Every once in a while, you develop a health symptom so bizarre—like suddenly emitting a truly offensive body odor—that it sends you into a total shame spiral. But guess what: We all have weirdo body issues that creep up and freak us out. That's why we asked an expert to solve them in the March "Confessions" issue of Women's Health. Here's what you need to know if you've suddenly got a case of bad B.O. Show Why you can stop spiraling: It's temporary. Sudden, super-strong odor can have surprising causes. The first? Stress. Your body has two kinds of sweat glands. Eccrine glands, which are located all over, let out non-stanky fluid when you need cooling off. But apocrine glands, mainly in your pits, go into hyperdrive when you're anxious—and they spew out a fatty, protein-rich sweat that turns rank when it mixes with bacteria on your skin, explains Hooman Khorasani, M.D., chief of dermatologic and cosmetic surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. If you're not frazzled, your odor might be from certain foods. Spices such as curry and garlic, and veggies like onion, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus, can leak compounds like sulfur into your sweat glands, resulting in musty or urine-y B.O. six to 12 hours later, Khorasani says. (Learn how bone broth can help you lose weight with Women's Health's Bone Broth Diet.) Related: 7 Tips That'll Keep Your Pits Smelling Fresh All Day LongWhat to do now: Stress-related funk will disappear as soon as you feel less sapped. Until then, use an antiperspirant with 19 to 20 percent of an ingredient called aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly (a less irritating version of the typical sweat-blocking aluminum), suggests Lauren Eckert Ploch, M.D., a dermatologist at Georgia Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center in Augusta. (Try Secret Fresh Collection Invisible Solid, $5, amazon.com.) If you sweat excessively on the reg, a dermatologist can write you an Rx for a more powerful pit stick or an oral med. (And never ignore these 5 body odors.) Watch a hot doctor teach you the best way to clean your ears: Not tense? Back off the offending foods and work in some fruit. A recent Australian study found that people who ate more of it had better-smelling sweat. Cassie ShortsleeveFreelance Writer Cassie Shortsleeve is a skilled freelance writer and editor with almost a decade of experience reporting on all things health, fitness, and travel. A former Shape and Men’s Health editor, her work has also been published in Women’s Health, SELF, Runner’s World, Men’s Journal, CNTraveler.com, and other national print and digital publications. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her drinking coffee or running around her hometown of Boston.
Armpits don't always smell so fresh — after all, there are a ton of sweat glands residing there smooshed in between your torso and arm that are specifically designed to excrete a certain type of sweat (via WiseGeek). While you're probably familiar with regular old BO, you might wonder why your armpits sometimes smell like... onions? For starters, let's take a little closer look at the type of sweat glands you have hanging around in your pits. The human body has a few types of sweat glands, two of which are called the eccrine and apocrine glands. The eccrine glands are located basically all over your body and secrete a fine sheen of sweat, and the apocrine glands are nestled in your armpit, genital area, and around your nipples. The apocrine glands are quite different from their peers found in the rest of the body — they secrete thicker, stickier sweat than those eccrine glands do. Also, bacteria on the surface of the skin is always hard at work breaking down this thick, sticky sweat, which is the whole reason your armpits reek.
Body odor can vary from person to person, though, and some people tend to have more onion-y sweat than other people. It turns out there's a scientific reason why "onion" pops up as a descriptor. According to NPR, when your armpit bacteria gobble up your sweat, they turn the odorless human sweat molecules into other products called thioalcohols. While pure human sweat is completely odorless, these specific compounds produced by the bacteria are definitely not. They smell really distinct — like rotten eggs, onions, or meat (hungry yet?). The reason for the similarity to onions, though, is because actual onion scent is also caused by thioalcohols (via Journal of Food Science). You will also, interestingly, find thioalcohols in skunk spray (via Gizmodo). So, while you may be glad to know that smelling like an onion is totally normal, you still might not be super thrilled to do so. Slap on some deodorant and maybe the onion smell will stay away.
The summer of 2018 has been a scorcher exacerbating an already difficult body odour (B.O) situation when stuck in busy tubes, lifts, and long commutes. And yes, we all know that for most people, a spray of deodorant and a thorough wash is all that is needed. Early diagnosis is crucial – we are calling on all of you to make unexpected changes in your body seriously, to stop burying your head in the sand, and be on the case those stubborn people in your life to get checked up. Sadly, an extremely squeezed NHS means that small changes are rarely looked into, so you should really think about investing in your health by going to a private clinic. Non-serious reasons why someone might smell a little
Therefore, most cases of body odour will have a relatively simple or transient cause. However, if someone SUDDENLY starts smelling bad who didn’t before, it’s unlikely that they’ve just suddenly decided to stop washing or eating a whole new diet, right? Serious reasons why you or someone you know might start to smellDiabetesOne of the most common reasons is diabetes, also known as the silent killer. Diabetes is a serious and life-long condition where your body is unable to produce enough insulin, or use it well enough, to regulate the sugar levels in the blood. When you have diabetes your glucose levels are too high. If your blood sugar is poorly controlled, you develop something called ketoacidosis which results not only in a strange breath smell like an old fruit bowl but also a distinctive body odour. You need to get checked out right away if this is happening to you. It’s no joke and no, it can’t wait until next week.Kidney or Liver diseaseAnother reason for a bad body smell is serious kidney or liver disease. These crucial organs are responsible for processing and eliminating toxins from the body. If they cannot do this, the body will smell differently and more strongly. In addition to changes in urination and other symptoms, this could certainly indicate kidney or liver damage, or disease and it is vital to get checked out by a medical doctor quickly.Overactive ThyroidFinally, an overactive thyroid can cause the body to smell due to the increase in sweat due to the hyperfunction of the thyroid gland. Thyroid dysfunction has many long-term and immediate-term health implications. If you are sweating too much, take it seriously.Overall, strong body odour is likely to have a simple cause but if it is an unexpected and unexplained change or is not going away with the usual changes to personal hygiene, you really should see your doctor. |