The human body is a thing of wonder. It responds immediately to how you treat it. While a person who exercises regularly and maintains a healthy lifestyle will have a toned, fit body with minimal health issues, a person who has an erratic lifestyle will have several health concerns, from bad skin to heart disease.
The human body is also capable of signalling underlying medical conditions that you are not aware of. For instance, a change in your body odour. Have you noticed a recent increase in body odour intensity? You may or not sweat excessively, but the sweat has a rank odour. It means that there is some change and your body is responding to it.
These are some common causes for body odour changes:
* Change in diet: Your diet goes a long way in determining how much you sweat and whether the sweat is odorous or not. Spicy, pungent food makes you sweat more because the body tries to regulate the heat in the food by increasing the proportion of sweat. Colas, white sugar, refined flour and trans fats also cause changes in body odour.
* Exercise or moderate physical activity: You will certainly sweat more if you engage in rigorous exercise. The body responds to the activity and rise in internal body temperature by expelling sweat in copious amounts. You will also sweat more if you engage in cardio exercises. Some people report a change in body odour even when they change their usual exercise routine, or wear different clothing.
* Antibiotics or other medication: Just like your food, the medications you take can change your body odour. Some antibiotics may change the proportion of bacteria present on the skin. You should consult with your doctor if you notice a change in the way you smell after your medication was changed, or if a new course of antibiotics has been prescribed. The problem usually goes away after the course of medication is stopped, though it may take a few days for the body to expel the medication entirely from the system even after the tablets are stopped.
* Increased stress: High stress can elevate the heart rate, cause blood sugar levels to spike, and the skin to expel perspiration. You might notice excessive sweating and increased body odour whenever you are more stressed than usual. Try and reduce your stress by either eliminating the stress triggers, or learning management techniques like meditation, indulging in hobbies, deep breathing, exercise, and so on.
How to deal with sweating and body odour
There are many ways to deal with excessive sweating and its fallouts. But you might be tired of always showering frequently, wiping yourself with wet wipes several times a day, dousing your armpits in perfume to mask the smell, etc.
When nothing else seems to work, it is better to consult with experts and doctors who can guide you on armpit sweat control treatments. It is obvious that if there is less sweating, there will be a corresponding decrease in body odour as well. Leading skin care clinics in the UAE have perfected a few treatments that aim to dramatically reduce the amount of daily sweating and hence, body odour. The most popular ones are:
* miraDry treatment: In this, a wave of high wave heat energy is focused on certain points of the underarms. The heat energy destroys the underlying sweat glands. Apocrine sweat is expelled through the underarms, which has a high potential for odour once the sweat is on the skin’s surface. With the sweat glands eliminated, the armpits do not sweat at all. The miraDry treatment can help you say goodbye to sweat patches and ugly body odour forever.
* Botox treatment: As effective as the miraDry treatment but not permanent in nature, Botox injections in the armpits retard the sweating process for about six months at a time. During the efficacy period, you will experience a reduction up to 80% in your sweat volume. There is also a decrease in body odour. However, you must undergo the next round of shots after six or eight months to keep the treatment effects going.
We hope this article answers your questions about your body odour and what you can do to address the problem.