective way to curb body odour. Use an antibacterial soap and give yourself a good ol’ scrub all over. Apart from perspiration, bacteria also feed on dead skin tissue, so it can also help to exfoliate using a scrub, loofah or body brush. You might also want to consider applying talcum powder to key areas after a shower: back, chest, unmentionables, you name it. It helps to soak up the sweat.

Use deo

Preferably a combo of anti-perspirant and deodorant. Anti-perspirant helps to temporarily block sweat glands, while deodorant disguises odour. In other words, one keeps you from sweating and the other keeps you smelling nice. You need both.

Chill out

Hormones and oils can increase your stress level and create the right environment for bacteria to grow rapidly. Make time for exercise, which helps to combat stress (though you’ll need to implement all the previous steps as well, obviously) or a destressing activity such as yoga.

Foot odour

Lots of men get it, and the reason is that feet sweat – a lot. They have more sweat glands per inch of skin than any other part of the body. Bacteria feed on the sweat, producing a smelly secretion. Ick.
To prevent them becoming a biological hazard, wash your feet daily with an antibacterial soap, then dry thoroughly and sprinkle with a little antifungal powder (add a little to your shoes as well). Applying a little antiperspirant to the soles of your feet can also help reduce the amount they sweat.

Don’t wear the same shoes two days in a row – in fact, you should be giving each pair of shoes at least two days’ break, stored in a dry, cool place. Try to wear socks made from wool, cotton, hemp or bamboo, as these allow feet to ‘breathe’ more easily than synthetic fabrics (consider changing them once or more throughout the day).

When there’s a bigger issue at play

If you’re reading and thinking, but I already do all of this, and it’s not helping you, you may be suffering from Axillary Hyperhidrosis. This is a medical problem that involves more sweating than is required by our body and is caused by overactivity of the sweat glands. Axillary Hyperhidrosis is most commonly triggered by exercise, heat or cold, stress and anxiety.

This condition involves extreme dripping sweat in the armpits, which is almost totally resistant to all the types of deodorants and other odour controlling medication. It is present in 1 % of the population and a family history is usually present suggesting a genetic component.

Renewal Institute offers a treatment that can help fix the problem. When small doses of Botulinum Toxin are given to the affected area, nervous activation of the eccrine sweat glands is blocked and overproduction of sweat prevented. The procedure takes 5 to 10 minutes to do, is relatively painless and can be a life-altering phenomenon, the effects of which can last for a period of six to nine months.

Then there’s nothing that put’s a dampener on a sealed business deal more than a clammy handshake. Again this could be due to a medical condition called Palmar Hyperhidrosis, which is the medical term for excessive sweating in the palms. The condition generally starts in adolescence; however, there are no hormonal connections that are established with this disease.

At Body Renewal, palmar hyperhidrosis is treated with Palmar Botox, a simple and effective treatment for excessive sweating. This involves a few injections into the Palmar skin where the sweating is greatest to block the action of nerves that supply the sweat glands and stop the glands from producing sweat. These results can last for a period of six to nine months.

To find out more and book appointment go to Body Renewal.

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2 Responses

  1. I was always wondering why people have stinky feet. And apparently “because they are so far from your nose” is not the answer, but rather feet have more sweat glands per inch of skin than any other part of the body.

    1. I also think its because the feet are always forgotten when you buy cosmetics. Sorbet has an amazing array of feet lotions and peeling gels.

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